gore tenara thread Archives | Chicago Marine Canvas

June 15, 2022November 30, 2023

Dockside Decking and Infinity Carpeting

On this Cruisers Yacht we made correlating dockside decking and infinity carpeting.

Most places offer one service or the other, but here at Chicago Marine Canvas we offer both. By providing both we are able to make sure both the carpeting and decking perfectly match.

These floorings provide durability to protect your boat from external elements. These materials are waterproof and UV proof.

Dockside Decking is a polyethylene based; UV-resistant closed-cell PE/EVA foam product currently available in over 10 color patterns.

It’s a revolutionary non-skid marine flooring product designed for rugged marine environments.

It’s soft on your feet and provides excellent traction when wet or dry.

In addition to its good looks, Dockside Decking won’t absorb those troublesome liquids typically found on deck.

Such as motor oil, fish blood, red wine or beer! Lastly, it is easy to clean and is stain resistant.

Infinity Fabrics Luxury Woven Vinyl® is not only beautiful but it is very functional marine carpeting. It is featured in many 2015 boat models such as Brunswick Boat Group, Chaparral Boats, Cruiser Yachts, Marquis Yachts, Tiara Yachts, Tracker Marine, and many, many more…

Upgrading to Infinity Fabrics Luxury Woven Vinyl® carpeting has never been easier. We can pattern any boat’s interior or exterior and fit it with the carpeting via glue down, snaps or it can lay on its own. A common practice of boaters which current carpeting that fits well is having us cut the new carpeting based off the old. This not only saves you money but provides a great solution most of the time. There are new designs rolling out all the time and over 100 designs and patterns to choose from.

November 14, 2017December 4, 2023

Cruisers Rogue 3175

This Cruisers Rogue 3175 was in need of a new bimini. Biminis are great for keeping you out of the sun when you are out on the water, they even keep you dry if you get caught out in a storm.

All of our covers, biminis, enclosures, and upholstery work is custom made. We work this way because each boat has different framing which means each boat is different and we want your new canvas to fit like a glove!

Here at Chicago Marine Canvas we use a bunch of labor-saving, cost-effective tools. The first step of our process involves us going to to your boat and taking measurements with our 3D measuring device. Using this tool speeds up our measuring process so we have more time to work on your custom design!

After we gather all the measurements, we go back to the shop and upload them to the computer. We do all of our design work using CAD (Computer-Aided-Design) software, that way we can make all the proper adjustments a head of time, as well as see visually how the design is going to turn out.

Once we finalize the design, we send over all the pieces of your new cover to our plotter. Our plotter draws out all of the pieces of your cover. This is another one of our labor-saving, cost-effective tools. With our plotter we can quickly draw out new designs in minutes rather then hours. This saves us time and you money in the end. After our plotter is finished, our seamstress cuts everything out, and begins the sewing process.

For this bimini we used Sunbrella fabric in black. We love using Sunbrella fabric! It is fade resistant and has a 10 year warranty! To sew everything up we used GORE Tenara thread in black. GORE Tenara thread has a lifetime warranty! That means you can say good-bye to restitching and repairs! This thread doesn’t get eaten by the sun, water, or exposure to other outside elements. We used Lenzip zippers for this bimini. Lenzip also has a lifetime guarantee on zippers. No more zipper teeth breaking, no more zippers loosing their zip! We finished off this bimini with Sunbrella black binding to make sure theres no fraying of any canvas, that way it lasts!

November 8, 2017December 4, 2023

Sabre Hardtop Aft Enclosure

The owner of a 42′ Sabre Hardtop Express contacted us about needing their aft enclosure replaced. Their makrolon windows had been slightly discolored but more importantly, their canvas had lost its durability and waterproofness.

When we do a job, we first head out to the location of the boat to take custom measurements using our 3d measuring device. This device is cost-effective and labor-saving. We can measure a boat quickly even if there are high Chicago winds. After we gather all of our measurements and think about all of your design needs, we head back to our shop to start designing your new cover. This is yet another thing that sets us apart from your typical canvas shop. We do all of our design work using CAD (computer aided design) software on the computer. This way we can see exactly what the cover will look like before its on your boat, making sure we get all the details right the first time around!

For this aft enclosure, we used Sunbrella fabric in toast. Sunbrella fabric has a 10 year warranty. For the glass we used Makrolon. Makrolon is a semi-rigid polycarbonate. Makrolon makes your new cover look modern and slick, with no sagging windows due to temperature changes throughout the year. To sew everything together we used GORE tenara
thread in clear. GORE tenara thread has a lifetime guarantee, meaning it will outlast your canvas! If you get your new cover sewn up with GORE tenara thread, you can say good bye to repairs and hello to high-quality craftsmanship! For attaching the panels together we used Lenzip zippers in beige. Lenzip zippers have a life-time guarantee!

This cover has all hidden kedar track that was sewn to the top of the panels, which attached to the hard top creating a water tight seal from panel to hardtop. All of the snaps are hidden as well, and are on a separate flap on the bottom inside of each panel.

November 1, 2017December 4, 2023

Donzi 3250 LXC Cockpit Cover

This Donzi 3250 LXC was in need of a new cockpit cover so they gave us a call! We start out all of our jobs by first going out to your boat take measurements so we can begin our process. Here at our shop we use a lot of labor-saving, cost-effective tools. When we go out to take measurements we use our 3d measuring device to digitally map out your boat. Since all boats are slightly different because of framing and other attachments, this makes it quick, and easy for us to gather our measurements as well as map out the small differences that makes your boat slightly unique then another one.

After we gather all of our measurements from your boat, we head back to the shop to start our design process. When we get to this point we upload our measurements we just gathered into our CAD software program and start making the perfect custom cover for you! After our designer finishes your custom cover, we send it over to our plotter which draws it out for our seamstress, saving us time and you money! Then we cut out your new cover and our seamstress starts sewing it up.
For this cockpit cover we used Sunbrella fabric in black. Sunbrella is fade resistant and has a 10 year warranty. We used GORE Tenara thread in black to sew this cover up. GORE Tenara has a lifetime guarantee, which means that this thread will outlast your canvas! No more sun-eaten threads on your new cover, which means no more restitching or repairs!!! Then we used a Boat Vent II to help hold the cover up to prevent pooling, as well as bring some air flow into the boat when the cover is up, to prevent mold and mildew if the interior ever gets wet!

September 25, 2017December 4, 2023

31st Harbor Shade Sails

Custom shade sails are a great way to keep you cool all summer. At the 31st Harbor in Chicago we replaced their old shade sails and made some brand new ones.

We start off every project by going on site to do custom measurements with our 3d measuring device. This tool is great because it saves us time, which at the end of the day saves you money. It is quicker and more efficient then doing measurements by hand, especially on a project this size that could have possibly taken hours to measure due to the wind speeds and how high we would have had to have gone to measure at the tops of these structures. After we got our measurements, we head back to the shop to do some design work on the computer. Once we got the designs all figured out we started plotting them out with our plotter!

We fabricated these out of Polyfab, which is a commonly used shade sail material. Their line called Comtex is perfect for medium residential projects as well as large scale commercial ones. It is a high strength fabric that can reduce 90% of UV rays. Comtex is made from virgin resins and has one of the best UV stabilizers that are both lead and heavy metal free.

We also used GORE tenara thread, which has a life time guarantee. This means that the thread we used will outlast the fabric itself. It doesn’t get effected by the elements like other threads.

Along with the GORE tenara we used Polyfab’s shade sail 2″ edge webbing all around the edges of the shade sails. This is a polyester webbing that has a breaking strength of 4,700 pound force.

Polyfab Comtex has a 10 year limited warranty. This means if your shade sail is installed properly it should last you ten years. The care for this product requires a mild dish soap and a low pressure water hose. Using any other kind of chemicals on this product can deteriorate the UV stabilizers as well as the fabric itself, this will void it’s warranty.

September 19, 2017December 4, 2023

Seafox 256 Cockpit Cover

We fabricated a custom cockpit cover for this Seafox 256 fishing boat.

For all of our work we create, we have to go out on site to take custom measurements. We do this with our 3d measuring device, which is quick and efficient. It saves us time and you money on your new custom cover. Then we head back to the shop and we start designing your cover on the computer. We make sure that we have covered all of your concerns and needs due to every boat being different. After we finish up the designing process we have our plotter draw out all the pieces of fabric, then we hand everything over to our seamstress and the cover is assembled.

Since the Seafox 256 is more of a fishing boat, we made a cockpit cover that attached onto the top of the windshield with DOT fasteners and then extended over and down the back of the captains chair. Now all of this Seafox’s upholstery is protected from rain and other elements all season long while on the water.

This cockpit cover is fabricated out of Sunbrella fabric in cadet grey with GORE tenara thread in grey. GORE tenara thread has a lifetime guarantee which means it won’t get eaten by the sun. Sunbrella fabric is fade resistant and has a 10 year warranty.

Since this cover sits against the captains chair we added a soft fabric called evolution which is easy to clean. It adds protection to the boat cover so it wont rub up against the seat causing any wear and tear to this boast upholstery work. Evolution is also mold and mildew resistant and dries quickly if ever wet!

We used grey DOT snaps to secure this cover onto this boat. No wind will be ripping off this cover this summer!

September 18, 2017December 4, 2023

Twin Helm & Bridge Table Cover

Twin Helm And Bridge Table Cover For this sailboat we created twin helm covers and a custom slip cover for their bridge table.

We start of all of our jobs by going onsite to take measurements. We use our special 3d measuring device, which is easy and efficient. This process alone saves us time and you money at the end of the day. After we get our measurements we head back to the shop to begin our design process on the computer. All of our custom covers are designed using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software. This makes things super easy for us, allowing us to see the design before we sew it all up, that way we can ensure that all of your needs are met and there are no design flaws on our end. After we finish up designing everything, we go to our plotter and draw out all the pattern pieces for our seamstress to sew up. Out plotter is another one of our labor-saving, cost-effective tools. It draws out our design perfectly on the fabric so that everything fits just as it should. After everything is drawn out, our seamstress cuts out all the pieces and gets to work!

Twin Helm And Bridge Table Cover

For these covers we used Charcoal Sunbrella fabric. Sunbrella comes with a 10 year warranty and is fade resistant!!! To sew everything together we used GORE tenara thread. GORE tenara thread is a great thread to use on your new canvas, because it has a lifetime guarantee. It is chemical resistant, UV resistant, salt water resistant and extreme weather resistant. and Lenzip zippers. For our zippers we use Lenzip. These also come with a lifetime guarantee!

We did a hidden zipper on these to help make them look nice, clean and modern. It also prevents water leakage making sure that everything stays nice and dry.

September 15, 2017May 2, 2019

Full Enclosure & Sunpad

For this Sea Ray 500, the bridge was constricting the captain, so we raised the framing 6 inches for more headroom.

We also made a new aft frame for this boat so that the customers could have more shade with their new enclosure. We brought the pole out further towards the back of the boat, so that the bimini could be wider then their last cover.

After we did some adjustments on their framing, we went and took measurements with our 3d measuring device. Then our designer went back to the shop and started working his magic designing a custom enclosure.

Sea Ray 500 Custom Full Enclosure AFT View (Strataglass Roll Ups)

For this project we used Sunbrella fabric in Captains Navy, GORE tenara thread in black, Lenzip zippers. Both GORE tenara thread and Lenzip zippers have a lifetime warranty. That means they are guaranteed to last longer then your canvas and that the sun and water will not eat away at them!

For the forward windows we used Makrolon, which is made out of a polycarbanate that makes these windows semi-rigid! For the aft windows we used Strataglass. We did roll ups for some of the back windows for air flow when the cover is up. To ensure no water leakage in the roll up windows we used Lenzip’s waterproof chain zipper.

Sea Ray 500 Custom Sunpad

We also designed and sewed up four separate custom sunpads for this boat. We used Captains Navy Sunbrella upholstery fabric to match the new closure we created for them! These cushions have an Oyster Sunbrella piping around the edges to help create the illusion that these are all one long cushion! They also have two easily removable headrests that have pockets in the back of them for storage so that things don’t go flying away when you are out and about. They are attached to the boat with custom velcro straps that wrap around poles located down each side of the center of the boat. These cushions aren’t going anywhere but where the boat takes them!

Sea Ray 500 Custom Sunpad Detail Of Head Rest

They are made out of active foams dryfast foam. Dryfast foam is an open-cell foam that allows water to go through the foam instead of absorbing it like other foams. These cushions will get dry way quicker if they get wet out on the water or soaked after a rain storm. They also have a white screen on their underside to also help with water drainage along with a large horse shoe shaped zipper for easy removal if the customer wants to throw these in the wash at the end of the year.

November 23, 2016December 4, 2023

42′ Silverton Express Cruiser – Cockpit Cover

This 42′ Silverton Express Cruiser was in desperate need of an updated cockpit cover.

Silverton Express Cruiser Cockpit Cover by Chicago Marine Canvas

Here at Chicago Marine Canvas, we only do custom work, that means, no two covers area alike! The first step to our process is to physically go out to your boat and take measurements using our 3D measuring device. This is one of our many cost-effective, labors-saving tools. After we quickly gather our measurements we head back to our shop to begin our design process. We do all of our design work on the computer using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software. With this tool, we can see a 3D version of your new cover before we even draw it out! This way we can make sure that everything is perfect and all of your needs are met.

For this cockpit cover we used Erin Green Sunbrella Plus fabric, which has a polyurethane backing on the inside of the cover, it helps really ensure water resistance for this boat cover! We also used GORE Tenara thread in clear, which has a lifetime guarantee to outlast your canvas! This thread is great for boat covers because it is UV resistant and wont wear out over time! This cover also had two Boat Vent II pole holders helping to prevent water from pooling on the cover, and to help create airflow through the boat while the cover is up. This can help prevent mold and mildew from building up inside the boat cover when its up! We used DOT Snaps to attach the cover to the boat to finish it off!

November 18, 2016December 4, 2023

Blarney Island Pontoon – Full Enclosure

Blarney Island Shuttle Boat - 2017 Marine Fabricator's Association Award of Excellence: Powerboat – Rigid Enclosures

Blarney Island contacted us with a big job that got us super excited! They told us they had a pontoon boat that held 40 passengers and it was in need of a new full enclosure.

We used Stamoid Heavy in Royal Blue. We used GORE Tenara thread, and Lenzip zippers, both of these things are guaranteed for life to last!

The three forward windows for this enclosure is made out of Makrolon to add a little more stability to the structure of this cover. Makrolon is a harder type of glass that has a little bit of flexibility, but not where near as much as Strataglass or Eisenglass. For the other 12 windows, we used Strataglass.

Every panel on this boat is connected to the awning track by kedar being attached to zippers we sewed to each window. This allowed the boat to have a very clean look inside, and out!