Except possibly in small craft in ancient times sails were not made out of a single piece of cloth, but were assembled from several strips, known as the cloths - this method produced sails which were considerably stronger and less liable to tear . In ancient times the cloths were sometimes assembled crosswise, sometimes lengthwise, and some sewn up from rectangular pieces in both directions. Since the early Middle Ages the cloths have always been joined vertically, i.e. lengthwise.

   When sewing up the individual cloths the traditional starting point was the extreme right-hand cloth -seen from the rear -with its left-hand edge taken upward to form the seam. The second cloth was laid on top of this, the right-hand seam at the bottom, the left-hand seam again taken upwards etc. Then the whole thing was oversewn fromiront and back to hold it all together. This procedure of making a sail from individual cloths is far too complex for the modeller, of course, especially as the same effect can be achieved by much simpler means. The material for the sail is cut with generous excess width, and the seams of the cloths are folded in an S-shape, noting that the visible seam edges always face the right. The cloths themselves were up to 4ft wide in the early Middle Ages, 32 to 36ins wide in the late Middle Ages, around 28ins wide from the middle of the 16th century to the beginning of the 18th century, and from then 24 or 18ins; the width of the seams fell over the same period from 1½ to 1in.

  Sewing the seams is more difficult than laying out the strips. Start by pinning the seams in place, and ironing them. It is also advisable to glue the seams together carefully, although it is essential that the glue does not penetrate through the material. It does not matter whether there is a seam or cloth in the centre of the sail, but the strips should not become too narrow at the sides.
Originally the seams of the cloths were sewn with a double line of oversewing. However, as the seams of a 1: 48 scale model are only ¹/³²ins wide, this process is not feasible for the modeller. He has the choice between just one row of oversewing or a double row of running stitch, as the drawing bottom right shows. However you do it, these stitches must be as even as possible (use a sewing machine!), and as small as possible. The sewing thread should be light brown, that is, a little darker th~n the sail itself, if the seams are to show up properly. The next step is to cut the sail to the size of your template - do not forget the seam or tabling allowances. Fold the edges of the sail over, pin them, carefully glue them if desired, and finally sew them up with a double row of running stitches. The tabling was about 4ins wide. The leeches are sewn first, followed by the foot and head of the sail. The linings are now sewn on the reverse side of the sail; they were themselves often made up from separate cloths. Oversewing is used again, as for the cloths. Only the foot lining was attached with running stitches, like the tabling. The last stage is to attach the reef bands, using running stitch.

  All the eyelet holes - that is the holes through which the head lacing and reef points were passed -were sewn round. This task is unnecessary on a model, however, as the eyelets are hidden by the knots of the ropes. It is best to leave the eyelet holes out altogether at this stage.