- Determining Fabric Required – 0:26 min.
- Patterning Prep – 2:40 min.
- Making Patterns – 6:23 min.
- Transferring Patterns – 30:09 min.
- Cutting Tails, Sleeves & Facings – 32:55 min.
- Preparing Sleeves & Tails – 38:59 min.
- Joining Panels & Center Pocket(s) – 49:34 min.
- Attaching Facing Strips – 59:14 min.
- Attaching Sleeve & Tail – 01:01:23 min.
- Finishing Sleeve – 01:05:26 min.
- Reinforcement Strip for Snaps – 01:13:17 min.
- Binding Raw Edges – 01:15:51 min.
- Adding Weather Stripping – 01:18:20 min.
- Installing Bimini & Snaps – 01:19:34 min.
- Materials List – 01:24:54 min.
- Marine Grade Fabric – we used Sunbrella® Marine Grade Tresco Birch 46" Fabric, #4696-0000
- Filament Strapping Tape 3/4" – #5643
- Dura-Skrim® Patterning Material – #103134
- Seamstick 3/8" Basting Tape for Canvas – #129
- YKK® #10 White Separating Molded Tooth Zipper (Delrin® Single Pull Slider) – #104887
- PremoBond® Tex 90 (V-92) White UV Bonded Polyester Thread 4 oz. – #123337
- Sunbrella® Acrylic Bias Binding Tape Black – #124900
- Shelter-Rite® Black 61" Fabric – #1120121
- Xtreme Seal Foam Black – #102187
- SnapRite® Snap Fastener Button 1/4" (Nickel-Plated Brass) – #104154
- DOT® Snap Fastener Hard Action Socket (Nickel-Plated Brass) – #333058
- Grease Marking Pencil Yellow – #111002
- Tape Measure 120" – #102986
- McLube™ Sailkote – #120679
- Soapstone Fabric Marking Pencil White – #102766
- Grease Marking Pencil White – #101026
- Sailrite® Edge Hotknife Package (110V) – #103800
- Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LS Walking Foot Sewing Machine – #311502
- Sailrite® 1" Swing-Away Binder – #100103
- Deluxe 5-1/2" Magnetic Sewing Guide – #103597
- Sailrite® SnapRite® System (4 Dies & 100 Mandrels) – #104237
- Pres-N-Snap Installation Tool – #109011
- Fine-Tip Marker, Scissors, Straightedge, Pencil
The bimini top on our powerboat is what’s known as an “attached bimini” because its aft end is attached to a solid surface (in this case, a radar arch) as opposed to being completely supported by tubing bows. An all-tubing bimini would be called an unattached bimini. The steps in this video can be used to make an attached or unattached powerboat bimini or a sailboat bimini.
Careful and precise patterning is the building block to getting a great-fitting bimini top. We thoroughly cover the patterning process in our video to help you get professional-looking results.
The existing bimini on our powerboat had a lot of wrinkling so we decided to make the new bimini using some different techniques to get a better fit. One of the biggest design changes we made is that instead of seaming the fabric panels forward to aft, as is typical, we seamed our fabric panels port to starboard. This method does require using more fabric, but we believe that it creates a much better-fitting bimini top that will wrinkle less over time.
Another design decision we made was adding a pocket to the front of the bimini to better accommodate the angle of the front tubing. This extra pocket helps keep the bimini top taut. To add extra water protection at the aft, attached end, we also sewed on weather stripping to create a watertight seal against the radar arch.
We get asked a lot if the zippers for side curtains need to be installed when building your bimini top. You can install the zippers if you’re ready for that step, but if you’re not, don’t worry. They can easily be added later. We did not install zippers in this video, but we’ll show you how to do it in our enclosure side curtains video (#200661XHT).
In this video, we’ll show you in-depth how to pattern, seam, create sleeves, add binding and weather stripping, and install your new bimini.
What do you think of our design decisions? Would you try them on your boat? Have you ever made your own bimini? What tips would you share on the process? Share your ideas and suggestions in the comments!