hi has anyone ever made there own replacment awning ?
i found a 30 yd roll of sunbrella 9.25 oz fabric at a good
price i dont see any proublum for the window awning but
for the main awning how would you run the seams one
long seam lenth ways or run them up & down hope some
one can help thanks john
The awning fabric that I have for a replacement was designed to run at a 90 degree to the side of the bus. I purchased 12 yrds for a 14x10 awning.
Good luck!
hi i forgot to say that its 46 " wide fabric 9.25 oz good ?
john
My awning has the original fabric, but to me it seems very much like everyday plastic tarp fabric
Zip/Dee uses the Sunbrella fabric 46 inches wide and is sewed with a 1 inch over lap double stitched up and down good luck
Take your fabric to your local truck tarp repair shop. they will be glad to sew it up for you.
John,
Sunbrella is an excellent fabric for awnings. In a large awning the stress on the seams will be less if they are running up and down the awning. It is important that the extrusions are sewn in the top and bottom perfectly square so the awning will unroll and roll straight.
Sunbrella does not have a great resistance to abrasion so use a reinforcing fabric in each corner particularly at the ends of the tracks.
HTH, Iver.
thanks for all the imfo does any one have pictures of the seams and reinforsed corners
as i want to change from vinal to sunbrella this fabric that i am looking at is 9.25 oz
is that a good strong fabric or do i need something stronger thanks
Before getting too deeply into the technical issues of seams and re-inforcement it might be worth considering the practicalities of doing the sewing yourself rather than giving the job to a professional. Acrylic canvas (eg Sunbrella brand and others) is on the whole a far superior fabric to vinyl, although it is more prone to abrasion damage as has been said. One major advantage it has is that it can be sewn on a domestic sewing machine, albeit with heavy thread and suitable needles. Bear in mind though the bulk and weight of fabric you will be trying to pass under the small arm of that domestic machine when doing 'centre' seams - it does make the job much more difficult than you might be expecting, and if you are not sure about other aspects of the job as well it might be better to give the whole project to someone who knows what they are doing.
I cannot comment on the 9.25oz weight as it doesn't mean anything to me especially as I don't know what area of fabric the weight relates to - however I don't think you need a particularly heavy fabric if the awning is properly designed / supported / protected. It might be worth considering the extra-cost coated Sunbrella they do - it makes the fabric stiffer and less prone to going floppy and baggy as will happen to acrylic canvas eventually.
Jeremy (ex professional boat cover manufacturer!)
If sewn perpendicular to the roll, the extra thickness will likely cause problems when rolling it up.
I'd run the appropriate seam parallel to the roll, reinforce the seam ends & be done with it.
"it might be better to give the whole project to someone who knows what they are doing"
The problem is if you don't know more then the one you give the work to, you get screw.
Had an Zip-Dee awning which the stitch start to let go after 10 years, took it to a shop to have it re-stitch(marine canvas shop PLS)= no problem, $175. & 8 month later it's all apart again.
So I bought a commercial machine & will do it myself with the right thread.
wrench
PS: All the one I saw got the seam perpendicular to the roll.
was thinking of doing ourselfs my wife can sew & make allmost anything and uses her grandmother old
singer sewing machine she has done heavy drapes car covers ect even did our whole 40 ft sail boat
yrs ago in sunbrella fabric what would be reel helpful would be to see pics of seams & any reinforseing
as we have nothing to copy from maybe could use part of old vinal awning material for reinfororseing
thanks john
You will need not only strong enough thread, but it should be UV and rot resistant. There are special threads available all over ebay for sunbrella, in matching colors. I've been upholstering for nearly 50 years, and I won't do my awning because I don't have a big enough table around my machine. In fact, I'm going to sell my frame. Unless you know a real secret, you can't sew the center seam straight with all that heavy fabric bunched up all around you.
Generally speaking, when you sew an awning together, you sew each panel to the next so you only have one panel to roll up under the arm of the sewing machine. Just keep adding one panel at a time until you have the width you want.
A double sided polyester seam tape is available to pre-attach each panel before you sew and helps strengthen and waterproof the seam. A number 92 size polyester thread has a life span of 4 to 6 years depending on its exposure to ultra-violet. Much longer if the awning is mostly rolled up. Gortex thread will usually outlast the fabric.
It is possible as mentioned before to sew Sunbrella with a good "home" machine. Just get the largest needle and thread the machine will handle.
Iver.
Anybody out there want to tackle sewing my new awning fabric. I have a 14 x 10 auto awning and need to replace the fabric. I can send the old and the new fabric?
Anybody?
Of course I will pay someone ;D
Thanks
Grant
FWIW,
The ZipDee awning I have has a couple of seams perpendicular to the roll. It is a simple ~3/4" lap seam & you can see the raw cut edge of the fabric. There were 2 or 3 stitch lines in the space where the material overlapped.
I wouldn't trust the seam with much tension tho . . . But, since it is perpendicular to the roll, there isn't much.
The seam made for a thicker build on the roll, but I guess it was the lesser of the evils for ZipDee's total product.
Quote from: Dallas on April 30, 2009, 08:37:55 PM
Take your fabric to your local truck tarp repair shop. they will be glad to sew it up for you.
Dallas,
Someone I had not even thought of.....Good Idea!
Cliff