Come Sail Away

 

Ever since I first saw the driftwood sailboats at White Flower Farmhouse over a year ago,  I have been in love.  Since then, sail boats have been cropping up all over Blog Land and I am finally jumping on board too!!!  As of now, I only plan on offering them for sale in my booth at Old Bank Antiques.

I really got the idea to make one when I found several pieces of driftwood at a local antique mall for $3.00 each.  I knew they would be perfect for sailboats. 

I  had great fun cutting and finishing the canvas sails to custom fit each boat.  Designing the sails was the most enjoyable part for me. I liked painting the stripes and coming up with logo and name ideas.  The part I disliked most was scouring the woods for strong, straight sticks – I kept stumbling into straw covered, booby trap holes left by rotten tree stumps, and sliding on the pine straw!   I was horrified that I was going to encounter a huge, giant, mean, ugly, no good, snake…last summer our neighbor heard a rattle snake in the same area!!!  What was I thinking????

 

I used a flat piece of driftwood with this one

and stitched the edges with navy thread

I also used tiny blue grommets

 

Journey is from a page of rub on words from Hobby Lobby

I used ticking for the flag at the top

 

This curved piece of driftwood is great

I cut the sails to fit the driftwood’s curves and the curve of the mast stick

 

I used matching thread to finish the edges – I frayed the canvas to the stitch line

 Lake Martin was spelled using iron on embroidered letters - also from H.L.

The number 98 is a stencil and I used red grommets for this one

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Here are the basics for building your own sailboat

1. Decide how the driftwood is best balanced and drill a hole for the mast stick

2. Put wood glue in the hole and insert the stick – let dry

3. Cut out two sails from canvas (I used drop cloths and made one sail smaller)

4. Do your design work on the sails – finish edges (I use decorative stitches on sewing machine)

5. Add grommets to the outside bottom edges  and the top of each sail

6. Drill a tiny hole in the bottom of the mast stick

7. Attach the sail at the bottom by tying it to the mast stick through the grommet

8. Insert a small eye screw into the driftwood to tie off the outside edge of each sail

9. Stretch the sail up and drill a hole through the mast stick at this point

10. Thread the string through a large eye needle and make a few stitches in the top of the sail (or you can use another grommet here) - guide it through the hole in the stick and wrap the thread around the back of the stick. Secure the thread by stitching in the same area where you started.

11. Repeat for the other sail

12. Cut a small piece of canvas or other fabric and stitch or glue around the top of the mast

 

For a faster and easier sail boat you can:  

(1.) Leave the edges of the sails unfinished

(2). Stitch directly through the canvas instead of using grommets 

(3.) Wrap the string around the mast instead of drilling a hole to stitch through

(4.) Use a preprinted fabric for the sails

I am linking to the following Monday parties:

Metamorphosis Monday       Mad Skills Tutorial Party  

 

     

 

 

 

Rhonda