Pirate Ship Plastic Canvas Kit

Love this plastic canvas kit, and this will be my second time around making this, because it was so much fun the first time around!

This is a huge kit, it was packages great all the pieces are there and the pattern instructions are good, the quality of the plastic canvas is good and the yard is nice. I'm excited to start this one.

For starters, this is not for a beginner, with that said I had the most enjoyable time putting this together and learning so much from this kit.

I finished with this pirate ship about three months ago. It was a tough pattern and was lots of fun to do for the boys. Though as @RachelLien81 said: In my opinion, there is room for improvement. I agree. First off, it is NOT for a beginner, and the instructions could be better with more photos and detail in stitching. Needless to say, I had so much fun putting this together, (even after having to purchase more canvas...lol). As @ Johanna P. said: It’s taken a long time to make, and has been my only project for awhile. The boys absolutely loved it and were amazed that I had made this. lol

The sails did not have a back side, and I had started off just stitching away, than ended up taking them out and stitching one specific way so that the back was consistent. As for the masts; I actually cut two pieces from stock and made them square, giving it more support, than with the bottom still open, I reached up in there (Not Easy!) and tied them both to the deck walls. This made it absolutely sturdy. As @RachelLien81 stated: I ended up creating two support pieces for under (14 squares in a line on top with 3x4…shaped like a T…that I attached to the underside of the crow’s nest and then attached the 3x4 section to the column). I really wish I had done something like that and recommend it for others.

As for my own tweaks: I stitched their last name on the back where the gold scroll work was. Second, it was flimsy, so I unstitched the bottom piece and cut pieces of ultra-stiff canvas to fit inside the walls of the ship and up into the cabin area, and tied them with thread. Third, I cut extra pieces for the base of each pirate and stitched it so that the bottom looked like the inside of the crow’s nest. I also made two sets of pirates (one for each of the boys). Fourth, as for the rails, I completely redid them. I had tried two different ways and ended up settling with stitching the inside stitches, than attaching both rails together as one, instead of how it was listed. Fifth, I cut and stitched an extra crow’s nest bottom, than tied it on with thread, this way it looked so much better. Sixth, was the sword. This I ended up cutting them like the diagram except for making them 15 holes on the bottom, and wrapped it up to tie on the back side as to create a hole to fit over the hand.

As @Sandra J says: I agree with the first reviewer in that it would have been helpful to have an assembly diagram. I forget which section it was, but I had a hard time understanding some of the instructions at first.

As @Janice stated: The only reference you had was the one picture. The hats needed a little diagram to make it easier to assemble. For me, these were a challenge. (again thank you to Vicky for the photos)

Finally, I can't express just how much fun this was to make. Over 450+ hours and nine months, but not bad for a beginner. A huge shout out to Vicky at May Maxim for all the phone support and the side wall cut out. If you are interested in seeing a video of the ship please email me at [****]

I am so excited about doing this project. I love pirate ships and this will be fun to make. It will take me a while to do but it is hot here and will be perfect to keep me busy

I have made quite a few doll houses from plastic canvas and have learned a lot of tricks along the way. I just finished (literally about 1 hour ago) constructing this pirate ship. It’s such a cute pattern and was a lot of fun to put together. In my opinion, there is room for improvement.

The sails did not have a back side…and so the back stitches were very obvious. I ended up constructing a back side for each of the three sails and stitched them together. This did make the weight heavier and I ended up with the challenge of keeping the masts from twisting. If you are putting this together, I would suggest perhaps stuffing the columns with maybe some type of filler along with the included wood dowels so they don’t twist and move around.

Another challenge I had was with the crows nest. It also wasn’t supported well and flopped around. I ended up creating two support pieces for under (14 squares in a line on top with 3x4…shaped like a T…that I attached to the underside of the crows nest and then attached the 3x4 section to the column). That was a huge improvement and the nest no longer flops around. I’ve also added wire behind the stitching around the rim of the crows nest to help hold the circular shape. I’ve noticed that plastic canvas easily cracks at bends and pressure points. If you add some wire, it helps to hold shape.

The middle deck side rails do not connect to anything near the ladder. I had a problem with them cracking where they attach to the black part of the ship and had to construct another piece to sew over top the damaged rail to connect to the ship cabin.

I did add a few things to the pattern. I constructed a tiny box for the inside of each treasure chest. I also purchased gold sequins and beads, which I then sewed with regular sewing thread to the top of the box insert. The boxes with the sequins “gold” can be removed if you would rather use the chest to store swords or hats.

I also thought it would be fun to have a plank…and so I cut a slit in the deck floor in order to put a plank that can slide into the deck…and can be pulled upwards and out over the railing. And why have a plank if you don’t have danger lurking in the water below?…so I also created a pattern for a shark fin. It sits on the floor or table next to the ship…as if the shark body is submersed in the water and only the fin rises out.

Other modifications…instead of attaching the anchor to the side…I actually made a yarn rope and a spinning piece that winds the rope and anchor up and down. I also made the steering wheel to be able to spin.

I know I added a lot of extras to this pattern…and that’s really the neat part about these kits. When you have experience enough to know the strength of the canvas and what things to do and not to do…you can really run with your imagination and make this your own creation. It’s nice to have a pattern and kit to give you the basic idea…but then have some fun and run wild with your imagination!

I am missing one page of the instructions, if you can send it to me that would be great. If not I will figure it out from the picture. I have most of it built and it is darling.

I really enjoyed making this pirate ship for my son. He appreciates deeply that I am making it for him, which is really touching. It’s taken a long time to make, and has been my only project for awhile (I don’t have much free time), but that only makes it more special. The ship looks so good now that the masts, sails, and ladders are in place!!! I have learned so much while making it, and it’s become a family project (my 4yo daughter now kindly insists on contributing stitches, and I’ve found that with such large canvas she is able to do it!!). My son LOVES pulling out the pliers to do a stitch when we’re struggling to pull the needle through, so he’s become active in creating this as well. I can’t wait to finish the other pieces :)

I got pink yarn instead of peach, and boy do I mean pink. It is so pink that I thought it was the dark coral color until I realized that dark coral is actually red....

My instructions were so out of order that I was super confused until I realized what was going on. I'm a beginner and didn't think that a brand new kit would have the instruction booklet as a DIY along with the actual craft. I guess next time I'll assemble the instructions first, then the craft.....

Easy to follow instructions. Everything included.

The yarn in this kit should be better displayed.
It is difficult to match the charts with the table
That you need to find going back to the front page
And back to the back page, when “Med. Grey is
Displayed in Pink” etc. etc.
The yarn is not of good quality and not from only
One Manufacture.
The price of this kit including shipping is not fair
To reflect the name ( mary maxim) which I always
Trusted for many years.

Good product. I bought the Pirate Ship plastic canvas kit and it was a lot of fun. I have been doing plastic canvas for many years and this is a high quality product.

I agree with the first reviewer in that it would have been helpful to have an assembly diagram. I forget which section it was, but I had a hard time understanding some of the instructions at first. I took a break from the pirate ship and stitched up some coasters (I always work on something easy in the midst of a time consuming project). When I got back to the ship and read the instructions again, something clicked, and I wondered why I didn't get it before. Anyway, I work full time, so this took me a few months to complete, but it turned out awesome! I won a Best of Show ribbon at my county fair in 2019. I glued the ladders in place instead of tacking them with stitches, and I knotted some twine for a rope ladder to get to the crow's nest.

The pirate ship was very hard to put together. I think things would have been a little easier if there were diagrams next to the instructions to show how to assemble the ship. The only reference you had was the one picture. The hats needed a little diagram to make it easier to assemble. It was difficult to join the cannon to the cart without showing stitches of a different color.

The kit had plenty of yarn to complete the project. I tend to use the continental stitch since it covers the canvas better. There was enough yarn to do this. It was also great that the 2 wooden dowels were cut to size.

My grandchildren love the ship and love all the pieces. I bought some little jewels to put in the 2 treasure chests to make their play time more fun. This kit was quite expensive, but there was a lot to the kit. I think including some coins or jewels for the treasure chests would have been a great idea.

My last comment is that the ship is large. I know the dimensions were given, but it was much bigger then I thought..