who best to repair stitching on sail covers

[Joel Silverberg]

I need to have some stitching repaired on my sail covers. Is this something a sailmaker would do when he or she cleans my sails or would it be better to take this to a canvas shop that works on dodgers and the like?



joels@ids.net

[Will W.]

I used the sailmaker. He charged me $50 to rebuild my sailcover after the stitching disintegrated. If you are in the Annapolis area you will have dozens to choose from. I used Scott Sailmakers for what that is worth. My dad recommended them so they are probably pretty expensive but very good. I only just used them this year so I cannot attest to the quality of work yet.

Happy Sailing,
Will Wheatley
Suzi Q
CD25

I need to have some stitching repaired on my sail covers. Is this something a sailmaker would do when he or she cleans my sails or would it be better to take this to a canvas shop that works on dodgers and the like?

willwheatley@starpower.net

[Larry DeMers]

Or...you could do them yourself~! Don't forget that this is an easy repair for someone with a sewing machine. Actaully, the older the machine is, the better it turns out. The older (say 1980's vintage) Singer sewing machines are available here for a used price of $25-125, depending on condition and accessories. We have a cast iron model that will do zig-zag stitching, and has a zipper foot only. This thing will go thru 7 layers of sunbrella without slowing down hardly. Jan has built a ton of things using this machine.
Including repairing sail covers before replacing them with home built new ones.

Above all..be certain to use UV resistant thread. Cotton thread deteriorates in the UV, so a UV stabilized thread will last many times as long before problems start.

Cheers,

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30

I need to have some stitching repaired on my sail covers. Is this something a sailmaker would do when he or she cleans my sails or would it be better to take this to a canvas shop that works on dodgers and the like?

demers@sgi.com

[len]

joel

this is one of my annual winter projects - i usually do it by hand using the Speedy Stitcher (a sort of hand sewing machine available for less than $20 from West marine, a truly great product) which has heavy duty thrread and very heavy needles that can punch through anything - my mainsail cover is almost 20 years old, looks it close up - i find it helps to reinforce it on the inside with canvas (my sailmaker gave me enough scraps to last a lifetime)

len



md.frel@nwh.org