Sewing Sails is the Pits!

[billybopp]

One of the channels that I watch for enjoyment on YouTube is "Acorn to Arabella".  This fella decided to build his own wooden yacht mostly from timber found on his grandfather's property.  It's coming along nicely and starting to look like a boat!   Yesterday, he released a video about the sails that are being made for it.   While they aren't sewing leather, I thought our sewing machine aficionados might find the way they do this interesting!   The sewing machines and operators are in a pit in the floor so that they have tons of open floor space to support the sails as they are sewing!

Enjoy! - Bill

 

[suzelle]

Very informative! Interesting too. That's a lot of climbing and walking around the piece being sewn. Makes me feel a bit better about all the crazy stuff I've had to do while sewing larger stuff. Always wondered if I was doing it right. Haha! I guess if it works, it works!

[chuck123wapati]

very cool indeed i helped a friend sew my 18' Sioux lodge, teepee, because it is a two man job on a table.  i can understand it is massive work on a machine. smart thinking.

[kgg]

I liked how they use a block and tackle to help move the sail material forward while sewing. Those are really nice sewing machines and I would guess cost a pretty penny.

kgg

[Hags]

I have about half of a sail. Very heavy duty. The stuff is a pain to sew because it is not canvas, and very slick.

[BlackDragon]

That was interesting. 

My first real job was making sails. I was a young teen walking home from school and I would stop at this factory where they sewed stuff. I didnt know what they were sewing. After a couple days the owner walked over to me and asked if I was interested in learning what they did and he gave me a tour. He offered me a job as an apprentice and I worked there after school. That was about 40 years ago!

The sewing machines where older Singers and they werent sunken in the floor like in the video. They did some huge racing sails. Sometimes I was the sail puller.