DIY Tarp Idea... Save some fabric?

[hppyfngy]

Okay so here's some progress finally. When it got time for the scissors to meet the sil, I got serious and knew I had to get the numbers just right. The fabric was diygear 70d Coated Camo, which is actually 66" (or at least what I bought was, ymmv.) So on with the real layout.



A very long flat felled seam and a lot of hemming later...



My tie outs are working so far...



And boy is this thing big!





Using just under 19' of fabric, the tarp turned out to be 13'9" x 8'10". Minimum of fabric possible for something this size I believe.

One nice thing about this design is you are seaming on the factory edge so you know it's straight. There doesn't seem to be any unusual stretching going on because of the bias hang. I need to fool around with it some but so far I think it's going to be great! Add some side pullouts for sure.

I'll report back after some more testing...

[hppyfngy]

WBBB fits up in there pretty nice too!

[gmcttr]

Real nice looking tarp. Good work.

[Arok]

I like it. Well done!

[joehasbeard]

oh man, that tarp is awesome! What's the total price on the finished product?

[JohnSawyer]

That's completely awesome... As soon as I can find the funds, I'll have to build one!

[hppyfngy]

oh man, that tarp is awesome! What's the total price on the finished product?

Thanks! Depends on the fabric. This is 70d coated which was $3.65/yd IIRC. So about 6.5 yds = $23.73 plus shipping and a few feet of grosgrain... Couldn't be more than $30 total.

That's completely awesome... As soon as I can find the funds, I'll have to build one!

FWIW, Next one I do I will go for narrower fabric. It's the 66" width that forced the almost 14' length.

I need to do the math but I'll bet 60" is probably good for 10.5-11'.

Edit: 5'x2=10' D'oh!

[hppyfngy]

FWIW, I was curious enough to run some numbers for 60" fabric. I was wrong about one thing, it doesn't get down under about 12' and still stay within the 6yd range.

I think this is the one I'll make next.



At 12'2 1/16" x 8'9 1/4" it still has a good shape and just stays under that 6yd total and with the diagonal seam.

[Redoleary]

Look'n good! Nice work.

[hppyfngy]

I've been getting some questions about this layout idea. My thought was to make the biggest darned hex tarp out of the least fabric I could and I thought this notion would be simple and be done with the least cutting and least waste. I am a motorcycle camper and weight is not my priority.

If you don't want a big arse tarp, this is probably not for you. Even with the 60" width, as above, you can't get it under 12' and stay close to the right shape and stay around 18' of fabric.

Breaking that last confusing diagram down a little...

The 60" fabric laid out in front of you:



There are only 3 cuts to make as shown. The seam is made up of the two factory edges that are seen as 10' 8 1/8".

When they are seamed, the idea was to use the longest length as the ridge line, putting the 10' 8 1/8" seam on the diagonal.



This might not meet your needs. If you want, for example a 10' ridge line and an 8' width, you can do it like this (this is in 62" fabric, but that doesn't matter much...)



Or cut it out like this and you have factory edges where you seam it, (nice but not at all necessary)



And your seam is in line with the ridge line.



The idea is that both of these tarps use about 6 yds of fabric and mine is a good bit larger and somewhat simpler.

Zat make sense?


btw, the tarp has been hanging for several days through some pretty good storms. Great coverage and I've seen no strange stretch issues and it stays tight. I like it!