Advice needed...

[ColemanCampingFamily]

Well, we picked up our first "pop-up" today and found a few repairs that need to be made. I am not sure if the rest of you would consider this a true pop-up, since the top is not hard. We were given a 1985 Coleman Aspen, and for those of you who are not familiar with this type of camper, it is small. We only have a bed on one side, the dinette folds down for another bed, and there is no galley. However, we think it is just right for our first camper!!

Now on to the problems...the sides are canvas, and the top is vinyl. There are a few tears along the seams that need to be repaired, but we don't want to sink the kind of money into this gift to replace the canvas at this time. My suggestion to my DH is to sew patches that go over the seams. That means that I will have to sew into the vinyl, which scares me. I thought, though, that if I used a vinyl repair kit to cover the vinyl section that I sewed over that we should be safe as far as leaks go. (we have a vinyl lined pool and I was planning on using the patch strips that we use for that). Does this make sense??? I saw another post where someone suggested the iron-on patches for the canvas, but since I have to go over canvas and vinyl I am perplexed.

Anyway, if anyone out there has a suggestion, it would be GREATLY appreciated. BTW, I have thoroughly enjoyed (and learned alot) from reading these boards. I can see that the pop-up community is very close-knit!!

Thanks,

DW - Jennifer '69
DH - Phil '67
DS - Michael '00
Mini Daschaund
1985 Coleman Aspen

[mike4947]

Seam seperations/tears can be a pain. JMHO but I "fixed" several over the years by looking in the yellow pages under either boat canvas or canvas, boat. They do the sewing/repairs for a living and are really reasonable about cost.

Figure an hour to remove the canvas and about another hour to replace it after you get it sewed/repaired.
 
FYI: depending on the type/thickness of the vinyl a lot of home sewing machines have a problem sewing it. Unlike fabric where the needle goes between the threads, with vinyl it punches a hole and the material tends to stick to the needle.
Also the thread used is plain old cotton. It's used because it swells when wet. Synthetics don't and leave a weep hole around each stitch. Cotton swells and seals the holes. Well almost always. LOL

[TroutBum]

I am yet to need to repair my PU, but I have a 12 year old Jeep Wrangler softtop, and there is one product I love for fixing seams and sewing on canvas patches.  It is called a speedy stitcher and is designed specifically for sewing canvas.  It does the same lock stitch as a sewing machine, but is basically an awl that has a hole in it and holds/feeds thread.  It is available from REI among other places.   After sewing, I reccomend applying a silicone product like seam grip over the repaired area.

I don't know how to insert a link directly to the items, but both the stitcher and Seam Grip are available at //www.rei.com just search for "stitcher" and "Seam Grip".

Hope this works for you...