Thanks Marc. Yes, I learned about pulling to tight the first time is skinned a kayak in nylon. With good thread you can create a lot of leverage. I even deflected the gunwales in.

So the answer is same stitching technique, but only pull taught, and not tight. Let the heat shrink do the rest. My fear is if left too loose I'll get wrinkles.

I'll probably stick to the iron, since I have an industrial at work. Besides, I purposefully discovered how easy it was to put a hole in it with the heat gun.

Thanks,

John