All Aboard

Sails for Ona Judge and Dominique Rem'mie Fells

Last week I had the privilege of learning some 18th century sail construction skills from Dayle Togoni Ward at Traditional Rigging. Dayle’s skillset is incredibly rare as she specializes in the construction of sails and rigging from the 17th century until the early 20th. Not many people carry the knowledge of this craft so it was an honor to learn from her. When I contacted her a couple years ago for support on Sail From This to That, I had no idea how immensely generous she would be and just how much she would know about how to make the connective tissue that makes a boat move.

After months of preparation this year with the team in Philadelphia, I finally had the opportunity to visit Dayle’s shop in rural Maine and make a model of what will be a much larger adventure. Shout out to artist and clothing designer Olivia Dwyer, who is Shopworks Coordinator at the Fabric Workshop Museum and my amazing project assistant!

From the left - Olivia, Dayle and myself were vibing, the chickens outside were running free and the dog was happy lol.

These are ‘palms’ are worn as a thimble for the hand by sailmakers while stitching handmade, jute grommets into the edge of the sail. Dayle’s are worn with use. The circular cuts into the wooden stump are marks made from punching holes in sailcloth with a heavy mallet that sits on or near the workbench.

(Sorry this one is grainy, but it shows Olivia and I using our own leather palms to practice stitching jute grommets we’ve made ourselves into sailcloth.

Sail Through This to That explores the lives of Ona Judge, the bondswoman who styled Martha Washington and escaped to freedom from Philadelphia in 1796, and the Philadelphia trans woman and aspiring fashion designer Dominique Rem'mie Fells who was killed in 2020. In partnership with Art Philly, Traditional Rigging and the Fabric Workshop and Museum, 18th century sailmaking techniques (familiar to Ona) and fabrics reflecting Fells’s contemporary vibrant aesthetic, will culminate in a community-led procession that follows Judge’s escape on the Delaware River to the Schuylkill River where Fells was found. The work will culminate in a series of public programs on the water and the display of the sails at Spruce Street Harbor on the Delaware River in Philadelphia.

Dayle’s shop is an open upper floor of a finished barn-type construction. I noticed the sign up on the wall immediately “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.” Ha!

Notice the difference between the 18th century sails below and the contemporary sail construction above in the color image of the North Wind schooner. We will be raising our own sails on the North Wind for Sail From This to That in May of 2026.

I learned how to make a series of precise measurements for the sail as a whole and for the individual panels that make the whole. Dayle taught us about the anatomy of the sail as a textile, how to construct the seams and the physics behind how to cut and edge the cloth so that it catches the wind safely. While the large scale sails will be about 20 feet high, the model we’ve made here is still large enough to move a small boat.

A quick drawing of different ways of attaching the sail we made to a small boat. The shape resembles the shape of sails that Vikings and Ancient Egyptians used.

While I cut patches for the corners, Olivia stitched the strips together. We had a joyful time AND I was unbelievably exhausted at the end of the first night. I could feel my brain mapping measurements and stitches.

We’re really pleased with the result : ))