Bimini Help

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Sorry to hijack but how close are the TEMPOTEST colors to Sunbrella? For example, if you laid pieces of Navy or Beige Sunbrella/TEMPOTEST next to each other, how close do they match.

I just am thinking if 2 articles were a couple feet away from each other, would you notice.

I don't consider this a hijack.

I have some samples of sunbrella so will try to do some matching later on this week and will let you know.

Virginia

[Darren Henry]

I had a little suggestion to share on this that I forgot to include in our chat the other day. I thought I'd post it here for everyone.

You mentioned that you had the bows, but not the boat. I used to put 2- 2X4's on the floor and mount a couple of deck hinges & pad eyes so that they became the gunnels of the boat. Then I set up the bows the same way I would on the real boat. No ladders and you don't have to work around swim noodles and cruiser tanks and all the other junk people leave in their boats LOL

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Excellent suggestion, Darren, and I was planning on setting the bows up in some fashion to make sure that my work is spot-on.

As far as tempotest and sunbrella matching, some colors are absolutely true.  Both have a toast (darker beige IMO) and I cannot discern any difference.  Powder blue and sky blue are very close, pacific blue and mediterranean blue match up pretty nicely and beige and tresco's (more than one choice) work well together.  Hope that helps.

Virginia

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Thanks to everyone for all of your assistance.

Customer came over Tuesday and we agreed on a Tempotest fabric and that I would also be doing both of the bimini's (they zipper together).  Brought the second bimini piece to me Wed so that I could get accurate measurements and determine how many zippers I need.

Emailed him my bid Thursday and so far have not heard back from him.  I do not feel the bid was outrageous, considering 2 individual bimini's with a total of 12 zippers to be sewn in.

If I hear back with a go ahead, I'll let you know.

Thanks!

Virginia

[Mojo]

You wont go wrong with the Tempotest. If you ever need technical assistance let me know and I can get you in touch with the right person.

We started using Tempotest on some colors that we cannot get from Sattler. We dropped Recacril because of quality issues. We will never use Sunbrella. DocrilMike sent us a cut of Docril to test and we really liked the stiff hand and the way i sewed. I do not think Mike sells cut yardage of Docril, only full rolls.  You can check with him on that.
Docril is manufactured in Barcelona.

Have you tried upselling Solarfix yet ?Mike and Rick and myself have had excellent luck upselling it.

Chris T

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Have you tried upselling Solarfix yet ?Mike and Rick and myself have had excellent luck upselling it.

Chris T

Is that the link where you can sell excess vinyl?  If so, I've not had a chance to yet but intend to get going on that in the near future.

My customer emailed me yesterday and accepted my bid on the bimini project!  Also, wisely opted to replace both pieces, even though only one had torn.  My feeling was that the second bimini piece would tear sooner rather than later and we'd be jumping through hoops to replace that other section.  At any rate, Jerry was by this afternoon to pay for Tempotest and part of the labor so I'll be placing my order through Miami yet this week.

I'm ecstatic that I landed the project.  I'm almost finished with my last customer quilt so it's nice to have a project with some meat to it.

Virginia

[Mike]

good 4 u   I just finished these 2 tops

https://scontent-mia1-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16174474_10208442683239995_4911945266441664528_n.jpg?oh=30134263f22ddf66a27800ee507ff15f&oe=5911E1CB

also this  seating
https://scontent-mia1-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16142427_10208442683279996_792676577017112372_n.jpg?oh=3bd7c9b33e90cc3cb399a1452372a6d8&oe=590DC6AA

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Wow, Mike!

Your work is always incredible!  I love the seats, especially the contrast welting (if that is what it's called).  Very sharp at any rate.

Virginia

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Finally got the Tempotest ordered for the bimini this morning.  Got shipping notification early this afternoon so that was pleasing.  Expect it to come either tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on shipment method used and where it ships out from.  May get this project done yet!

Virginia

[brmax]

I would sure like to hear your working opinion with it as you do the project. I remember some talk of both their coated and non coated so appreciate any tips on it. Their site i need to look at some more as interest with categories and will take a look.  ts a benefit around here with the ability in using both marine styles they make. There sure is a lot of places in the Ohio area with fabric materials i guess.

good day
Floyd

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Good Morning Floyd!

I ordered the uncoated, for what it's worth.  I'll let you know how things go.  From the sample cards, it definitely has a nice texture so we will see how it goes.  Now that the tempotest is ordered, I'm getting itchy fingers to get to going on it.  Have spent the last week and a half getting alterations out of the way so that I can devote working hours to this project.  Will do alterations in the evenings and on weekends so that will slow them down a bit but this project gets top billing until it is completed.

Just checked UPS tracking and order is projected to deliver COB Wed.  Shipped from Kokomo, IN.  Web doesn't indicate shipping method but I'm betting ground.  Still 2 day from order to receipt is nothing to sneeze about.

Hope that everyone has a great day and week! 

Virginia

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

I should start cutting fabric tomorrow.  Arrived around 11 on Wed.  Removed protective wrapping to have a look see.  Color is very close to the original but, most importantly, it is obviously the correct composition as feels identical to what was removed -- maybe a little stiffer since it is brand new.  Took lots of pictures of the existing bimini in various stages of tear out, plus made a detailed diagram of where zippers go, along with measurements.  I'm pretty confident that I did the pre-work correctly.

Virginia

[Darren Henry]

I should start cutting fabric tomorrow.

First you need to set up the old tops and move the bows to where they should be, not where they were. then you can make your patterns. You want the two tops to form a straight ridgeline---not a two humped camel like many pontoon boats.

[Mojo]

Virginia:

When dealing with acrylics, every manufacturer has a slightly different  " hand " ( feel ). Tempotest and Docril have stiffer hands then Sunbrella and Sattler. The main reason can be attributed to the way the factory finishes the product and the chemical formula. Also the hand can change according to colors. Some colors require more finishes for UV stability versus other colors.

Stiff or soft hands do not really correspond or relate to quality. The main quality factors are the weave and the fibers used. The European acrylics are much better then others such as Sunbrella because they use higher end fibers and they also use a special weave process that resists stretching and shrinkage.

In awning fabric replacements we prefer the stiff hand versus the soft. It makes it easier for creasing, folding, pocketing and machining.

Chris

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Thanks for keeping me grounded Darren.  I'm going to see if I can get the bows downstairs later today.  If not, I'll set them up in the garage.

Chris, thanks for the explanation about the "stiffness" factor I had noticed in the fabric!  I love fun factoids like that!

Virginia