Hi Paul,

: Check out the rack with $1 a yard fabrics at your local Wal-mart. I've been
: able to occasionally find ripstop nylon there at really good prices. They
: don't always have great colors, but the stock changes over time, so wait
: until they have something you like.

I asked the fabric department in Walmart less then a year ago if they had ripstop nylon and they didn’t know what it was. I looked around and didn’t see what I thought it would look like. The next time I am at Walmart I ask again since I have had several people tell me Walmart does have ripstop nylon.

You may have seen the picture I posted above this post of the finished sail. It was made of heavy 8 oz tarp.

The sewing machine is my wife’s and it’s not heavy duty. It is a Stylist Singer bought back in the 50's or 60's. I had to have a stripped gear replaced before I could use it. I was sewing though heavy 8 oz. tarp and in the corner sail reinforcements areas, it was as much as the tarp doubled over = 2 layers, plus two pieces of the reinforced edges of the tarp = 4 tarp layers, plus white vinyl tape which amounted to 6 tarp layers total plus tape. In this extra heavy area I had to help pull the tarp through. But it wasn't that bad.

: Use plenty of pins to secure your pieces. Then you can roll,
: or fanfold, the bulk of the material which sits on one side of your line
: of sewing. You may be able to keep this together with clothespins.

Double sided carpet tape was used to make the sail and hold it together on all the outside edges. But sewing the batten pockets on I cut small tape strips 1 ½” long by 1/4” wide and spaced them about every 8 inches along the batten pocket bottoms then stuck the batten to the sail and sewed on the battens pockets. Easy and simple. The tape becomes the pins but you don’t have to take them out. The double edged tape might be used on cloth also for the same purpose. I’ll try it sometime.

I finally figured out you can roll up the sail excess material to get it through the sewing machine arm. Thanks for the sewing tips.

John