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Read more: Bambi's Bimini

Bambi and her husband upgraded sailboats late last season and decided over the winter to invest in a new bimini so that it would match with their dodger and sail covers. Using the existing bimini as a pattern, we ordered material, seamed it together and learned to sew zippers in place.

Writing this article and looking back, it's amazing how something that looks so simple turns out to be way more complicated than it needs to be! To share a one example, just for fun, you might think it's be a straight forward process to use the original as a pattern - WRONG! Here's why, first, if you look carefully at the picture above and zoom in tightly to the starboard aft corner (that's the back right corner closest to the camera) you might be able to make out wrinkle lines - there are four pleats on each corner, which I carefully replicated. Upon further investigation it appears pleats aren't necessary if the material is cut correctly in the first place. With that said, there is a rather complex set of instructions to be followed, fortunately they are easy to find on the Internet if you know where to look - like this Building a Bimini video from Sailrite on building a bimini for boats for example. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20 and regrettably I made the foolish mistake of working from the original - without first seeing it installed on the frame. Alas, yet another learning opportunity!

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Read more: La-Z-Boy ReclinerPerhaps it's the false sense of confidence that led us down this path, or maybe it's the request of a family member who asked if we'd recover their La-Z-Boy recliner, either way, we decided to take on a project of an entirely different magnitude from what we're used to working on! Until now, we've made new slip seat covers, bags, a few pieces of furniture but nothing that required more than a couple of pieces of fabric sewn together. This project brought a host of new issues, such as tufting, the art of placing buttons in a pattern on the front side of the chair's back and of course, covering the buttons in the first place. And then there's the issue of sewing many pieces of fabric together to get it to fit over the chair - something on the order of about 45 individual pieces of fabric that we had to cut and sew together!

Read more: La-Z-Boy ReclinerThe good news is, everyone is really happy with the outcome of this project! Shown here are "before" and "after" pictures. The new covering is a microfiber suede, which posed a new issue for us of having to contend with a directional nap in the fabric - once we determined the direction the nap was running, we were able to keep track of top of each piece as we cut it by placing a staple in what would be the seam allowance for that piece.

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Read more: Boat Grill Cover  Read more: Boat Grill Cover  Read more: Boat Grill Cover

Ever notice how manufacturers make bags just large enough to cover the item they produced? And when I say "just large enough" I'm talking about just barely fitting as in you have to wrestle it on and wrestle it again to get the cover off. Have you been there? If so, you'll totally understand how this can be so frustrating, why can't the manufacturers charge a little more and create covers that slip on and off!!! The trivial amount would be well worth it! But I begin yet another rant...

This project is the case of a boat grill cover that was really tight when you tried pulling it on or taking it off the grill, of course it had seen a few summers of full sun and had not only faded but was beginning to look rather tired.

The process in replacing this cover was to first make a pattern, one we could keep in the event someone else would like the same cover, then cut out the pattern in Sunbrella (or similar fabric), insert grommets, sew along the perimeter, turn and sew the hem, and pull the drawstring through. Pictured below are a few of the steps.

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Read more: Does This Make us Hoarders?

While in Chicago to take in the sailboat show we spent a couple of hours at a fabric and textiles discount outlet. Granted, their premise is to buy out businesses going out business, and leftover materials from various industries and as such, and while it’s unlikely one can repeat a purchase you can save a small fortune if you’ve got a project or two in mind! For example, leather is available for a whopping $2.50 per square foot, this is less than half of any place I’ve ever found it and there were shelves stacked from floor to ceiling the width of the building! They also stock thousands of bolts and rolls of fabric ranging from the sheer, silky, and shiny to rugged burlap, canvas, and furniture fabrics. Not to mention foam, notions, and stuff you never knew existed.

Needless to say, Alan and I both dropped a chunk of change at this place violating a cardinal rule we had previously implemented of not buying and stocking excess material due to limited storage. But hey, we’re fiscally frugal and a deal is a deal!   

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Read more: Steve's Bike Bag OK, before you start thinking you've discovered an article about bags designed to appeal to the motorized crowd, which we're not opposed to making - after all, Alan and I are both long-time licensed motorcycle operators, but this article pertains to a derivative of the Model 1117 bag we came up with a couple of months ago. However, this bag is designed to fit in a pannier on Steve's bicycle (a pannier is basically a bag with a frame and is attached to the bicycle, usually behind the rider on one or either side of the rear wheel - something like a bike basket). You see, Steve only lives a few blocks from the downtown area and major grocery stores. While he's been seen driving his car around town on rare occasion, he's far more frequently observed riding his bike, I suppose due to the associated health benefits, and because it's good for the environment - it could also be that Steve is even more fiscally conservative than me, but I'm not sure that's possible! On the other hand, maybe that's part of why we get along so well.

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