sil frustration

[rjcress]

Howdy folks.
First post.
I've been lurking for nearly two weeks, but it seems like months.
Not sure what happened, but I got the bug bug to make gear BIG TIME.
Way too many nights this past week working into the wee hours of the morning.

Spent much of last week researching designs and fabrics.
Ordered 15 yards of 1.9 silnylon from Noah Lampart ($45)
It arrived yesterday and I very excitedly traced my friends HH hex tarp on to the sil. My electric sheers usually make quick work of cutting, but kept getting jammed on the ripstop threads in the sil. Took a bit longer than expected to cut, but ended up OK.

The real challenge came when I tried to hem the edge using the adjustable hemming foot on my Singer 19-51 (yep, I roll old-school). I've successfully used it to hem nylon, polyester, and nylon/polyester blend, but the sil just won't hold the roll long enough inject thread through it.

So, I'm new at sew... uh... thread injecting.
I've most winged it, so far. I'm thinking I need to get serious and figure out the correct way to do this.
My initial thought is that I need to get some bias tape and use the bias tape foot on my 19-51 to attach to the edge of the sil, instead of trying to hem the sil.
Am I on the right track?

Thanks in advance!
Jeff

[Lonely Raven]

Greets! And great first post!

I'm sorry I can not help you, but I'm interested in what others have to say as I'm just about to start doing the same thing.

[Ramblinrev]

Bias tape is problematic because most of what you find easily is cotton/polyester blend which makes it subject to moisture damage. Sil has a mind of its own. You might find the best thing to do is to roll the hem by hand and use _lots_ of pins. I have never hand any luck with rolled hem feet. But I know some people love them. YMMV

The best thing to do is to play with scraps until you find the best way for _you_ to tame the beast.

[MAD777]

Roll it by hand, sew slowly in small segments - be patient and not very critical of the looks as long as it is functional.

[rjcress]

Bias tape is problematic because most of what you find easily is cotton/polyester blend which makes it subject to moisture damage.

Dang! I had not thought of that. Thanks!

Sil has a mind of its own. You might find the best thing to do is to roll the hem by hand and use _lots_ of pins.

I was afraid someone might say that.
I'm also thinking about folding and ironing with a warm iron instead of pinning.
I just HATE pinning.

The best thing to do is to play with scraps until you find the best way for _you_ to tame the beast.

Will do. I burned through a bunch of scrap last night trying to sort this out with the hemming foot. I'll try pinning and ironing to see which is most efficient for me.

BTW, I watched a bunch of your videos last weekend. Thanks for taking the time to create and post them.

[Pro Vagabond]

Hey Jeff,

Welcome to HF!! As someone who has built everything he has, patience is a virtue. If you have scrap, practice on that. I don't fold and iron, I think that takes too long and doesn't work well, for me. Unless absolutely necessary, I don't pin. I just take my time, keep good tension on my fabric, and sew small sections at a time. I usually only sew 6-8 inches at a time, move my hands, tension the fabric, and do another 8 inches. On ripstop, it is easier since there are lines to follow, but on other fabric, it is tougher because of the slick nature of the material.

Oh, and straight stitches come from factories. I specialize in curved stitches .


Keep at it,
Vagabond

[gargoyle]

rjcress, Welcome to the madness.

1.9 sil? Hopefully you meant 1.1?

Sil is trickier to sew than normal fabrics. Take your time and it will work. Like was said earlier...Roll a small 12-18" section and sew, Stop, roll another section, and repeat.
I hold the hem with my right hand, and guide the fabric with my left.

Remember, pics or it didn't happen.

[nacra533]

I have a decent amount of experience using hem attachments. Sil takes A LOT of practice, a slow pace, and it still occassionally screws up on the hemmer. I typically only hem short sections of sil (stuff sacks) and do it by hand instead of using the hemmer.

The problems with sil is it is so thin, so slippery, and relatively stiff when compared to it's thickness. All of these make it not want to cooperate in a hemmer.

I bind all of my tarps instead of hemming them. I use grossgrain for the binding and a binder attachment which works like a champ. I have found poly bias binding tape, but I don't recall where. I have also found poly twill tape (I have a roll of white on hand). The twill tape takes curves a better than the gross grain.

[E.A.Y.]

questoutfitters.com offers nylon bias tape. I have used it on a number of projects - works fine. Have not tried it on silnyl, but should work OK. Item #2301

[Running Feather]

Ah, sil. The slippery eel of the DIYer. Patience patience patience....success!!