attaching velcro to canvas

gdh wrote: Also I was wondering

Extremely unlikely Gary. The hand held machines are generally judged to be useless, and certainly for light usage only.

Sarah

What about tacking with needle and thread of whatever weights are appropriate? Karen

The only name I can recall is "dennison buttoneer", probably a little pricey for your application.

Have you considered using magnets sewn into pockets on the canvas?

There was a Ronco Buttoneer went on Ebay a few days ago. Now, funnily enough, I happen to have one of those that came from an auction years ago ... perhaps I should list mine ....

Best way to stitch Velcro on an application like this is with good quality poly thread, a size 90 Jeans needle, and tighten the top tension until the loops on the back flatten out. Try only to stitch in the narrow woven edge rather than through the loopy fluffy stuff or the hooks. You can sew small tabs of Velcro at intervals. If you contact the outdoors gear and sailing groups, you will find excellent advice about sun and sea resistant threads and fabrics for this application.

Hm... Thinks... Last time I sewed Velcro to canvas was a looooooong time ago! 'Bout 30 years! I put a new clear PVC 'window' into a cover for a Land Rover. The cover was made out of an old lorry canvas: we wanted a 'curtain' to shield the LR contents from prying and acquisitive eyes when it was parked up for a stop on journeys into the hills. It tended to be filled with huge mounds of climbing boots, tents, the odd kayak... I did the sewing on my old Spinning Jenny, that you can see in the sewing machines section of my web site (URL below - I sell nothing through the site): she's a 1923 hand crank Singer 66 that I have had since 1976!

Last time I sewed Velcro to SOMETHING was a few weeks back: I sewed it to curtain voile this time, mostly with a 1953 Featherweight and el-cheapo poly thread (hey - it works!), but the technique is the same!

The tags used by tag guns for quilting have short tags. They are called basting guns, but the nylon tags will go brittle eventually, and they are really only designed for short term use anyway, rather than permanent attachment. Constant pulling the 'curtains' off would fatigue them quicker...

Those hand held 'sewing machines' are a waste of money: for the same price you can buy a well used older hand crank or motorised Singer 66 or

you can buy adhesive backed velcro. If you buy it at someplace like Home Depot you can get construction grade adhesive.

Penny S