My boat cover build

[JakeK]

I had a couple requests for this come out of the "what did you do to your boat today" thread and being stuck here at the house for a while, I'm putting social distancing to work and building this three piece cover I've been planning for 6 months or so.  Some questions came up about how much time this really takes and I can't really answer that honestly, so I figured I would briefly document time and cost in this thread.  This isn't meant to be a "how to"...I'm no expert but I've been sewing canvas for a few years now, making plenty of mistakes, and taking on more and more aggressive projects.  I try to cut no corners when it comes to material or equipment when I can afford it (general policy ;-)).  So, here goes. 

I've already finished the center cover for my RF16.  I'm not completely pleased with the few puckers it has but chalking it up to the experience.   I've been covering the boat with a massive tarp until I got around to this project and found the tarp incredibly unwieldy - so much so, that there are times I delay putting it on when I get back from a trip and I want to avoid that by making the cover(s) easier to install and remove.  To do this, I had a brain fart to make it a three piece cover with a center bikini and an overlapping front and rear section.  It takes more material and it's EASILY arguable that I'm spending more time and money making this cover than I would buying a tarp every year and investing the time to install and remove it every trip....but that's not what this is about ;-).  It's about making a cover that I'm proud of and that goes on and off easy.  That simple.

I live three hours from the coast and try to get out to the salt twelve times a year and I really enjoy a boat that is in tip top shape first mechanically and second cosmetically.  I've been focusing on the mechanical and functionality this past year since I bought the boat in March 2019 and with this cover project, I'll start really diving into the cosmetics.  It's an 11 year old boat that lived on a lift and she's due a little TLC but I don't want to get into that cosmetic TLC until I have a cover that I'll use reliably.

Here's the center cover as it sits today.

 

[JakeK]

Most of my equipment comes via sailrite (www.sailrite.com).  I am not affiliated with them in any way other than having a retailer account through them (I do some work for others) but I've tried off-brand industrial sewing equipment and struggled with it.  Once I upgraded to a genuine Sailrite Professional machine, things got a LOT better.  I've built and repaired sails, catamaran trampolines, etc.  This machine has some SERIOUS power (1.5hp) to do just about anything.  The only thing it does lack is foot height.  Raising the foot gives a minimal amount of clearance - it's plenty to build this cover but there are times when the material stacks up that it is a bit of a wrestling match to get the initial group of fabric under the foot.  My machine, on the flip side, has an adjustable zig zag or straight stitch that a lot of machines with a high foot clearance do not have.  I used to think the zig-zag stitch was going to be a lot more important to me than it turned out to be.  Zig-zag (two point) is only really needed on stretchy materials - like spinnaker sails.  I use that occasionally but it's pretty rare.  I digress....

Sewing Machine: Sailrite Professional Zig-Zag (2 point) with workhorse (equivalent) servo and a custom encoder/synchronizer to always stop the machine with the needle in the down position.

Thread: Tenara (teflon) - rated to last longer than the fabric...but it's a little pricey and it's really tricky to get setup and dial in for different fabric thicknesses through a sewing machine made for fibrous threads.

Fabric: Top Gun 2S.  I have had boat covers made out of top gun last 14 years.  The thread typically evaporates long before the fabric starts to give up (which is why I'm using Tenara here).  Top Gun has a weird property with stretch and shrinkage.  It loosens when it's cold and shrinks when it's hot.  Over the life of the fabric, you will see it shrink 1" for about every 6' in my experience.  I build adjustable straps into my builds for this reason.

Edging: Sunbrella bias edge Binding Tape (1") with a sailrite binding tape swing away feeder.

Strapping: 1" polyester webbing

Hardware: YKK clasps, hooks, and buckles.  Stainless steel hardware sourced from ebay.

 

 

 

[JakeK]

With the middle piece done, I started with the front cover tonight.  I dropped a tape measure across the widest parts of where I want fabric to land and cover the trolling motor and determined that I need to start with a 10' x 10' square.  Top Gun fabric comes 62" wide and costs about $19/yd, retail.  I'm using a little under 7 yards for this front cover so the fabric would cost about $120.

I do a lot of things the hard way, first, to try and avoid the pain of gaining experience ;-). Seriously, I'm a bit of an idiot in this regard...spend $100 to save $10.  Anyway, here's how I measured the fabric needed for the front after taking a few key measurements off the boat.

I can tack a little onto the nose if my 120" falls short and 10' x10' feels clean.  To make the 10'x10' square:

roll out, measure, and trim 62" wide fabric to 120" with a hot knife.  Marking with a lead pencil (part of the reason I selected the tan fabric!).  The hot knife isn't absolutely necessary but it means that I don't need to roll the hem into a closed loop because it melts the fabric and coating together and prevents any chance that it will fray after cutting.  Rolling the hems would be a magnificent PIA.  This knife is worth $120.  I use the underside of a 60" aluminum straight edge to protect the floor from the hot knife.

Here's where I've learned the hard way; I need to sew these two 10' pieces together to roughly make a 10' wide piece.  Typically you will use all manners of clips, clamps, or pins to hold the edge of the fabric straight when you sew it.  I've got a walking-foot machine that can chew through some serious stuff so I just staple it with a nice pliers-style stapler dropping in a staple about every foot or so.  It's much faster and seriously less fussy.  After stapling the edges in-line, I make big flumping rolls of the non-stapled side to get it into a more manageable hot-dog.  The big flumpy rolls are better than a tight roll because a tight roll will force slack inside fabric against the staples.  Literally pick the fabric up and throw it forward making a big flumpy roll.  Not sure how else to describe that but it lets the slack work it's way into the roll instead of toward the future hem. You want air between layers to let the fabric slide.

I've got a $40 plastic folding table (Walmart) that works very very well for feeding long materials to the sewing machine.  It's slippery and I move it all over the place to get the feed just right.

 

 

With that initial 10' stitching done, time to prepare to finish the flat felled seam.  I laid the fabric back out on the floor and remove the staples (much more quick than wrestling a bunch of clamps or pins), then I roll the top side and bottom side separately, place back to feed the machine paying particular attention to have the short seam under the previous stitching to lay under the foot of the machine for the next step.

With that seam out of the way, done. I spent 45 minutes making this flat felled seam for the front cover.  This ~should~ be the entire front cover if I made my measurements correctly.

(thread tension was just a little bit loose for the last stitching judging by the side step of the last stitch.)

 

 

[Wanaflatsfish]

Great info and project...yours is THE FIRST DIY BOAT COVER I think we've had on the forum.

 

Well Done....you must have spent lots of time in Home Ec. classes in High School ?

 

Thanks for sharing....

 

dc

 

[JakeK]

4 hours ago, Wanaflatsfish said:

Well Done....you must have spent lots of time in Home Ec. classes in High School ?

 

Nah, just a serious tinker-er of all things.  I'm a mechanical engineer (robotics in food and beverage industries) and a graphic designer.  I own/operate a graphic business as a side hustle.  I initially got into sewing to customize my racing sailboats and it morphed into other uses.

[hawg]

Thank you.

[DonV]

Ya know Jake, that floor in your shop is way, way too nice. I'm kinda used to beat up concrete. Nice work!!

[JakeK]

1 minute ago, DonV said:

Ya know Jake, that floor in your shop is way, way too nice. I'm kinda used to beat up concrete. Nice work!!

Hah...yeah.  I am spoiled with my workspaces.  That's the upstairs graphics/printer/laminating area.  The downstairs shop is still 2/3rd rough old dusty concrete...but that's on the up and up this year too.  I've got 1/3rd of it tiled now (what a job that is!).  I'm hoping to get back on it sometime later this year and finish the flooring down there when I can have employees over again to help.

 

[BradM]

8 hours ago, JakeK said:

Nah, just a serious tinker-er of all things.  I'm a mechanical engineer (robotics in food and beverage industries) and a graphic designer.  I own/operate a graphic business as a side hustle.  I initially got into sewing to customize my racing sailboats and it morphed into other uses.

Uh oh....One of "those" guys! Great thread, I have enjoyed it a lot! Thank you for taking the time to write it all up and share pics. 

[Shallowminded6]

21 hours ago, JakeK said:

I had a couple requests for this come out of the "what did you do to your boat today" thread and being stuck here at the house for a while, I'm putting social distancing to work and building this three piece cover I've been planning for 6 months or so.  Some questions came up about how much time this really takes and I can't really answer that honestly, so I figured I would briefly document time and cost in this thread.  This isn't meant to be a "how to"...I'm no expert but I've been sewing canvas for a few years now, making plenty of mistakes, and taking on more and more aggressive projects.  I try to cut no corners when it comes to material or equipment when I can afford it (general policy ;-)).  So, here goes. 

I've already finished the center cover for my RF16.  I'm not completely pleased with the few puckers it has but chalking it up to the experience.   I've been covering the boat with a massive tarp until I got around to this project and found the tarp incredibly unwieldy - so much so, that there are times I delay putting it on when I get back from a trip and I want to avoid that by making the cover(s) easier to install and remove.  To do this, I had a brain fart to make it a three piece cover with a center bikini and an overlapping front and rear section.  It takes more material and it's EASILY arguable that I'm spending more time and money making this cover than I would buying a tarp every year and investing the time to install and remove it every trip....but that's not what this is about ;-).  It's about making a cover that I'm proud of and that goes on and off easy.  That simple.

I live three hours from the coast and try to get out to the salt twelve times a year and I really enjoy a boat that is in tip top shape first mechanically and second cosmetically.  I've been focusing on the mechanical and functionality this past year since I bought the boat in March 2019 and with this cover project, I'll start really diving into the cosmetics.  It's an 11 year old boat that lived on a lift and she's due a little TLC but I don't want to get into that cosmetic TLC until I have a cover that I'll use reliably.

Here's the center cover as it sits today.

 

Thank you for doing the thread on it. Pretty cool building your own. Sounds like you made it so it will last a long time. 

[JakeK]

I spent about an hour and a half on the front cover last night.  The square 10'x10' piece first was drapped over the boat and middle cover and then clamped in place to make sure there was enough fabric to cover everything.  That checked out fine and I had hoped to get into marking and clamping darts right away but where the covers overlap left a tent of fabric where I planned to put in a gentle parabolic curve.  That fabric needed be removed so it would lay correctly before I started taking up slack elsewhere and I needed to secure those two covers together before starting the final fitting.  I marked where I wanted the clips to land on the existing middle cover and where they needed to land on the front cover and hauled both covers back upstairs.

Showing the tented area that needs to be cut away before the fitting really begins:

 

Marking the attachment points:

 

Creating the parabolic curve using a couple of led weights taped to the floor and an 8' piece of 3/4" PVC tubing.  This would have been easier with a second pair of hands but my wife was busy making dinner and my dogs are useless in this regard.

 

Preparing the hardware to attach the front cover to the middle cover

I use "seam-stick" basting tape (a gooey double sided tape) made for canvas when attaching hardware like this.  It tacks them in place and it can just be sewn straight through and left inside the assembly.

 

Making a reinforcement patch to go over this hardware strap

 

Hardware now attached to the middle cover (boy that tan starts to show rain streaks quickly!  I might need to build a shed to keep my boat cover clean 😉)

 

 

I don't have a picture of it but I just quickly attached a couple of straps to the front cover to temporarily hold it in place.  I'll do a final positioning of those near the end of the front cover build process.  With the parabolic curve in place, the front now overlaps the middle much more nicely and it's time to start building shape into it.

I had hoped to avoid a lot of fitting, adjusting, refitting by being smarter with marking and clamping more darts at once.  I quickly discovered that I don't own enough pony clamps to do that in any meaningful scale.  It's impossible to bunch and gather the next handful of loose fabric without the first one well contained with clamps and I've got enough clamps to get through two modestly sized darts at a time.  I started at the spot with the most weird stuff going on - the trolling motor head.  I'm only taking these darts down to the rub rail because the geometry makes a dramatic change there - I want to shape the top and then shape the area below the rub rail.  I clamped it to where it started to take a good shape and made pencil marks where the fabric sides make contact and the slack is removed and hauled it all upstairs again.

I then transferred those marks to the inside of the fabric and folded it so that slack was to the inside, stapled the loose fabric to keep the two sides aligned, and then sewed right on the inside pencil lines.

After stitching those together, I placed it back on the boat and started marking the next group.  This group looks OK.  I haven't cut away and made the flat felled seam on any of these yet - I can still come back and adjust them and may tighten one of these up a little more by putting a second row of stitching on the dart if needed.

It was at this point that dinner was ready so I hung it up for the night.