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[vicstric]

I have really enjoyed reading all the input from everyone on this forum. I an excited to see what the future holds..

I am a newbie with a few boat projects under my belt. I just wanted to see if anyone would share their time saving ideas. It seems like doing tha actual sewing is the fastest part of this game. But the breakdown, cutting seams, laying out and marking the patterns, cutting out the patterns and re-assembly takes a lot of the time. What do you guys do to become more efficient?

[John]

That's a great question @vicstric Haha yep sewing is the hardest part to learn but is not the most work. Its kind of like bodywork and paint.

There is lots of ways and the more you do it the more you'll improve. Boats are nice because you can really get a system down and bang them out. Custom work is a little different because its always different.

A big thing is learning to work clean. You can waste a lot of time cleaning over spray glue of of things of cleaning hand prints of of white vinyl at the end of a job.
Try to do all the dirty stuff in one shot. Do all the tare down and disassembly at once. Make one big mess and clean every thing once.

Don't work on one cushion at a time. When I do boats. I cut out all my white pieces for everything at one time, then the next color. You have to keep it organized but that will save you time not having to switch your rolls 100 times. Then back all your pieces with foam in one big step not 20 steps.

When your sewing your covers try to plan it so that you only have to switch feet one time. Get as far as you can on all your covers sewing your basic seams. Then when you need to do welting. Switch to your welt feet and do all your welted seams in one step. The same thing if you need to change thread color for a top stitch. Try to plan it so you only re-thread your machine once. If possible. Its not always. But you get the point. Combining all the steps can save hours.

When your gluing things together try to always have something with glue that is drying while your working on another piece so that you minimize the time waiting for glue to dry.

When your doing the disassembly that's the best time to start thinking about your plan for the rest of the project.

Those are just some things I can think of off the top of my head. I hope these help.

[vicstric]

I can testify to the problem of keeping whites clean.

[BigRig]

Hey, don't forget the REDOS once you have sew things up that can double your sewing time

Vicstric, I think you have found your speciality!

[John]

I can testify to the problem of keeping whites clean.

I hate white fabric