I’m sure this has been covered, but I’ll throw it out there anyway.
If making a home made tarp, is edge material (gross grain?) necessary, or merely used to make it look better?
I wouldn’t care how it looks; I am only worried about function.
6
I’m sure this has been covered, but I’ll throw it out there anyway.
If making a home made tarp, is edge material (gross grain?) necessary, or merely used to make it look better?
I wouldn’t care how it looks; I am only worried about function.
6
The harder I work, the luckier I get.
Grosgrain is cosmetic IMHO. When I build my next tarp I'm gonna leave it off.
“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." -Terry Pratchett
No, it isn't necessary. Just roll them and sew it up.
The edges need to be treated in some way for stability and strength. But it makes little difference in my mind how that is done. Edging/bias tape is contrasting and cosmetic and maybe easier to do, but a folded hem is just as functional. I usually end up putting twill or something in the folded hem to add stability and strength as I showed in my vid We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! - Tarp Tips. But as long as the edge will not ravel and does not tear one is a good as the other.
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
i only do it on catenary cut edges. if you try to roll one of those, be prepared for headaches. growgrain is useful in that sense.
My experience is that adding something like narrow twill tape to a cat cut makes it easier to handle. The narrower the better in that case. A narrow hem is easier to fold on a curve. I find either process a pain in the tush on a cat cut.
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
I just folded the edges when I made my catenary silnylon tarp. No regrets... works great.
Cheers,
jeff
it doesn't have to be just for looks. i think it can help alot in getting a tighter pitch if used on a curved edge (not bias tape, but something with some stretch resistence). if you direct force from the guylines to the edge binding, it helps pull the tarp taut. look at a maccat or one of mine or the granite gear white lightning, all are capeable of pitching very tight because of the way they use the edge binding. i don't think i could get nearly as tight and wrinkle free without it. you can definately use a rolled hem, but the edge will be alot stretchier and you won't be able to load it like you can edge binding, so you'll have to use a little corner patch to distribute force to the tarp, this doesn't do as good a job of getting a perfect taut wrinkle free pitch in my experience.
Last edited by warbonnetguy; 02-03-2009 at 22:12.
Brandon that is pretty much how mine came out (the 3 or so that I made)
I just looked at the way Brian did his, and followed suit. It helps if you fold the grosgrain in half and then iron it so it forms a crease.
Interesting note on the bias tape... I'll remember that... I've had nothing but trouble using grosgrain but maybe I have been doing something wrong
I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.
"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn
We Don't Sew... We Make Gear! video series
Important thread injector guidelines especially for Newbies
Bobbin Tension - A Personal Viewpoint
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