: Sewing the seam works well midships but as I get to the stems I'm not sure if
: the canvas will form around without big folds?
Can I slit the canvas on the bottom of the stem,wrap it around
: and maybe put a thin rub strip over it ?

On my kayak with ballistic nylon, it formed well around the stems without folds, but other shapes may be much less forgiving. Certainly for my canoe, there was no way to pull around the stem, as the stem was vertical. I applied a piping seam just like on the deck of a kayak and it seems to have worked just great. In my estimation, any burble caused by the seam *decreases* resistance, like the bulbous projection on a freighter/cruise ship. (It helps to have an active immagination.)

Picture of this below. (Well, you can see half the seam, you have to imagine the far side of the seam.

: BTW lashing went well, once I put the string into a plastic baggie and pulled
: it out as I went along using both hands to tighen the lashing.

You may want to put the lashing material on a little spool next time. It helps a lot to be able to pull on the spool to tighten the lashing, especially when lashing the stringers and the keel. I use light guage mason's twine now, and it comes on a cardboard spool that works well enough.

Rick