I sewed a replacement canopy for my swing with sunbrella fabric. i am pretty sure i used a jeans needle with guttermann poly thread.

No, it’s easy to sew.

blubird,

What is a jeans needle? If I go to my local (big box) sewing store, they will know what this is? Sadly, all the small, independent, really helpful sewing stores have closed.

If you even have a local big box fabric store opened near you, you are fortunate.

Most small cities and many of the suburbs have absolutely no where local to buy anything sewing related, at all---zilchl, zero, nada.

Be sure to use a synthetic thread that has no cotton.

I sewed some reusable grocery bags from sunbrella way back in the mid 90s. Those bags are still going strong. But, they dont get any exposure to the outdoor elements.

I had happened to find a nice length of it at a yard sale.

I washed it first as that is the way that I planned to treat it, as washable.

Oh crawp---- Last week I sewed cushions for deck benches using indoor/outdoor fabric and totally forgot to switch needles. If I had to do it over I would use needle #100. The sewing was easy. I think the tension was supposed to be 3--6 and I set it at 5.

I sew a LOT of Sunbrella. It varies for thickness....just depends what you choose. Some of it is downright "thin".

The fabric for the swing is called Meander Wren. It's heavy fabric, but not stiff or brittle. The sling fabric under the cushions was stiff & slightly brittle to work with. The striped pillows, Dimone Flame, thick, but soft fabric.

Not all Sunbrella fabric is easy to sew. I bought some awning fabric to make some pillows because that is the only way I could get the color I wanted, and it was like sewing cardboard.

The turquoise fabric is soft and was easy to sew, but the orange is very stiff, and it was very difficult to install the zippers in that fabric. I did not wash it to soften it, and the pillows are still sufficiently comfortable for outdoors, but I would not use them indoors. I do use some of the turquoise pillows indoors, and I've also made a bunch more Sunbrella pillows for outdoors, but I made sure that I did not buy any more awning fabric.

When you buy the fabric, the description will tell you what it is meant to be used for.

I can buy Sunbrella fabric at my favorite fabric store in L.A. (F&S), but during the pandemic, only the upholstery section of that store was open. The store is on both sides of Pico Blvd, and the upholstery section is on the south side of the street. I normally shop on the other side of the street for fashion fabrics, when I want to buy linen for making clothes. I do like to feel the fabric before I buy it, but sometimes I have to order it. I've even been buying linen on line, as the fashion fabrics part of F&S is still temporarily closed.