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  1. #1
    Senior Member doogie's Avatar
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    Mitered Corners for Tarps

    I was congested last night, so early in the morning I came downstairs and fell asleep in the recliner. I woke up and checked what was on and saw a sewing program on PBS, so I switched over to it. When I tuned in they were showing a technique for making mitered corners for place mats. Later I went down to the injector to give it a shot on some scraps.

    First you make your rolled hem on both sides of the corner one side at a time. In the show they pressed the fabric. I don't use an iron on SIL, and the creases go away quickly, so for these pictures I made the fold and ran a sharpie down the edge so they would show up. After creasing each side in turn, lay flat and trim as shown here.


    Next roll the newly cut edge. This photo shows the first fold. It is critical that the next fold is at the intersection shown here.



    Now go back and roll each side. I normally don't pin much, but I had to for this to stay. Then you just run your stitching along the hem and make the turn. Finished corner from both sides.




    I think if I use this technique in my winter tarp I'm making I will sew the mitered corner hem first, then place my reinforcement and roll normally.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member Brute1100's Avatar
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    The advantage is strength in the corner I'm assuming... Anything that makes that connection point stronger seems wise to me...
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  3. #3
    Senior Member Dave-O's Avatar
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    Thanks for posting this. I'm going to try this in a project I'm working on (not a tarp).

    Please post pictures of your winter tarp if you use this method.

  4. #4
    New Member Thunderchi1d's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by doogie View Post
    I woke up and checked what was on and saw a sewing program on PBS, so I switched over to it. When I tuned in they were showing a technique for making mitered corners for place mats. Later I went down to the injector to give it a shot on some scraps.
    I'm glad someone watches television Saturday mornings. To tell the truth if I do happen to watch something Saturday it's cooking shows, but suddenly I feel the urge to watch some sewing... Good explanation, I may have to give this a shot on a few scraps myself

  5. #5
    Senior Member GrizzlyAdams's Avatar
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    thanks for that. I knew there was a better way to deal with the corner when the edges are rolled than what I do. Sometimes I just roll the corner in and then the sides (this works for 90 degree corners). When I'm lazy I just roll one edge and then the other. You shown a nice clean way to do corners.
    Grizz
    (alias ProfessorHammock on youtube)

  6. #6
    Senior Member ninjahamockman's Avatar
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    Very nice ad some gross grain on that and a D ring and presto you have some darn strong ends.
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    I camp in bear country and I am a bear Burrito.

  7. #7
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ninjahamockman View Post
    Very nice add some grosgrain on that and a D ring and presto you have some darn strong ends.
    And you could leave off the D ring. Grosgrain is strong stuff. I use 3/8" wide, and haven't had any wear problems on tieout loops.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brute1100 View Post
    The advantage is strength in the corner I'm assuming... Anything that makes that connection point stronger seems wise to me...
    The only advantage is in it being a much neater corner - there's no strength advantage here, the corner is not necessarily being subjected to any stress.

    Also, because you're stitching continues instead of ends at each fold, you're eliminating thread ends in two places- much neater!!

  9. #9
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Old Boot View Post
    The only advantage is in it being a much neater corner - there's no strength advantage here, the corner is not necessarily being subjected to any stress.

    Also, because you're stitching continues instead of ends at each fold, you're eliminating thread ends in two places- much neater!!
    Remember this was shown for making placemats. A mitered corner is far superior for that application because it sits better and flatter on the table. A tarp does not face that kind of usage. The mitered corner is easier on a square corner although not impossible on something else. A hex tarp with cat cuts would be a bit more finicky to accomplish. This is not to say the technique is not useful for a tarp, but I personally don't think I would put the effort into it for my own gear. But to each their own.
    I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

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  10. #10
    Senior Member Steve D's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ramblinrev View Post
    The mitered corner is easier on a square corner although not impossible on something else. A hex tarp with cat cuts would be a bit more finicky to accomplish. This is not to say the technique is not useful for a tarp, but I personally don't think I would put the effort into it for my own gear. But to each their own.
    I've made mitered corners for years making kites. Its really not much extra effort since you're making the folds anyway and a cat cut hex hex is only a little more difficult (been there, done that). One benefit that hasn't come up is that you're sewing through a few less layers in the corner where the folds overlap...a little less stress on your machine and less chance for something to jam up due to the extra layers.

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