How I Saved Money by Making Porthole Screens

I must confess up front that I am not a crafty girl. I literally do not like to make things. Before I lived on a boat, my phrase would be, “If I have to make it, I don’t have it!” Luckily, I have very kind friends who are creative, good seamstresses and/or craftsmen, that usually get me out of jam when I truly need something made. As a licensed beautician, sometimes I could barter haircuts for items, but mainly I just have some amazing friends.

However, once we moved aboard our catamaran, SV Daggers Down, I have found that because of our limited retirement budget or our location, there were times when I could not obtain an item I needed. Thus, I had to learn to be more creative.

I knew that once we reached places like Florida and the Caribbean, I would need screens on our portholes if we wanted to sleep with the windows opened. So, I went out of my comfort zone and began researching how I could make screens for the portholes on our boat to keep out flies, mosquitos, and most of all no-see-ums.  We have very few hatches, but we have 16 portholes of different sizes. If I were to buy these at $80+ a piece, I would have to spend over $1200!!

I always give credit where credit is due, so during my research, I came across Sailing Britican’s blog where she provided some informative instructions and a You Tube video on how to make porthole screens. It appeared like a fairly simple project when I watched her You Tube video:

https://sailingbritican.com/make-port-window-screens/

Yet, because I am not the craftiest of persons, I found when making my first screen, that I needed to modify her process especially as many of my screens were much larger than hers. I also found some tricks along the way that made the project much more efficient. So I am sharing with you my process and hope that between Sailing Britican’s blog/You Tube video and my instructions, you will learn to make porthole screens efficiently and that they will be functional for your boat.

For my project I bought the following supplies from Amazon:

• E6000 Craft Adhesive 3.7 oz (Pack of two) –I used 3 tubes for this project
• 1/4″ x 27″ x 60″ Craft Foam Roll End HiDense Closed Cell Foam Upholstery
  Crafting Foam Supplies Vibration Dampening Sculpting Graphite 1Pcs –I used four of these rolls of foam. The first one I ordered was white, but I found that I preferred the graphite color better
• Saint-Gobain ADFORS FCS10149-M Small Insect Screen, 36″ x 84″, Charcoal –I used 2 pkgs
• MulWark 16pc Precision Craft Hobby Utility Knife Set- Sharp Razor Knives Tool for Architecture Modeling, Scrapbooking, Felt & Wood & Leather Working- Stencil, Fine Point, Scoring, Chiseling Blades –I used several different blades
• Dritz Sewing Gauge, Nickel with Black Printing and Blue Slider –this tool made the task more efficient

I also needed the following supplies:

• Good sharp scissors
• Ruler and straight edge
• Cutting board or cutting platform (I used cardboard part of the time)
• Cardboard at least the length of your porthole (I used boxes from above Amazon materials)
• Tape
• Paper
• Sharpie and/or pen
• Paper or foam plates
• Plastic knives
• Trash can for all the remnants

I have three different sizes of oval portholes. Therefore, I had to complete this process three different times. My largest porthole is about 24 inches long. I determined after trying to make the first screen following the You Tube video instructions, that my screen was too long to maintain size without middle supports. Thus, I began leaving one to two supports in the middle of the frame depending on the size. Without these middle supports, the material was too flimsy to hold its shape and became much larger than originally planned.

Step 1 Make a paper template

In the video, paper towels were suggested to form the paper template, but I found these were too flimsy for my larger portholes. So I taped 8×11″ paper together so that it was wider and longer than the porthole. Then, I put the paper in the porthole and made a rough pattern using my hand to press around the edges. After trimming the edges to the approximate size, I folded the paper to cut the rounded corners to assure that all four matched. This uniformity was important when adhering two pieces of the foam frame together later in the process.

When the template was completed, I inserted it into the porthole to assure it fit appropriately and there were no gaps. This initial fitting was essential to the template process.

Once the paper template was the right size and fit well, it was time to transfer the template onto a piece of cardboard.

 

Step 2: Making the outside frame of the cardboard jib

I chose to move from a paper template to a cardboard jig because it maintains shape better. In addition, since I needed to cut out several of the same size pieces, the cardboard holds up better than the paper.

To make the jig, begin by tracing the paper template onto a piece of cardboard (or very thick paper). It helps if the cardboard is longer than the template without taping it together because the jig needs to be solid.

Next use an X-Acto knife or utility knife (see Amazon list above) and a straight edge to cut the outside of the cardboard jig, leaving all but one of the corners square. Next, fold the cardboard to cut the rounded corners so that all four are uniform.

Insert the cardboard jig into the porthole to assure you have a nice fit before moving forward.

 

Step 3 Cutting out the inside of the cardboard jib

If your porthole is over 12” long, I encourage you to leave one to two supports inside your jig rather than cutting out one large opening. This will save you a lot of grief later. I left a support piece even in my smallest screen which was 16” long.

In fact, for my 24” frame, I used two inside supports. I left one jig whole so that I could use it for the outline on the foam to assure the jig was stable. Then I cut out an additional ½ of the frame with an inside support so that each side would be the same. I could just flip it over end to end when cutting out the inside of the foam.

For the slightly smaller porthole jig, I went ahead and cut out the middle as shown in this picture.

The border of the jig needs to be at least ¾” wide. Use the sewing gauge to mark lines along the edge for a uniform border. Then use a utility knife and a straight edge to cut out the cardboard.  This seemed to work better than scissors especially for the inside of the border.  I had to basically freelance the curved portions on each end.

Once the jig(s) are finished, you are ready to begin cutting out the foam.

 

Step 4 Cutting out the foam for the screen frame

You will need two foam frames to make each porthole screen. I laid the foam roll out on a table and cut all the frames of the same size at one time. You will need to decide if you want the glossy black showing or the reverse side which is more of a matte graphite color. This will make your screens a uniform color. I decided to use the graphite color on the outside of the screen and glue the glossy black sides together. Again for the larger screen frame, I used a solid jig to cut out the outer frame and then the smaller 1/2 jig to cut in the inside boarders.

At this point you will probably realize that it is impossible for all sides to be exact as well as the curves on the ends. However the closer the two pieces of foam match, the better your product will look when you are finished. Using a utility knife seems to make a smoother cut than using scissors.

I also found that cutting the foam as close to size as possible is far better than making them bigger and cutting them down after you have adhered the two pieces together. If you try to cut them after gluing them together with the screen material in the middle, you will probably have a jagged, unsightly edge. At least I found this to be true when I made my first set.

Thus, if one side of your jig is slightly larger than the other side, be sure to mirror image this when you cut the second side of foam so that you can match the sides when you put them together to glue the screen material in between them like a sandwich.

Use the utility knife to cut out the outside rim of the screen frame first. To assist you can overlay a straight edge on top of the cardboard jig for a more even cut. Then continuing to use the utility knife and jig, cut out the inside of the frame. Be sure NOT cut the middle supports as this will weaken your entire product.

I cut out all the foam frames of the same size at the same time before working with the screen material. You need to mirror image frames for each screen.

 

Step 5 Cutting out screen material and gluing together

There are two ways that you can cut the screen material. One is to cut it larger than your frame and trim it after you glue it into the frame. The other way is to cut to screen material just slightly smaller than the frame and glue it inside the frame without overlapping edges. I found the later method worked better for me because trimming afterwards was difficult. However, if you cut the screen material slightly smaller, you must be careful how you place it on the frame as it will be difficult to slide around once it touches the glue. I used scissors to cut out the screen material.

Adding the adhesive to the foam frames seemed to work best when I squeezed the glue onto a plastic knife. Then used the knife to spread it on the frame.

Next, place the screen material on the glued side of the first frame. Then spread glue on the second frame and carefully lay it on top of the screen material and first frame matching the sides, supports and corners as best as you can.

Gently press all the sides and corners together and give it some time to dry. Once it has dried, see how they fit into your porthole, trimming only if necessary. Voila, you have a completed screen!

These screens should keep out most of the bugs that love to come calling during the night and raise havoc with your skin! And on the plus side, they do not cost an arm and a leg.

One of my craftier friends, sewed me some soft, pliable covers in which to store the screens.

These were perfect for storing them on the rail inside of the boat.

Good luck! Hope you will be please with your screens as much as I am with mine!

Please comment below if you find other tips and tricks that made the screens more efficient to make or more functional.

Thanks!