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  1. #1
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    what sort of hem do you use on your hammocks?

    I'm still in the planning stages of making my first hammock... only because I'm still without a sewing machine.
    However, the forced pause is providing me more opportunity to come up with ideas. I have decided, since I have only found 1.1oz DWR ripstop nylon so far, that I should go ahead and make some double hammocks. (I'll be making at least three, one for me, my girlfriend, and for my sister.)
    I think that I like the zHammock design, at least for the first one. I can change it for the following ones if I so desire.

    Anyway, the point of this thread is to ask what sort of hem everyone uses. Do you just use a folded hem (fold the fabric and sew through the two layers) or a rolled hem (fold the fabric twice and sew through all three layers, the edge hidden on the inside)?

    The DWR seems to fray fairly easily. Even through I sealed the edges with my lighter, I don't want to take the chance of it fraying any more, and thought that the rolled hem would be better at this. However, the folded hem would be much faster...

  2. #2
    Senior Member tight-wad's Avatar
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    Rolled hem. After you get the hang of it, it doesn't take any longer to do than a single fold.

    Buy either 1) a tea candle, or better, 2) a radio shack soldering iron for burning the edges. A lighter?

  3. #3
    Senior Member GrizzlyAdams's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tight-wad View Post
    Rolled hem. After you get the hang of it, it doesn't take any longer to do than a single fold.

    Buy either 1) a tea candle, or better, 2) a radio shack soldering iron for burning the edges. A lighter?
    Ditto. Granted I've now had a lot of practice (but making 3 double bodies hammocks will give you LOADS of practice), but I have a way of making the rolled hem for about 6" in front of the sewing foot, sew 6" of stitch, form up the next 6" of rolled hem, etc.

    I'm working at proficiency with the hemming foot, but aren't as comfortable with that yet as with the by-hand method. Practice makes perfect...

    On the methods for melting the edges. You can use a soldering gun to cut them. This is called a "hot knife". For all the 1.1 oz. you'll be cutting you ought to look into it. That stuff is the worse for fraying, due I suppose to the lower thread density.

    Grizz

  4. #4
    Senior Member headchange4u's Avatar
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    Another vote for rolled hem. When I first started making hammocks I used to double stitch the edge but now I just use s single stitch.
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  5. #5
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    Well, I'm glad that everyone seems to agree with my idea of doing a rolled hem.

    As for the lighter, I took a zippo and set it on the table, so similar to a tea candle.

  6. #6
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    Do you guys melt all of your frayed edges prior to hemming? The one hammock I am nearly done with, I did not do that at all.

  7. #7
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    I always do. I don't think it makes a difference, but can't say for sure.
    Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
    The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".

  8. #8
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    I've currently got 4 pieces of 1.1 ripstop that I am going to be making into double hammocks. I melted the edges on all 4 of them. Part of this is just the fact that I don't have a sewing machine so I can't get to working on them yet. Partly it is the fact that it would bother me, knowing they weren't melted, even though I'm going to roll hem them and they'll be invisible, inside.
    I don't think it'll make a difference one way or the other, especially with the roll hem.

  9. #9
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    Part of the melting for me is so I don't have to deal with it fraying as I am working with it.
    Is that too much to ask? Girls with frikkin' lasers on their heads?
    The hanger formly known as "hammock engineer".

  10. #10
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    if it's inside the hem, it shouldn't matter, if exposed, it will fray.

    an electric hot knife works great, cut and melt at the same time.

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