Dodger question: Do most people

[Hoodsail]

Had an old sewing machine that I bought used ($90) about 5 yrs ago...sewed interior cushions, binimi, dodger, toerail covers, winch covers...with Covid, I bit the bullet and bought a new Reliable Barracuda machine...good fun, if nothing else just for the name...must weigh 45 pounds. Less expensive than Sailrite machine and so far will sew thru multiple layers of heavy weight sunbrella…
Binimi was a job....wouldnt recommend it as your 1st sewing project...pick up Casey's book on canvas work & sail repair...it starts out slow and builds your skills up to sewing a mainsail!
Last, I give Sailrite some business but also shop around to buy sunbrella remnants at decent discount and look up the ZIPPER LADY, she's a kick..and a wealth of info...

[chriswheat]

Maybe have a look at Don Casey's sailboat maintenance tome, he walks you through making your own dodger. Pitchers and everything! Plus there's a lot of other useful information there.

[David B]

Originally Posted by AmzngGrace

Is sewing your own dodger within the realm of possible or do you have to be some type of sewing God? Are there any plans out there? Do you need a special sewing machine?

I would imagine the clears and bolt ropes would be the biggest issue by far.

[waterman46]

Due to the curves of the SS tubing and the boat itself, making a dodger is not a job for the inexperienced or impatient. We had ours made professionally, twice in 20 years. Even with the pattern of the old one, I would not be able to make a second one to look nearly as good as the original. And I have done a lot of sewing on my LSZ-1 from Sailrite. Covers for anything else on the boat are a better way to start.

But the cost savings, if you do "pull it off", would be wonderful.

[Mother1ship]

like nearly all boat projects, YOU CAN DO IT! However, it's going to be frustrating and you may have to be happy with a dodger that is less than perfect. Are we after Function over Form, or is the look of it the most important to you? A used a Heavy Duty Singer that I bought second hand -- it worked well enough to get the job done. The machine was only $200, and the fabric was (around) $200 -- presto bbingo a dodger for $400 and a bit of frustration. Sailrite videos are key, and having a large enough area to spread out for cutting and basting.

[Kd9truck]

Have at it!

[GrowleyMonster]

Mrs Monster has a nice Sailrite sewing machine. When we first met, she promised to make me a nice cushion for my favorite dock chair with it. Four years later, cushion still unmade. It's not about skill so much as about time. Most any mistake you make can be fixed, given time.

Dodgers and biminis can be complicated. So not knowing anything about it and having zero experience that I can point to, I will suggest doing something nice and rectangular first, like a settee or cockpit cushion, or some curtains, before tackling something more curvy and more fit-critical. But yeah, why not? The average member here is at least as smart as some of the canvas "professionals" I have seen.

[Amapola]

Sailrite has videos on sewing dodgers and other boat projects.

[StuartWeibel]

My reflections:
1.) The Sailright video on dodger construction is excellent (and now its even free). I paid for it ($25), and it was an excellent instructional values.
2.) Don't try this project without a walking foot sewing machine. Can it be done without one? Maybe, but I doubt it.
3.) Do not go with the Dodger kit that Sailright sells: the bows are sectional, and will not be as strong as you want. If you want their kit anyway, consider having one-piece bows made by a local contractor.
4.) Agree about a large space to lay out the pattern. Also, a large table with a low friction surface to sew on. 4' x 8' is NOT TOO BIG, and bigger would be better. The biggest enemy of regular stitching is the friction of the material on the sewing surface. Make a table with a $75 sheet of low friction surface plywood... and good lumberstore.
5.) Use of UV resistant thread is highly desireable. It is much harder to sew with, but the result will last much longer. This project is a LOT of work -- don't do it more often than you need to.
6.) Window material is important. Vinyl is cheap ($20 or $30). Special window material is more on the order of $200. I can't say if its worth it. I replaced my window material after 5 seasons... not a simple task. Would the stratoglass materials have been worth it? I don't know.
7.There is an excellent book: Frame Design for Boat Tops, Tom Hunter which will teach you how to design frames (Bows) for dodgers and related constructions. It is expensive for its size, but worthwhile. https://www.amazon.com/Frame-Design-.../dp/1502535564

This is the most complicated sewing project I've done, but it worked very nicely, and made all the difference in traveling the Inside Passage (rainy much of the summer) between seattle and alaska in my 26 foot cutter. Well worth the effort.

Best of luck!

[Poche]

Two things. Begin with a nice looking frame and don't mess around without a walking foot portable sewing machine or an industrial such as a Brother or Juki.
I don't care for the Sailrite frame designs. They are boxy and ungraceful. They do sell an excellent, inexpensive portable walking foot.
There have been people that have used household Singers and Pfaffs but in my opinion they are not suitable to make quality canvas products. You will tear your hair out trying.
If you do buy the Sailrite machine, you will always get your money back out of it if you decide to sell it.
Lastly, if you are just learning to sew, start on other projects. Dodgers can be the most challenging and not recommended for a novice.

[Bycrick]

Yes, you can do it. But ......

I’d done all the other projects: weather clothes, two sail covers, 5 cockpit cushions, 17 interior cushions. I’m ready. After about a month of sew, fit, sag, buckle, remove, unstitch, remark, sew, repeat, I was ready to burn it all.

Then I found a fellow in the anchorage, that had been a canvas maker. He came over, showed me what was wrong, remarked everything in about 45 minutes. I stitched on his marks and it was done.

The sewing was the easy part.

[Davo1404]

Sailor 647 comments & advice is spot on. Dodgers are very hard to fabricate with all the shapes and curves. I have seen many professionals who stuff them up. The experts never use the old one. They make a pattern out of plastic sheet. They need to be stretched really tight onto the fastenings otherwise you get wrinkles. Go for the top of the line for the clears.
Good luck.

[wingssail]

Many people will say you can't do it, or it will be worse than the crummiest professional job, that you have to have a walking foot machine, you can't make you own bows, etc etc, or put so many "must haves" on it you will decide it is not worth it.

That is all nonsense in my opinion.

I did my first dodger (for my own boat) as one of the first projects with my Sailrite machine. (It is not a walking foot machine.) I bent my own bows with a crude pipe bender I made out of plywood and 2x4's. I did not have a big area to work on the project, I did it on the boat. I had no patterns to start with. I used ordinary window material and all canvas supplies from Seattle Canvas.

What I did do right:
I worked with the design before starting to get the look I wanted.
I made patterns over the frame out of heavy butcher paper.
I bought plenty of fasteners of all kinds (and I still have 25 years later, a good supply of them).

It took four days. The hardest part is sewing in the windows because of the lack of a flat surface, and you want them without wrinkles. But it can be done.

That dodger lasted about 10 years.

My second one was significantly better. (In the meantime I made one for another cruiser, it was barely acceptable, but it did not cost them much.)

I am now on our third dodger using the same frame and design. It is still not as good as a pro dodger but it's fine. It's strong, keeps ALL the water away from the companionway and I like the look of it. For the price of the materials, I saved, over the years, about $10,000.

If you want perfect, buy a professionally built dodger. if you have a sense of adventure, creativity, and willingness to take arisk, and want to save money, do your own.

[Sailing Ohm]

It’s one of the toughest sewing jobs on a boat. My wife and I have done two for neighbors before we works on ours.
Totally doable if you have sewing experience and can follow directions. If new to sewing I suggest doing an easier project then coming back to the dodger.

If I remember correctly each one was about 40 hrs of work total.
Advice:
-Get a proper sail rite/ or heavy duty sewing machine. It’s not the fabric instead that’s a problem but the glass + 6 layers of fabric and basting tape gets tough even on the sailrite.
-DO NOT USE THE OLD ONE! Buy patterning material and make your pattern new. The old stuff stretched guaranteed.
- follow sail rite advice exactly and you’ll be fine.
- We’ve been using WeatherMax fabric instead of sunbrella (about half the cost)
- Basting tape truly is “really great stuff” (of course said in the sailrite video narrator voice)

[longjonsilver]

Originally Posted by chriswheat

Maybe have a look at Don Casey's sailboat maintenance tome, he walks you through making your own dodger. Pitchers and everything!

Do they even have batters and catchers for those dodgers?