Good Golly Miss Molly...Yikes...

[Mojo]

I just got a 3 awning/slide topper job in today. This is going to be my largest awning I have ever done. It is replacing the fabric on a 40 ft bus with a full wall slide.

Length ????  30 ft. Yikes. That is one heck of a long run in a 12 x 20 shop. :) I had to order another roll of Satler Yesterday from Miami Mike. ( I hate to tell you June and Mike but if you were looking for Satler in a tan color your out of luck. I cleaned their warehouse out of all the Satler Fab in this color. :) Mike is having more rolls brought down to Jacksonville as I believe I am going to buy another full roll. Buying 65 yard rolls does save you a few bucks and I am burning through rolls of canvas at an alarming rate. If you guys order any Satler ask Mike about the 30 yard rolls he has. I believe Miami cuts you a price break on ordering 30 yard or more rolls.

I have a new roll of Satler tweed that I will be cutting this weekend. This tweed is awesome. I love the tweed pattern and colors ( black and tan ) so much I am thinking about making myself a new set of toppers out of it for my own coach. The tweed is going on a luxury bus with 4 slide toppers and 4 window awnings. It is the biggest awning job I have had so far and the most expensive bus I have ever sewn for. I want these awnings perfect as these owners are extremely fussy and expect perfection.

I know 30 ft for a marine guy or gal is nothing but for an old broken down brain damaged canvas guy like me it is as long as the Mackinaw Bridge. :)

Business is phenomenal and I am hitting my peak season now. Next month is filled along with a seminar I have to put on in Tampa and then March is looking busy with another seminar at another location. I have 90 attendees at one and about 50 at the other and then a two day vendor show to do after the last seminar. I am geeked as I love meeting new people and have no problems speaking to an audience.
I am a bit concerned over the 90 attendees. I put on a marketing and pr seminar once and it was a bit much.

I am hoping things will slow down considerably by June as we have a trip overseas to Australia planned. That maybe my only way to run from customers and work. I am feeling reat, off chemo for a couple months and in remission. I expect the remission to last a couple months before chemo starts again. I love these breaks and so do my liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. :)

I will have to post back on how I made out with the 30 footer. I should have sent that job to June or Mike. They love wrestling that much fabric.  ;D

Chris

[Mike]

 chris 30' would be much for my current table   Id just do it in section then k e final seam to make 30'
me I got a number of small thing to do along with a full hullnier job my largerst ever on a 38 orso cruiser and I just got a compete pontoon upholstery job yesterday and new seat cover after and a new top.
I havnt seen the satlrt yet   Mayby you know  I havnt heard back from mike yet.  I see on the blue streak site that they deliver from  the ft myers area my area.  But I asked befor from Miami and they said they didn't   Is it that they delever out of Jacksonville that you get that great. $10 shipping deal?

I'm glad you felling well  

[Mojo]

Mike:

MiamiMike and I were just talking about you and June. Were your ears burning ?  8)

He said he wanted to talk to you both about the books before sending them out. Satler has marine fabric
as well as awning fabric. He thought you would be more interested in the marine stuff which is why he hasn't sent you any books.

In regards to Blue Streak it goes by Zip Code. They do deliver in your area but not to your zip code. He said he was looking into Advantage couriers for you. It costs a couple bucks more but I believe they are still a flat rate carrier which will save you on heavy rolls. It seems like their cost was 15 bucks but I could be wrong.

One option I suggested to Mike for you is if you know someone who lives or works within their zip code that is close to you then you can use Blue Streak. Mike is on the road again but will be back in his office next week. Give him a call next week and see what he found out about Advantage.

Chris

[JuneC]

Whoa!  Have fun with that one.  That's a LOT of fabric.  You'll figure out how to get-er-done.  I've done covers where I had to cut the pattern into quadrants and pattern onto my blank with the blank all folded up with pattern reference marks. 

BTW, I was looking at that Sattler fabric on Miami's web site a few days ago and I only saw 47" wide fabrics.  Is that what you're using?  Seems like an awful lot of seams would be required for large pieces like the one you've got to do now. 

June

[Mojo]

June:

I believe their marine fabric is 60 inches but not sure. MiamiMike could tell you.

The only time I have to seam is when I am doing a patio awning or the pull down/slidetopper awnings.
The vast majority of the slide toppers are one piece. I measure and cut and then sew the perimeter with double row stitching.

I cannot do seams width wise ( perpendicular to the side of the coach ) as the seam creates a bulge that will not fit under the slide topper roller tube covers. I do run seams though on patio awnings and those seams always run parallel with the coach.

I have done so many of these now that I have a system down that enables me to quickly produce one topper. My margins ( which I wont discuss here ) have increased because of finding efficient ways to make the process quicker which may not work well for others but work wonders for me.

June, I suggest you and Mike call Miami Mike next week and discuss the Satler line. I would hate to misquote him here. He can also get you some sample books as well.

BTW, I just placed an order for polycording ( sling spline ) for the slide toppers with a company in Boca. Thought of you when I did. Their prices were awesome. Nearly half what others charge. :)

Chris

[Darren Henry]

 :o that's a big awning. I'd spend more time picking it up off the floor than sewing the way my shop is equipped.

I too make one seam parallel to unit to get the full 8 foot width.Before I top stitch that seam I run a thin bead of 504 latex cement  in the salvage and run it out with my finger.My boss is convince that this seals the seam.His name is on the bottom of my cheque,so I act like I believe it.

[Mojo]

I just shake my head and proclaim to do whatever my boss asks me to do. Once she leaves the room I do what I want.

Ya gotta love a wife with patience. :)

BTW Darren, you still working at the RV dealership ?

Chris

[Darren Henry]

Yeah, I'm still putting up with him and his BS. I've outlasted most of his rag tackers, and I haven't made two years yet.

As I've said though; the upholstery shop is "full service" not just the RV side. The boss had been an upholster before he started the RV repairs and consignments so I do all the things I did back in Kenora.

[Mojo]

Have you been getting any Carefree slide topper replacements in ? That is all I have been doing and has kept me hopping.

Chris

[Mike]

 you doing any boats Darren?

[Darren Henry]

Chris;I don't always see the mechanism as our techs do the installs so I can't tell you how many are Carefree.I make more awnings than slide toppers though. Maybe 3 or 4:1.

Mike; I don't get alot of boats as my predecessors didn't do marine so we aren't well know for it yet. Also with the little pothole lakes here on the prairies canvas (particularly convertible tops and Biminis) aren't as important as they were back on Lake of the Woods where people have to get out to their island fair or foul.

[Mojo]

Darren:

I have done 3 main patio awnings this year for RV's. I do not know how many slide toppers I have done but it has been heaps and heaps. I am to the point now where I am going to have to start buying full rolls of fabric ( 65 yards at a time ) because I cannot keep the fabric in stock. Most all use the dark desert tan color. I just cleaned out MiamiMikes warehouse in Jacksonville and am waiting for a new shipment to arrive.

I probably should send a thank you card and a gift to Carefree. Every single topper I have done has been one of theirs and almost all of them were due to cheap Sunbrella and cheap Poly Thread. I do not know where they were getting Sunbrella from but I have to believe it was the Chinese knock off stuff that hit our shores a few years back. But the vast amount of my business centers around the failure of their cheap Poly Thread. It disintegrates in a couple years and the toppers come apart.

I just got an inquiry to replace the topper on a 350 K bus. It is a 2011 and the thread is breaking already. I heard through the grapevine that China dumped alot of inferior Bonded Poly on the market and that must be what Carefree is using. This is why I now use only Sunguard and Solarifx and I get it from Miami. I know they source right from the factory and not a middle man.

Business has been phenomenal and I expect next year to be the same. All on the count of Carefree awnings. To be honest you should not spend $ 500 K for a new bus and then have to replace the toppers on it 3 years later because of fabric and thread failure. That is complete BS. If Carefree did it right I would be finding something else to do right now. :)

Chris

[Mike]

Chris do you mostly one color to be buying full rolls

[Mojo]

The vast majority are one color. Carefree used a certain color on almost all their toppers for several years and I was able to match that color in Sattler. I just had to order a 30 yard roll of Sattler for a big job which was a special black/charcoal tweed.

I just did a slide awning in admiral blue ( Recacril ) and I ordered just what I needed for that. But the tan color I use in Sattler I go through alot of yards of that stuff. That's why I am ordering large rolls. I placed a 30 yard roll of this tan a couple weeks ago and have burnt through that and will be ordering a full 60 yard roll once Miami gets it into Jacksonville based on several orders I got this week.

I get these goofy colors now and then and have to order small yardage of what I need. I do not like to keep that in stock as I have some I will never use again.

The orders just keep pouring in so I am now having to do something I have never had to do before, manage my inventory carefully. I also cannot afford to squeeze my margins by ordering the Tan fabric per job. I save on shipping and also get a price break on the fabric by ordering big rolls. It works out good.

When I get a chance someday I will have to go through Miami orders and see just how much fabric I have used in the last couple months. I am sure it is close or maybe even over 200 yards just of the tan color.

What really hurts though is while I am pushing huge amounts of fabric out the door I am burning through a lot of Solarfix thread. At $ 160 per spool I cry every time I call Mike and place another order of this stuff. Ouch....... he knows the drill. I call he answers and hears me crying and then says " you must need another spool of Solarfix ? "..............lol

Chris