How to Make a Boat Helm Cover

X-HT-200672

Protect the instruments on your boat's helm with a well-made, durable cover. We made this cover for the helm panel on our Project Powerboat as well as a wheel cover, which you can watch in another video (#200670XHT). This cover is a little more involved than the wheel cover, but since it's small in scale, it would be a great practice project as you work up to a larger sewing project or just a quick sew for a weekend DIY.

Video Chapters:

Making Patterns – 0:24 min.
Prepping Patterns – 9:55 min.
Patterning Fabric – 14:26 min.
Sewing Panels Together – 15:40 min.
Sewing Reinforcing Strips for Snaps – 20:16 min.
Installing Binding – 24:39 min.
Installing Snaps – 27:08 min.
Materials List – 30:00 min.

Materials List:

Marine Grade Fabric – we used Sunbrella^® Marine Grade Tresco Birch 46" Fabric, #4696-0000
Dura-Skrim^® Patterning Material – #103134
Filament Strapping Tape – #5643
Seamstick 3/8" Basting Tape for Canvas – #129
Tex 90 Polyester Thread – we used PremoBond^® Tex 90 (V-92) White UV Bonded Polyester Thread 4 oz. (1,350 yds.), #123337
Shelter-Rite^® 61" Fabric – we used Black, #1120121
Sunbrella^® Acrylic Bias Binding Tape – we used Black, #124900
DOT^® Snap Fastener Cloth-to-Surface Set 3/8" Screw (Nickel-Plated Brass/Stainless Steel) – #333002

Tools List:

Soapstone Fabric Marking Pencil White – #102766
Sailrite^® Edge Hotknife Package (110V) – #103800
Deluxe 5-1/2" Magnetic Sewing Guide – #103597
Multiuse Pins 1-1/2" (250 Pins) – #102985
Grease Marking Pencil Yellow – #111002
Sailrite^® Canvas Patterning Ruler – #107040
Sailrite^®1" Swing-Away Binder – #100103
Easy Fit Kit in Waterproof Box - Snap Positioning System – #102565
Pres-N-Snap Installation Tool – #109011
Sailrite^® Ultrafeed^® LS Walking Foot Sewing Machine – #311502
Scissors, Permanent Marker, Straightedge

The helm panel on our Project Powerboat has a curved top. To better accommodate that curve, we decided to make our cover from three panels of Sunbrella^® Marine Grade fabric that we seamed together. Our cover is on the small side, but the principles used in the video can be scaled up to work on larger helms too. Sunbrella is a great choice for boat covers of all types, including winch covers, tiller covers, cockpit covers and more. We have a selection of Sunbrella fabrics in stock and ready to ship. Explore our selection and pick a color that complements your boat.

The helm cover is attached to the boat by snap fasteners. To reinforce the canvas where fasteners will be installed, we added a strip of Shelter-Rite^® vinyl behind the Sunbrella. To easily install the snaps on the cover to match up with the existing snap studs on the boat, we used the Easy Fit Kit. This kit contains snap sockets that have a pin on them so you can temporarily fasten the fabric to the studs for placement. It’s a great method for getting your sockets and buttons placed just right!

In the video, you’ll learn how to pattern the cover on your boat, pattern the fabric, sew the panels together, add reinforcements and binding, and install the cover on the boat.