Sewing Self-Sufficiency 

Except for major sail repair and restitching, I am totally self-sufficient in the sewing department. Here’s what I carry on the boat: 

Home Sewing and Repairs:

• Home sewing machine with zig zag
• Thread of all colours in a tackle box
• Sewing machine needles
• Measuring tapes
• Tailor’s chalk
• Seam ripper
• Scissors
• Buttons, hooks & eyes, snaps
• Straight pins, safety pins
• Dress & skirt zippers in assorted colours
• Ribbon in assorted colours
• Elastic in assorted thicknesses
• Hand sewing needles
• Patterns for basic shorts, women’s shirt, bathing suit, men’s shirt

Flag making:

• Nylon flag cloth – red, white, blue (2 yds ea), yellow, green, black, turquoise (1 yd ea). The best quality I have found is from Sail Rite.
• Heavy 1” ribbon for the luff
• Grommets and tool
• Fabric paint – red, white, blue, black, yellow, green, etc
• Some kind of ‘Flags of the World’ book

Canvas Making and Sail Repair:

• Sail Rite straight stitch machine
• V92 thread – white, black
• Sewing machine oil
• Sunbrella – a few yards in ‘my’ colours
• Vinyl for chafe patches – white, grey, blue, red, black
• Leather for chafe patches – about ½ yd
• Dacron sailcloth – 2 yards
• ‘Insignia” tape sticky back 5” wide for sail repair
• Seamstick basting tape – ¼” and ½”
• ‘Clench’ style stapler to staple Sunbrella instead of using pins. A weak little office stapler won’t go through Umbrella
• Metal push-type staple remover. Available form Sail Rite.
• Scratch awls and Push Pins (also called mushroom pins). Store them oiled in a closed tight jar – they rust like crazy.
• Piece of thin painted plywood to use as a layout board. Stored under the aft bunk.
• Ordinary pencils for marking
• Metal yardstick and 24” L-square
• Spare #10 zippers – 5 or 6. Spare zipper heads.
• Velcro – white, black. 1 roll each
• Nylon webbing – white, black 1 roll white, ½ roll black
• Shock cord – a couple of yards of each size.
• A couple of side release buckles and ladderlock buckles
• Spur Grommets & tools. #0, #1, #2. I use #1 mostly so I buy a gross of #1’s at a time.
• Snap tool and 50 sets of snaps. The ultimate snap tool is pictured here, but it is expensive. You can get the little 'home' kits at chandleries which work fine.
• Seam rippers – replace often; they’re worse than useless if dull. Get the good ones from Sail Rite or your local canvas shop as they are much better than the ones sold in regular fabric stores.
• Good sharp heavy shears
• Hot knife. Yes, expensive.
• Permalock twist-lock fasteners. I like these better than the metal turnbuttons. Available from Sail Rite or in Canada but nowhere else except by special order.
• Leech line, assorted cords #4, #6
• A few 1” stainless steel rings
• Clamps big enough to fit on my dodger frame
• Clear plastic drop cloth for pattern making
• Sail repair hand sewing needles
• Sewing ‘palm’
• Waxed twine
• Sewing awl

This is a big list, I know. Your rule of thumb can be to keep   on hand a little of everything that can break or chafe through on your particular boat. Keep in mind that sailmakers and canvas workers are everywhere in every part of the world, and everyone uses similar materials. So you can get materials. I carry all this stuff because I have found the room, I like to sew my own stuff and other people’s, and I like the convenience of having everything on hand.