Sunbrella Dodger

[Wings888]

Curious if anyone knows the secret to making a very tight sunbrella dodger and bimini. Is it the direction of the fabric, do we make it smaller than needed and then wet to install, or ???
There's a company in Seattle that make VERY tight canvas but we're in Florida.
Thanks

[Bill O]

Instead of the soft dodger, how about a hard one?

Fairly easy to make and will last longer than one made of sunbrella.

[Wings888]

The boat has a bridge deck to climb over. A hard dodger would look like a phone booth:-) Fortunately Beneteau has made tall soft dodgers that fold down the in-style now. Just needs to be tight.

[canvasman]

Start with a tight, smooth pattern. Draw your lines on the frames where the different pieces of canvas will be joined together. Often with a large frame I would taper the line up slightly toward the top part of the frame until reaching the centerline then back down again. This was usually done on biminis because the corners are pulled tightly down and the center portion can't get tensioned as much. Darts on the bimini should be properly marked and sewn to those lines. There should be no darts on a dodger. Where different pieces of canvas join, tick marks should be made on the pattern than transferred to the canvas. When the pieces are cut they should be "walked"together, allowing for the 1/2" seam allowance, to ensure they all fit together before stitching. Facing strips, I never used binding when I could use facing strips, work best when the "grain" is horizontal as sunbrella tends gather a bit when vertical. You have less gathering or stretch and more strength with facing. When making Sunbrella sail covers we had a rough formula that was around 1" extra fabric for every 2-3 yards of cover length. Mark all the parts of the pattern, port, starboard, outside etc. and take a lot of pictures. I still do this with my own boat and download them onto a laptop. It's really helpful to go back and view the pattern as a whole if your are unsure of something later on. I always found it helpful to work out the pattern as soon as possible while things are still fresh in my mind. Clean up the pattern, straighten out lines as needed, add seam allowance and trim to size. Biminis are a lot easier than dodgers. There is a reason prices seem high. Properly built marine canvas is labor intensive skillful work. Go for it. I started years ago making my own then was fortunate enough to work for someone in a one man shop who was truly at the top end of the field. I always felt if I could become half as good as he was I would be pretty fine.

[Bill O]

Majority of our upgrades on our boat is function over fashion. That said, we do want them aesthetically pleasing.

Guess my main question is will you ever take it down (especially in FL)?

The hard dodger will be a 1 time expense (similar to the cost of sunbrella this time) vs. a few years down the road to re-do it again.

Besides expense, there are many other functional gains of the hard dodger vs. the soft.

[Wings888]

We will definitely fold it down, both for easy access to the companionway and for ventilation.

[Wings888]

Thanks Canvasman for all those details. Quick question. The bimini is 10' wide. Is it better to run the fabric 10' side to side, or combine 2 pieces and run full length front to back? Which direction has the least amount of stretch/sag?

[marcjsmith]

Wings. its all about patterns. I did my dodger first and i though my patterns were spot on. the "roof" of the dodger is tight but the "sides" are a smidge loose. The fix would be for me to rip out about 3' of seams on each side and re stich, I'm willing to live with it...


the bimini turned out much better. and drum tight.

I would make the panels port to starboard. with the seams on the bows rather than having the seams running bow to stern. The sail rite videos are great videos as well. they walk you through patterning...



sorry no pics of the bimini patterns, i was by myself and the wind was coming up


also made a stack pack... Dodger seemed the hardest.

[Wings888]

Nicely done. BIG job. Looks great.
Many years ago I made a set of cushions. A week later my big toe found the needle that I lost in the carpet. All the money I saved on the cushions I paid to the doctor. Ha
I'll get professional help with the dodger, just wondering what to watch for and what suggestions to make.

[Spindrift NH]

Run the material fore to aft not side to side will prevent loose fitting. Preload the frames with straps and don’t use pattern plastic for tensioned pieces use tyvek which will not stretch or warp outta shape when you pull on it to pattern. Just a few tricks that Mark Hood teaches in his canvas training workshops.

[wingssail]

As for the dodger:

In the end you want tightness fore and aft over the top of the dodger and sideways down to where the dodger meets the deck or cabin top. These are finalized separately using the placement of the snaps or fasteners around the bottom edge of the dodger.

You do the best you can with the patterns and sew the Sunbrella to match the patterns but get the final tightness when you install the snaps or other fasteners around the bottom of the dodger.

The bottom edge of the dodger is cut last and trimmed to fit after determining where to put the snaps.

Going up the front and over the top you can get the final tightness by pulling the straps on the bows against the front edge snaps. So clamp off the front before putting any snaps in then pull the straps to get some level of tightness. Then install the front snaps. Now you can pull the straps very hard and see how perfectly taut the top and front are. Hopefully they will be tight.

For the sides, after the front snaps are on and the straps are pulled tight, you pull down the sides and mark where to put the side snaps. Then put in the final hem if you have not done so and put the snaps in where marked.

[Rumrace]

You’ll note Sister Jeanneau have smaller dodgers with the same not so tight canvas. I notice Ian Van Tyl of San Diego used local canvas maker with a hard plastic for windows. I think you’ll find the difference is the frame. Ian may send you in the right direction. Seems to be his way of commissioning a boat with local needs and wants locally supplied.