There's nothing you can't do.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Fix Your Jeep Wrangler Soft Top with Fishing Line

We have a Jeep Wrangler. It's great, but it has a little age on it. It has a soft top, and the back window zipper broke. The weather was warm at the time, so my husband just drove it without a back window. That was fine, except when it rained. The air conditioner wasn't very effective on really hot days, either.

A new top for the Jeep would be really pricey, and my husband didn't have a need to remove the window regularly. So, I picked up some fishing line and used it, along with an embroidery needle, to sew the window onto the Jeep top.

I started in the lower right and worked my way around, just looping the line/thread around the zipper to hold it.


It doesn't look great, but the outer flap covers it nicely, so it really doesn't matter:


However, we did want the ability to open and close the left side so we could add and remove larger things from the back of the Jeep. So, I stopped sewing in the upper left corner, and picked up some black velcro.


The velcro is officially "new sew," meaning it is self-adhesive. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't stick very long on the back of a Jeep, out in the weather, though. So, I used the fishing line to sew the velcro pieces down the left edges.

Again, it isn't the prettiest job around, and it doesn't really have to be: it gets the job done. The flaps cover the velcro and stitches nicely, and so far it's working great!