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Thread: Sewing help

  1. #11
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    I think my biggest problem with getting it even (not the stitching, so much as the actual hem & cloth itself) is that I just cant figure out how to make it "square". I dont know if I am saying it right... argh! But the material... crap, its tough to explain...

    I assume the factory edge is straight.. so that leaves me with 3 uneven sides to cut. Those being uneven is going to be even more pronounced when I make my hem... and even MORE pronounced when the hem is rolled. Maybe I am being too anal.. but I want it to be right, not some skewed crooked POS!

  2. #12
    Senior Member GrizzlyAdams's Avatar
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    I get a lot of mileage from a carpenter's square, along with a longer rigid measuring ruler. You square up one edge of the carpenter's square along the edge you trust, then bring up the longer ruler and make it flush with the square's edge that extends into the fabric. You can use this to mark out
    points on a line that is parallel to the one you trust, and also to mark out
    lines that are 90 degrees to the one you trust.

    Well worth the investment ( < $10 at a Big Box place).

    Grizz

  3. #13
    Senior Member Just Jeff's Avatar
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    Yep - I use a carpenter's square, too.
    “Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story

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  4. #14
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    I do too, but not for sewing! Check at your local fabric dealer.. Oops, I mean shop- for a "cutting board"- should be a large foldable piece of card board with a 1inch grid printed on, (and some other lines you can ignore).
    Mine is about 48x72; turns any surface into a decent cutting area, good enough for most projects that aren't a tarp and great for squaring up your fabric ends. Hope this helps, Betsy

  5. #15
    Senior Member hangnout's Avatar
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    I assume the factory edge is straight.. so that leaves me with 3 uneven sides to cut. Those being uneven is going to be even more pronounced when I make my hem... and even MORE pronounced when the hem is rolled. Maybe I am being too anal.. but I want it to be right, not some skewed crooked POS!
    The large area and carpenter's square is best but if you do not have a big area to work in try folding into quarters and using the two folded sides as the straight edges to square with. This works best with one of the rolling cutting wheels. You can use the project board to square your folded sides then run a straight edge across the line you want to cut on the project board mentioned above. You can reduce a hammock sized material down to the size of the cutting board this way.

  6. #16
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    Well, I went out & got a square & my wife already had a cutting mat (21x24 I think) & a rotary cutting wheel. I am going to try again & see if I cant do a better job!

  7. #17
    Senior Member GrizzlyAdams's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by traviso71 View Post
    Well, I went out & got a square & my wife already had a cutting mat (21x24 I think) & a rotary cutting wheel. I am going to try again & see if I cant do a better job!
    excellent. Watch out for your fingers when using the wheel (guess who is typing with 9 fingers because one is bandaged up??? )

    Grizz

  8. #18
    Senior Member Walking Bear's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams View Post
    excellent. Watch out for your fingers when using the wheel (guess who is typing with 9 fingers because one is bandaged up??? )

    Grizz
    I have a friend that who was working on a sewing project, probably a quilt but not for hammock and knocked the rotary cutter off of the table. She was bare footed at the time. It hit her foot, cut tentons to the big toe, arterys, and nerves in the foot. We keep telling her to wear steel toed boots when she sews.
    They are great tools, but I don't have any tools in the shop nearly that sharp. Take care with them.

  9. #19
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    yeah, even after i was warned by a seamstress friend who was helping me get started, i rolled up against one of my fingers that was holding the cloth in place...Man!!! that boy IS sharp
    I too will something make and joy in it's making

  10. #20
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    I made my 3rd stuffsack today. The first was out of a cotton fabric, jsut to see how I would do. The second was out of some 1.1 sil I got from JJ, & I used rolled hems (just to give them a try) and paper clips (just a couple) instead of pins... and I got a sack, but it looks like hell. Todays project came out pretty good. The only real hem was for the drawstring... which is also the weakness in the bag, I just left the trimmed edge of the drawstring channel there, I didnt make a button hole as suggested on the DIY pages... The reason being, I dont know how to make one. heh But I worked on being more precise in my measuring & stitching... pinning the fabric, etc.

    I think that I am going to work at cutting a piece of fabric for a long hammock. I figure I will use a piece ~ 144"... I will likely spend tomorrow evening laying that out & squaring it off, then Tuesday evening pinning it, then get to sewing Wednesday & Thursday. Friday I will finish it & have it whipped/knotted & begin bitching at myself for not ordering any spectra or webbing & rings. Where do you all order the load bearing rings from?

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