Updating a Canvas Lounger

This month I’ve been asked to replace the canvas on a friend’s loungers. This is a first for me, but after examining the old fabric and set-up I feel confident I can do this! I’ll be adding to this post as the process goes along. Maybe it will become a class!

On one of the chairs (I don’t want to spell loungers any more), the canvas had torn from years of loving use and California sunshine. After giving her details on the type and amount of materials needed, she ordered everything from Sailrite. I highly recommend Sailrite for many projects and will be writing a post about them soon.

Supplies: Sunbrella canvas or any good brand of outdoor canvas that can stand up to sun and weather.
Coordinating thread: we chose a polyester recommended by Sailrite. There are stronger threads, but they are too thick for most home sewing machines. I will need #16 or #18 size sewing machine needles that can sew through layers of canvas.

Cutting: Sunbrella is a synthetic material. When cut with scissors or a rotary cutter, it will fray big time.  Ideally, it should be cut with a “hot knife” (a topic for another post), but you can also sew a zig-zag stitch around all edges to reduce fraying. It’s time consuming, but it will save your sanity while working with this fabric.

Summary:  Client was happy with the results and that is always the goal. It was easy to work with this fabric.  I have an older Phaff machine that can take on thicker layers of fabric fairly well. However, I still made an effort to limit the number of layers I needed to sew through.  This is where the hot knife for synthetic fabric was helpful.  The hot knife seals the raw edge so there is no need to double hem in most cases.  CHALLENGE:  I had a difficult time measuring correctly for the design of these chairs. I had used the old cover to measure and plan. Still, first tries where too short or too long. Frustrating.  Time to relax on the updated loungers!