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Zipper question
I've been thinking about making yet another hammock and I've been toying around with the idea of how the bug net attaches. On my previous one I made the HH clone from HC4U's sticky and made a removable bug net, velcro on one side, zipper on the other. I used some noseeum netting and it just feels real flimsy on that zipper. Since that's what's getting the most action it has me a little concerned. This new hammock is going to be for a buddy of mine and I was going to play around with the design. I was thinking about making something more similar to the super sexy WBBB sans foot box, where the bug net is permanently attached and the zipper is a few inches below. I've read through some of the instructions and they talk about sewing a separate strip of fabric to attach the zipper to the hammock body and bug net. My question is couldn't you just slice into the hammock body and put the zipper there? Would that jeopardize the structural integrity of the hammock body?
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You _could_ but it might not be the best solution. You will lose some of the fabric to hems when you install the zipper. How much you would lose would depend in part on the installation you choose and the size of the hemming. If you installed the zipper on the edge of the hammock body any loss to the hammock would already be accounted for in the hem of the body. The loss to the bugnet would be accounted for swimilarly in the hemmed edge of the bugnet. To what degree the loss of fullness and width using the slice method would make a difference may be a moot point. But it is something to consider.
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Maybe slice, move the material back enough to clear the zippers, then zigzag overcast the raw edges, next to the zipper. So, you would have 1 straight stitch attaching the zippers, and a zigzag at the outside material edge, next to the zipper, if you can picture that. Don't make me use that stupid bamboo pen thing. Ugh. Then bartack at the ends of the zipper opening. there would be just a smidge of wrinkling at the zipper beginning and end, where the material spreads, but you could do a little grosgrain or whatever.
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Add the strip.
It does not need to a full length of fabric. Two (even three or four) short strips can be hemmed together to make the add-on strip. I did it, as have many others. Just make the total strip as long as your hammock.
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Narrowing the hammock body reduces the diagonal lay. Unless you're using the really wide fabric from DiyGearSupply.com, add a strip. The plans call for an 8" strip, but 4"-6" should be fine. You just want enough fabric to spare the netting...