Hello folks,
I'm looking for detailed information on sail making practices of the 1800's and 1900's for my sailing trawler project.
So far I have learned that the cloth preferred was American or Manchester cotton which came in bolts 1 yard wide. I'm looking for a 1/16th scale alternative.
I would like to have a go at making scale sails and the plan is to build them up over a wooden form shaped to act as a mold over which the cloths will we glued together so that the finished sail will stand with the correct belly and shape but I don't know how the two edges of adjoining cloths came together.
I plan to glue the seams rather than sew them but would be interested in how the sail seams were actually formed, I gather that the seam width varied between each cloth and this is how the sailmakers built in the shape of the sail but so far I have not come up with info in any great detail.
Also I would like to know how the bolt ropes were actually attached
Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places, can anyone advise please?
I would be interested to hear from anyone who has tackled sail making the way I am planning.