Cat cuts

[koaloha05]

Spinntex feels stiffer than silnylon. Does not seem to stretch as much. Would a cat cut be necessary? If needed would a reduced depth of the cut be effective?

[warbonnetguy]

Spinntex feels stiffer than silnylon. Does not seem to stretch as much. Would a cat cut be necessary? If needed would a reduced depth of the cut be effective?

maybe, it depends. i bet the spinntex still stretches on the bias.

cuben on the other hand doesn't really stretch in any direction so i'd think a tiny or no cat cut would be better. haven't seen the spinn up close yet so can't really say. what does oes do about the cut? same or less than the sil version?

[Cannibal]

maybe, it depends. i bet the spinntex still stretches on the bias.

cuben on the other hand doesn't really stretch in any direction so i'd think a tiny or no cat cut would be better. haven't seen the spinn up close yet so can't really say. what does oes do about the cut? same or less than the sil version?

You have too seen the Spinntex, you were just too busy showing off your new stuff and you forgot.

I've got a MacCat sil standard at home. I'll lay them both out tonight and see if the curves are the same. Unless Brain logs in and answers the question first. I can't remember it stretching in any direction, but it may a bit on the bias.

[Brian]

Cannibal - I have been summoned by name, and so I come down from my dorm room and respond.

The SpinnUL fabric I use has very little to no stretch due to 'water-stretch', but it still stretches along it's bias as Brandon guessed. I cut the silnylon and SpinnUL versions of my MacCat tarps with the same cuts, as I have seen no to reason to change it - the design works just fine with the lighter fabric and the benefits of a cat cut are certainly still evident.

[Cannibal]

That's funny! I just thought as I was typing in another tarp thread that I needed to get my tarps out and look at them.

Thank you for coming down from on high o tarp master.

[Brian]

Thank you for coming down from on high o tarp master.

Now now, there's no need for fightin' words!

I would like to announce that with the blessing of my German professor (letting me take my final earlier), I am almost sure I will be at Traildays this year! I'm starting to get excited to finally meet at least a sliver of the hundreds of people that I have met online, especially here at HF!

I may also be doing an internship in Germany beginning early June, but that is a topic for later discussion.

[6 feet over]

OK. Lets see if I can even describe what I'm thinking here.

For the sake of making this point, lets say the hem is going to be 1/4 inch, and the length of the tarp is 10 feet. I measure in from the center point 10 inches and then 'eye' the cat cut curve to either tarp point.

Now I'm trying to sew my hem on the curved part. This is where the bunching up of material happens, right? Could you not sew several 1/4 inch (depth of hem) 'spot welds' perpendicular to the edge, starting at the center point, then the two 'new' center points, etc, until you have smaller, more manageable segments to sew along the entire long edge?

I know this would be a pain, but it would work? And would it be worth the trouble?

[Ramblinrev]

Use pins....

That's what they are made for and you can move them at will if you choose.