How to Make a Weather Cloth

X-HT-200640

Do you want to stay a bit drier in your cockpit? Or maybe just have a little more privacy at the dock? Then you might want to install weather cloths. Weather cloths are fabric panels that attach to your lifelines and pushpit rails. Although they don't seem like much, weather cloths can significantly add to the comfort of your cockpit when underway or at anchor.

Video Chapters:

Measuring & Patterning – 0:24 min.
Creating Hems – 1:52 min.
Adding Snap Reinforcements – 4:20 min.
Installing Grommets & Pre-fitting Cover – 5:53 min.
Obstacle Cutouts & Fastener Marking – 8:09 min.
Installing Fasteners – 11:02 min.
Final Installation – 13:43 min.
Materials List – 14:32 min.

Materials List:

Sunbrella^® Marine Grade Jockey Red 60" Fabric – #6003-0000
PremoBond^® Tex 90 (V-92) White UV Bonded Polyester Thread 4 oz. – #123337
Seamstick 3/8" Basting Tape for Canvas – #129
Soapstone Fabric Marking Pencil White – #102766
White Polyester Webbing – #PLLWWH
#1 Spur Grommet 5/16" (Nickel-Plated Brass) – #26315
DOT^® Snap Fastener Cloth-to-Cloth Set (Nickel-Plated Brass) – #333001
Leech Line Dacron^® 1/8" White – #21209

Tools List:

Sailrite^® Edge Hotknife Package – #103800
Sailrite^® #1 Hole Cutter 5/16" – #125480
#1 Spur Grommet Die Set 5/16" – #18202
Sailrite^® Rubber Poundo Board 12" x 12" – #123962
Spring Clamp – #50211
Pres-N-Snap Installation Tool – #109011
Sailrite^® Ultrafeed^® LS Walking Foot Sewing Machine – #311502
Tape Measure, Pencil, Scissors, Square, Yardstick

How to Make Weather Cloths

These panels not only help to protect against rain, wind, and sea spray, they also help to block sunlight glare off the water’s surface. We’re going to show you how to make your own weather cloths.

We made our weather cloths out of durable, UV-resistant Sunbrella^® Marine Grade fabric in Jockey Red to match the rest of the canvas in the cockpit of our Islander 37 project boat. If you want more visibility, you can add clear vinyl windows to your fabric panels. We recommend using an affordable 30-gauge window material, like Plastipane.

Making weather cloths yourself is great because it allows you to customize the design to fit around stanchion poles, winches, and other obstacles. You can also customize how you attach the cloth’s base to your boat. Depending on your setup, you can attach the weather cloth to your boat with leech line, shock cord, or hook and loop — basically, anything that holds the cloth in place but that isn’t too strong to break away if necessary in a storm.

In this video, you will learn how to pattern, sew hems, install snaps, accommodate for obstacles, and install weather cloths.

Do you have weather cloths on your boat? Did you make any special modifications to them? Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!