Patterning to Existing Canvas

[Peppy]

I was building this the other day and thought I'd show you folks how I do this.



I sew a 3" or so wide strip of window material to a zipper. The window vinyl takes tape really well making it easy to get the pattern stuck to it.



I've snapped my tensioning straps to the 3" piece, so the pattern pulls from the same place the top will. Around the bend you have to nip the 3" piece so it'll follow the pattern. I used packing tape to help the piece take shape.



with paper





I call this the zipper trick. We used to tape the pattern to the sunbrella and trace the zipper teeth. Tape doesn't stick to sunbrella and it was very aggravating. This way when the pattern is unzipped and the zipper unstitched the edge of the 3" piece becomes cut size.


As a side note, here's one way of getting around the asymmetrical-ness of boats when making 1/2 a pattern. If I wasn't able to this this easily, I'd make everything except the door with the beaver tail and then pattern the door last using zipper tricks.



I won't be putting this on till spring I think but I'll try to get a picture then.

[Mike8560]

Peppy would you make the door in one piece with the camper panel meaning no seam like it was added on? and just wondering how can your company spend time staring this job not finnishing and gettign ais till your done rather then work on somthing to get money now?

[Peppy]

Yes the door will be one piece. The afterthought beaver tail looks stupid.

We do winter storage too. A lot of it for work. There's a 60'x80' heated building and three quonset hut type buildings. We book more work than will fit in the heat so we try to take as much apart or patternize as much as we can before too much snow comes and we can't move anything around anymore. This pattern will sit till later when I'm busy laying carpet or upholstering interiors the sewer has something to sew. While the boss is in Mexico I might add. We got storage and 2/3rds out of this guy, the rest in the spring.

[JuneC]

That's really interesting, Peppy.  I zip to pattern plastic directly, but I can see where your method works really well in a contained environment. 

Wish I had a heated shop  :'(  My hands get so dang cold when those fronts come through here I can barely function.  We've had a cold season already in FL - though you'd probably be swimming in the ocean. 

June

[Mike8560]

Good idea. I just clamp my pattern plastic to a new zipper zipped to the old top.
If I'm using canvas as in the finnished top I'll sew the zipper in the center and then clamp the top to the zipper and mark it.

[JuneC]

Just went over your technique again, Peppy.  While the pattern might be dead on, it does require ripping the zip off your template and restitching to the finished product?  I'd hate to have to rip the zip from my template - especially glass.  I find that there's a much higher probability of the seam ripper cutting the zip tape when it's sewn to something much more sturdy with different stretch properties.  Maybe it's the way I use the ripper.  I have good results when ripping seams where both parts are the same fabric - no so much when the 2 fabrics sewn together are different.

June

[Mike8560]

good point June Ive ripped a few zippers also. besides a ripper ill use a sharp utility blade to open the seam its it verry riticle ill pull the two apart and cut the thread with the touch o the blade  .

[Peppy]

Ya this way needs the zipper pulled off. You could technically just use the trick as an anchor point and trace your line from the zipper. You could reuse the same trick over again. We (I should say SHE) rips the zipper off. She puts the plastic under the sewing machine foot to hold it and pulls on the zipper and taps the treads with a snap off blade knife. She's good at it and doesn't hit the zipper. Or well, doesn't tell me when she does. No seam rippers at our shop. I have cut the zipper tape, I know what your talking about. We like taking the zipper off because the reference marks are already on it. If you nick the tape you could always bind it. Or bind it first maybe.

[fragged8]

i love seeing how other pople do stuff but then i try to
do it and get all messed up mixing methods together.

Peppy, how do you go about putting the bow pockets
around the frame in a top like that


rich

[Peppy]

i love seeing how other pople do stuff but then i try to
do it and get all messed up mixing methods together.

Too right! Seems everybody doing canvas invented their own wheel. Which sucks because we all use a different gauge.

Peppy, how do you go about putting the bow pockets
around the frame in a top like that

I don't have a great picture. Our tarps either zip off or snap off the bar.


That connecting flap stops at the bend mark (ie the last pice of the pipe that's 'straight') and around the radius tabs snap to the bar. 3 tabs usually on each side of the top at each flap.

Tabs let you fit the top nicely. It's just the drilling the ss that sucks. We have shaped pockets sometimes or made a 'tab piece' continuation of the flap and still used the snaps in the bar, but I like tabs.

(the tabs around the tension bar are velcro ties and are not drilled to the bar.)

[Peppy]

The owner called today and wants to come see it tomorrow so, snap to it!

[Mike8560]

Peppy seems the transome door is on the starboard yet tou patterned the port

Why did t you do the starboard the just eliminate the door on the port side.
I just patterned a mooring cover snap on on the deck boat today and did the port case there was a door on the port side

[Peppy]

Ya I will usually make my patterns on the door side, or down rigger side, unless the frame or the boat is a little out. Most times the windshield is 1/2" out front to back so I'll make it on the big side. If you make it on the small side it'll be to short on the big side. In this case it may have been the bar's height to the gunnel was out and pattern side was the big side.

More likely it's because I'm lazy and wanted to walk back and forth through the door instead of hoping over the transom.

[Mike8560]

lazy ahh thats it, what do you meen by downrigger side?

[Peppy]

Do you guys not use downriggers? Lots of boats only have one mount or the downrigger only gets in the way of tarp on the one side. Since they're not symmetrical. Stupid things. Mostly they just get in the way and make more work.