Cover beach umbrella

[Sewing Chanel-Style]

I am working on a project: a cover for a big beach/garden umbrella.  I actually mean: all the fabric on a beach/garden umbrella. My cover was dead after being a real good sunshade friend for years.  But in the Netherlands it is not easy to buy a cover without needing to buy the whole umbrella as well.
So as I real seamstress: I bought 10 mtr. fabric canvas.  I thought I would do this project in a day or so.  But two weeks later, I am still missing, because I am behind the sewingmachine covered in 10 mtr. heavy fabric. It is a hell of a job. Something completly else as the fine sewing art of making a Chanel-style jacket, that is for sure.
But the cover is getting shape and I hope to finish it this weekend so we can enjoy sitting outside under the big umbrella with the whole family.
Has anyone ever made such a big thing before?

[Iminei]

We dont really get the weather for sunshades in the UK ...

I mean it all starts out so hopefully with the Easter Bank Holiday when all the B&Q's, Homebases, Ranges, B&R's ... hell even the Monster Supermarkets ..... start forcing new garden furniture, BBQ's, Sunshades/Parasols on the gullible British public in the hope of a Good Old British Summer *

And then it starts to Gale and Rain and the Bravest Brits shiver in their summer dresses as they sit on their newly purchased patio sofa watching their other half, clad in shorts exposing lily-white legs that really should carry a health warning, struggle to light the new BBQ with half a can of lighter fluid in the hope that it might eventually fully cook some sad pink sausages, rather than incinerating the outsides whilst leaving a dangerously raw middle, before raging hunger and a bottle of Prosecco forces the Brave Brits to abandon further cooking and gobble down said sausages along with a floury white bun, some bright red and yellow synthetic  sauces and some limp onions.

Sorry, doesnt really help with your question ... just thought it might explain why sunshade/Parasol repair isnt a common past-time in England!.


*Definition of A Good Old British Summer ......

Spoiler: show

 3 hot days and a thunderstorm

[wrenkins]

Just to add to @Iminei's helpfulness, mine has a vent in the top to make it slightly less likely to blow away. Doesn't always work. Last year during the heat wave I came home to find my gazebo under the trees....far away down the garden!
Nothing says empty house like a gazebo on it's ear in the corner! 

[BrendaP]

My introduction to  was helping my Dad by turning the handcrank whilst he made a LARGE tent for camping!  That was about 60 years ago, and money was tight so it was actually an ecconomical way of facilitating family holidays and that tent lasted for years.

Since then the biggest outdoor sewing project I've undertaken is probably the shapeless cover which goes over some garden chairs.  The fabric is plastic and evil to sew but waterproof and there's enough left over to make a wind break should Terry ever produce the poles.

[Iminei]

I use that too (plastic table-clothing) to make a cover for the garden whirlygig every other year or two ... and have made a cover for the table and chairs on the deck until he said there was no point.

[b15erk]

You are brave tackling something so big.  My biggest project was a set of triple width floor length curtains, which was a nightmare job - especially the pattern matching!

Good luck with you brolly, I look forward to seeing the finished version!

Jessie

[Sewbusy]

@Mikerb1972  has just re-covered a very large garden patio umbrella, he cut each section piped the seams, then he added solar lights!

[snoozi soozi]

I made a motorbike cover from fleece fabric a few years ago. It had shaped sections to fit on the bike snugly like a blanket    It was a t**t to put together actually but looks veh veh professional, and for about thirty quid a fraction of the price 

the things we do for love, eh?

[toileandtrouble]

" just thought it might explain why sunshade/Parasol repair isn't a common past-time in England!"
 
No, it doesn't!  In my experience the umbrella stays in the shed for several years, unwanted and undisturbed until, finally, you take it out and find the fabric has rotted.  There must be hundreds and thousands of them like that. I never thought of recovering one, just wish I had, then I could have put in solar lights. Brilliant!

[fajita]

I sewed a garden fence. Seriously. Blue plastic tarpaulin, sewed together to make a long impenetrable fence in front of the diamond wire fence. It was to block the dogs vision of the dog next door. If he couldn't see it, it didn't bother him. The fence is still there. The dog died a year ago.

I made a sunshade top for the garden swing seat. Very simple rectangular length of canvas, with pouches for the rails to go through. Works very well.

A big umbrella though, sounds like a challenge.

((Addendum - apparently we no longer have the tarpaulin fence and I hadn't noticed. Oops))

[snoozi soozi]

@fajita you never fail to surprise me   

[Iminei]

Dont feel attacked @Francesca  its a nationwide phenomena ...

And when we bought our wooden table and chairs, we purchased the most eeeeeenormous parasol in a dark red ...
Its been used once when the outlaws (who dont 'do' sun) came one weekend ...
both he and me are (or at least we were) sun worshippers, so it never got used ...

Anyone want to buy an almost new mint in box sun parasol in China Red?

[Sewing Chanel-Style]

We dont really get the weather for sunshades in the UK ...

I mean it all starts out so hopefully with the Easter Bank Holiday when all the B&Q's, Homebases, Ranges, B&R's ... hell even the Monster Supermarkets ..... start forcing new garden furniture, BBQ's, Sunshades/Parasols on the gullible British public in the hope of a Good Old British Summer *

And then it starts to Gale and Rain and the Bravest Brits shiver in their summer dresses as they sit on their newly purchased patio sofa watching their other half, clad in shorts exposing lily-white legs that really should carry a health warning, struggle to light the new BBQ with half a can of lighter fluid in the hope that it might eventually fully cook some sad pink sausages, rather than incinerating the outsides whilst leaving a dangerously raw middle, before raging hunger and a bottle of Prosecco forces the Brave Brits to abandon further cooking and gobble down said sausages along with a floury white bun, some bright red and yellow synthetic  sauces and some limp onions.

Sorry, doesnt really help with your question ... just thought it might explain why sunshade/Parasol repair isnt a common past-time in England!.


*Definition of A Good Old British Summer ......

Spoiler: show

 3 hot days and a thunderstorm

Last year in the Netherlands is was two months dry and hot. It was a disaester. We are used to bad weather too and rainy summers.  Most people did NOT enjoy the sun because it was very worrying and a financial diseaster for the farmers and the nature.

[Sewing Chanel-Style]

After a week fighting with the canvas I finally finished the job. I will try to upload pictures, if I understand how it can be done.  Making an cover for a big umbrella is actually not difficult at all.  It is just a lot fabric to handle.  The weird thing is that buying a complete new umbrella would have been cheaper.  But I hate the idea to throw away the whole umbrella just because the cover is old and damaged. So my work was not for saving money but to act a bit 'green' and sustainable. ...

[Sewing Chanel-Style]

Hereby the pictures of my biggest project.  It was not difficult at all, just a lot of fabric to manage. And now back to sewing a little french jacket