Sails are an indispensable attribute of a yacht. As a rule, any person who has managed to make a yacht with his own hands will not buy sails, but will try to make them on his own. For this, in addition to desire, skills in handling a sewing machine and suitable material are required. Of course, patience and accuracy are also required.
It is necessary
Sewing machine, needles, cotton fabric, thread (lavsan, nylon), wire
Instructions
Step 1
Prepare the necessary materials and equipment. For sewing the sail, use a sewing machine capable of sewing a zigzag seam - it has high strength and does not allow the canvas to stretch in the transverse direction. You will also need a thick and sharp needle and a thread corresponding to it in strength (lavsan or nylon). When choosing a thread, keep in mind that in some cases you will have to use a double thread for strength. The thread can also be colored, it highlights the seams well, it is only important that when it gets wet it does not dye the sail fabric.
Step 2
Choose a cotton fabric with a width of 70 to 150 cm. Pre-strengthen the canvases with folds of false seams, breaking into strips 30-45 cm wide, since wide panels will not be strong enough and can stretch under the influence of the wind.
Step 3
When making a fake seam, mark the folds in advance. To do this, spread the fabric on the floor and, about 90-100 cm wide, draw two lines with a pencil parallel to the side edge to divide the cloth into three equal parts.
Step 4
Make a fold exactly along the pencil line and sew the seam with long stitches on a typewriter. For small vessels, the width of the fake seam should be about 1.5 cm, for larger vessels - about 2.5 cm. Place the panels previously stitched in this way on the sail drawing, made in full size, and then sew.
Step 5
Sew some of the seams by hand using a needle and thimble. It is best to use a triangular needle, which is often included with camping needles. A thread that is too strong will tear the fabric when tightening the stitch, so choose a thread with a lower strength and minimum thickness for hand sewing. Fold the thread in half or even four if necessary. To make sewing easier, rub the thread with wax or regular soap. The average stitch length should be about 5 mm.
Step 6
Sew the two panels with a round stitch. Fold the two edges together, pierce the fabric with the needle away from you and draw the needle around the edges; then make a new puncture at a distance of double or triple the thickness of the thread.
Step 7
At the end of the work, overcast the holes in the sail (eyelets) in the same way. Roll a ring of wire (copper, brass or aluminum) to the diameter of the hole. Solder the ends of the ring. Place the ring on the sail, outlining it from the inside, and then make a hole in the sail about half the diameter of the ring. After that, overcast the ring with thread, tightening the stitches as tightly as possible. The sail is ready.
