Tarp and Grizz Beaks Hardwear

[JohnSawyer]

RE: Reinforcements: I've read somewhere that it's not recommended to use silnylon to reinforce your tarp corners as it could trap moisture and grow mold/mildew. By using a scrap of DWR or uncoated, it'd breathe and dry...

My doors on my tarp have shock cord attached for holding them closed. If I don't pull the shock cord too tight, I can just enter my tarp by pushing the doors aside. I could never get the perfect pitch for the doors to lineup, so velcro closures would be worthless... now velcro attachments to the tarp would be ok, I guess... although I might consider bra hooks as an easy, secure alternative...

[Trout]

If you want, PM your number and we can talk. I made mine the same as yours, but without the cat cut or beaks. The NoahLamport material is wider than what you have listed. The material is more difficult to work with than you might think because of the silnylon and your making each side pretty deep - it is a monster of a tarp!

If you use the same material for your reinforcements it will blend in nicely. Your grosgain ribbon (from any Hobby Lobby or JoAnns) will work fine. I wouldn't add the extra weight of the D-rings unless it's important to you. I double folded my edges after sewing on the reinforced corners (my edges were 1/2", but you can go with 1/4"). Afterwards, sew on your grosgain and your done. Mine has gone through two windy down pours w/o any problems.

Good luck. If you come to the Hossier Hang we can compare our new Navy blue tarps. LOL

[packeagle]

Did you fold the cut edge into the center of the hem? I'm thinking of just folding it over and sewing it, as I heard sil doesn't fray at all. My main debate on edging is to use gross grain ribbon around the entire edge of the tarp or to do the single fold over and sew. I don't want to add the weight of the edging if I can get away with a single fold over and sew. If that doesn't work out I think the weight difference between gross grain edging and a double folded hem would be negligible and the gross grain would be the way to go. I have a tendency to over build things and am trying hard to not over build this and in the process make it to heavy for my backpacking.

Also I thought the rep said that the material was 58-60" wide. I could be wrong he was talking fairly fast.

[MAD777]

I don't use grossgain around the tarp edge. I just fold once (about 3/8") and sew - then fold again and sew a second line. I dont' have any problem with "bunching up" with 3/4" per foot cat cut.

IMO this makes a durable edge and is much lighter than grossgain. If you run 3/4" grossgain all the way around, it will add just over 2 ounces.

[rjcress]

I've done the edge both ways and have been pretty happy with grosgrain edging. However, a rolled hem is pretty easy and doesn't have the weight of grosgrain.
I think you'll be OK either way, and it likely comes down to which you are most comfortable sewing. This is important, as you'll have more than 40 feet of edge to finish.

Also, I don't use D rings on mine. Don't see the point, really. Just something else to add weight and a potential item to break or rust, IMHO.

[Trout]

I took the length of the material and folded it to the other end. Then, I pinned my ridgeline I did the French felled seem (I believe it's called), but slightly modified to add another fold and sew. I cut where I had folded the material, cut and sewed on my reinforcements (large squares cut on the diag. to make triangles), then rolled a 1/2" double edge. The grosgrain went on last. The reinforcement edges become super clean looking once the edges of the tarp are rolled and sewn.

I know that after I sewed my edges I had just a few inches shy of an 11' width, but the fabric you have could easily a different width than what I had purcahsed previously.

If you have the specialized foot for prefolded grosgain, then the grosgain would be hands down the easy way. I really like the finished look of the grosgain.

[packeagle]

Ok. I'm now at the fun part of the project where I decide to commit to cat cuts or not. I have the general shape cut out. I plan on sewing the ridge line seam first and then measuring the sides to calculate the cat cuts. The material is a bit longer than i had anticipated so i have a bit more coverage. (bonus but weight penelty). I have a problem in that I can't get the macros(?) in the cat cut spreadsheet in the black cat tutorial to work with open office.

What is the best way to sew this material? I feel like I should pin the daylights out of it to keep it together, but I don't want to put to many holes through the sil. Pondering weather or not to pin in the seam allowance carefully. I'm going to do a rolled hem on the edges and a flat felled seam on the ridge line.

[Trout]

You are correct, the ridge is the first to sew. If you don't do the cat cut, you can sew in the reinforcement, since you won't be working on such a large piece of fabric.

Fold, fold, fold, so your extra material isn't all over the place. I pinned the area I was sewing, and then went over it again and made sure the pins and folds were straight - repinning where necessary (I repinned a bunch).

I feel your pain on the length of material. It's one foot more than really needed in good weather IMO.