It was 4 a.m., and I could not sleep. I'm too nervous about a date later this morning. No, not that kind of date. I'm bringing a new Bimini top to a friend – a top that I created.

My mind was racing. Did I do it correctly? Will it fit? Will he be disappointed? Will he laugh? How did I get myself into this anyway?

When I first got my sewing machine, an LSZ-1 from Sailrite, I told a few friends with boats that I was trolling for projects so I could learn the ropes (threads?) of canvas work. I'd done a winch cover, a cushion cover, a sail cover for my boat and a sprit sail for a small wooden boat. Now I was about to turn over a completed Bimini top for a vintage Bertram 28 to a friend.

That friend was Joe McCarthy, a virtuoso drummer with a Grammy winning band called Afro Bop Alliance, a really hot Latin Jazz group. When Joe was growing up, he had a friend whose father owned a Bertram. He crewed on one for several years, and dreamed of one day having his own.

ADAM GONZALESThe parts for the project, disassembled.Some dreams do come true. In 2007, Joe and his family upgraded from an 18 foot Boston Whaler to a 1985 Bertram 28, and have been exploring the Chesapeake Bay ever since. Joe called one day to tell me he had boatloads of canvas work that needed updating. I was happy to oblige and we decided to start with the Bimini top that protects the flying bridge. "How hard could this be?" I thought.

I was definitely naive.

OLD AND NEW

I wasn't ready to make a new Bimini from scratch without a pattern, so Joe gave me the old top for deconstruction and study. We met at a diner in Annapolis to make the exchange – and I was glad we did. Using an old Bimini – or cover or anything else – as a pattern to create a new one is a great technique for just about any project.

I had a heavy schedule, so it took a while to rev up to the job (perhaps subconsciously I knew I was in over my head). When I finally took knife to stitching I was like a warrior making a charge into battle – all I needed was the war paint.

In short order I had all the parts disassembled and spread out on the floor. There was no turning back – I had to make a new top. I remembered many years ago asking my father how someone learns to rebuild a car engine and he said "well son, you take it all apart and you put back together again and again until there are no parts left." I studied the separate parts trying to make sense of the order of reassembly, taking notes as I went along. I began to notice the techniques of the previous maker; some good work, some sloppy. It felt like I was participating in a crime scene investigation, trying to discover clues and observe the rhythm of someone else’s hands.

ADAM GONZALESA look at the complex stitching.After several hours, I starting making drawings and taking measurements so I could put in an order to Sailrite for materials. And what an order it was!

Eight zippers; two stainless steel snaps, plus die for setting; heavy duty thread, not quite upholstery weight but close; #18 needles; basting tape; 5 yards of "Marine Topping," which is vinyl impregnated denim molded to look like fine leather (underside in charcoal grey and weather side in white). This fabric is popular with power boaters because it’s waterproof and less expensive, at about $13 a square yard versus $17 to $25 for Sunbrella.

SEWING THE DARTS

The package arrived a few days later – sans instructions or video. I was really on my own. The Marine Topping fabric comes in 54-inch widths and the Bimini top was 96 inches wide, so my first step was to sew two panels together, side by side. All other parts of the top would be cut from this stock.

I cut a small sacrificial sample to use as a test for setting thread tensions and to see how this material would behave. Marine Topping is thicker than regular Sunbrella, which is the product I was familiar with, so I needed higher tension on the threads. When sewing these stitches, I was getting a horrible rats-nest of thread under the fabric. This indicated upper tension problems, so I spent some time troubleshooting the machine. It turned out the bolt or "core" that the entire upper thread tension assembly rides on had worked itself loose. It was a quick fix, but it took some time to figure out what the problem was. Once repaired, the machine worked perfectly. With my stock complete, I moved on the next phase of the operation.

I stapled the old top to the floor, took measurements, and transferred information from old canvas to new. I consulted my notes often and checked measurements dozens of times, not wanting to mess something up and waste material. I took a break for a few days and then checked everything once more before cutting. The material cuts well with scissors and, unlike Sunbrella, there's no fraying. Because Marine Topping weds vinyl and denim together, there's no need to heat-seal the edges. Cutting complete, I laid the new material on the floor and made a dry assembly of everything. The pieces matched up nicely.

Next on the list was to place the darts, which would give the Bimini its fitted appearance. Every time the Bimini top crosses over a frame member, a bit of extra fabric at the edges has to be gathered up so that it would fit tightly on the frame. Dressmakers use darts to accommodate the various contours of a woman's body. I needed some advice from Vickie Deane, my mother-in-law and sewing mentor. We discussed design and execution. She reminded me to stitch generously, in order to enhance holding power. Later, when fitting the top to the boat, I could see there was quite a bit of strain in this area, so her advice was dead on.

Because metal rubbing against fabric leaves a mark after several seasons, I was able to see how the middle frame was positioned. Where this frame crosses the edge is where I would put the dart on either side. This was made by gathering up and folding over about one inch of fabric at the edge and continuing that crease to about 14 inches in, at the center line of the middle frame member.

ADAM GONZALESTypical zipper execution.Next came folding and hemming the sides, which was easily done. I simply folded over twice and sewed two parallel stitches and the top was complete – for now. I rolled it up around some PVC pipe and stood it in a corner of the room so as not to get creases in the fabric.

ADDING ZIPPERS

The next step was the zipper panels to enclose the metal frames at both ends and hold the Bimini top in place. I used two 48-inch RIRI single slider zippers per panel. RIRI offers black or white. I chose white, but in the future would choose black for this color scheme because it looks better with the charcoal gray underside. The zipper pulls are oriented so they start at the edges and end in the center. I recycled webbing from the old cover as stops for the zippers in the new cover. I laid out a panel, plotted the curve of the zipper on the center of the panel – the measurements were taken from the old one – then cut, basted and sewed the zippers in place.

I talked with many people concerning how to to do zippers and all agreed it was most stressful part of a project – so I made up my own way. First, I laid the material "good side" (the side that would ultimately show) facing up, then I basted the zipper with the teeth facing away from the edge to be sewn. The teeth are molded to webbing that has a distinct pattern woven into its structure. The pattern changes one quarter inch back from the teeth, so I ran my first stitches along this line. I folded the zipper over. Now the teeth were facing in the correct direction. I turned the panel over – wrong side up -- and ran a second line of stitching one eighth inch in from the raw edge of the webbing, making sure to pull all extra fabric out from under the webbing so lines were straight and fabric didn't bunch. I turned the material over – right side up -- and ran a parallel line of stitches as close to the finished edge as possible. I repeated this procedure on the center and aft sleeves as well.

The visors came next. These provide a bit more sun protection and add a professional look to the job. They consist of two straight pieces, 98 inches long and 6 inches wide, folded in half and sewn on 3 sides, a quarter inch from the edge. Only the raw side is left unstitched, because this side will be sandwiched between the top and frame sleeve and sewn in place at final construction. Before completing this step I added three additional zippers. Power boats with a flying bridge often have removable windows for rainy or cold days, which attach to the underside of the forward sun visor. While I was not replacing these windows, I had to add zippers to accommodate them.

Unfortunately, I underestimated the amount of material on my first order, and didn't have enough for the sun visors. But it was a happy accident, because I discovered RIRI zippers were not compatible with the YKK used on the detachable windows. So we needed YKK zippers on the visors. A quick phone call and few days later zippers and extra material arrived. Meanwhile, I had hand stitching to do to reinforce the zipper ends. It was also nice to take a break.

ADAM GONZALESThe completed bimini top.FINAL ASSAULT

Now it was time to bring it all together. I would do the forward top, visor and frame sleeve first. This would be done inside out and backwards, so I made a model with paper first, using a pencil to indicate grey side, white side and zipper location on the visor. I stapled it all together and, after a couple tries, got it right. Using basting tape, I carefully positioned everything, and then stitched it all together. It worked! I left the back of the sleeve loose for the moment. I basted and stitched the aft top, visor and sleeve sandwich, then the center frame sleeve. I used a scrap piece of one-inch stainless tubing inside the sleeves to locate the stitching lines for the back of each sleeve and sewed them in place.

The job was done. I draped the cover over some chairs and was amazed it looked like a real Bimini top! I called Joe to set a date to go to the boat. The appointed day arrived and we met at the boat on a beautifully clear day. The top fit perfectly, with just a bit of stretching. There may have been some luck involved there. Next time I would do a test fitting before sewing those last stitches to make sure it fit snugly in all the right places.

The job took much time and patience to plan and execute, about 25 hours spread over almost four weeks. I used all my growing arsenal of sewing knowledge and learned some new techniques as well. Both Joe and I were satisfied with the results – and the price, which was about $200 for materials and shipping – but before I took on another Bimini top project, I would definitely want to see the old top on the boat, document the problems and discuss options with the owner – maybe even take some pictures.

Now when I walk the docks at my home marina, I look to see who needs a new Bimini top. And I know what they have in store!

ADAM GONZALESThe finished product, after $200 and about 25 hours.