Bimini Conversion from Sunbrella to Stamoid Part 1

Recently I was caught in a rain storm while fishing in my Tin boat. No worries I thought because I have a fine Sunbrella Bimini Top. I put the Top up, watched the rain come closer and closer all the while moving my Yeti Roadie to the center of the Top and sat down on it. By now the rain drops are falling on the Sunbrella Canvas, I smile to myself for carrying a top around. Well the rest of the story, the Sunbrella canvas almost instantly started leaking thru. This top had only been out 3 times for sun protection not rain. I thought to myself I can fix this, being a Carver Factory made top, the same top I replaced the Zipper on the Boot a while back, I had riveted the hardware in place as the Nylon fittings would not stay in place with the set screws provided. Now I had to break down the frame pulling all the hardware & straps thru the Bow Pockets one by one till nothing but canvas is laying on my sewing table.

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At this point, before I start taking the canvas apart I like to mark up the canvas front & back, port & starboard, topside and underside, etc.

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Starting with ripping the first Bow Pocket to remove it I made a mess with cut threads. I have to use a vacuum to clean it all up.

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Not wanting to spend so much time cleaning up I switched to cutting the canvas apart for the patterns. Now by cutting things go much faster but I have to keep in mind where a sewing seam allowance must be added.

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Once all the pieces of the top are separated the reason for marking up of the parts becomes more evident.

When I buy a new vehicle I always order the factory service manual at the same time from the Parts Dept. Here I use the weight of the books to hold the canvas from moving while I trace out the new material.

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In photos 12 & 13 you can see the added "Seam Allowance" for sewing the two larger pieces of Stamoid together.

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Here the first piece of the new top is cut out and ready for sewing.

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Not wanting to write directly on the new material a piece of tape works great for temporary labeling.

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When tracing out the new pattern pieces you can use a straight edge to straighten out your wavy tracings. Once sewn out the corrections will help your top look more professional.

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Again I need to add another seam allowance so I used a bit of 1/2in wide tape to even out my tracings at the same time on the curved cut.

Now for a absolute waterproof seam a Flat Felled Seam is needed. Lots of labor is involved but waterproof is what we are after.

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The tape pictured in photo 18 is a Double Sided Basting Tape for holding two pattern pieces together for sewing. It also serves as a seam sealer. In the next frame since the two pattern pieces have opposing curves that must be sewn together I have applied the basting tape to the surface along the seam allowance then matched the two halves together. I always start in the middle and work to each end, starting in the middle is best for all basting. Once basted the first seam is sewn before moving on.

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Once sewn, I add more basting tape to hold the flap folded, fold the flap or seam allowance over onto the basting tape and proceed to place another run of basting tape over the top of the flap.

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