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  1. #11
    Senior Member Brian's Avatar
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    I personally love the slipperiness of sil - it's the first fabric I truly learned to sew on, and I take advantage of it's unique characteristics to make my life a bit easier. But Cannibal is right - stuff sacks are the way to go to get used to sewing with all of their close up action and tight tolerances.

    Glad the tarp meets to your approval . Let me know if you need any scrap supplies or whatnot and I can get you a few mailed out if need be.
    Brian MacMillin
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  2. #12
    Senior Member Cannibal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian View Post
    I personally love the slipperiness of sil - it's the first fabric I truly learned to sew on, and I take advantage of it's unique characteristics to make my life a bit easier.

    Do tell. I guess I could cover the stairs to the basement with sil and make my trips down to the Man Cave/Laboratory a little faster, but other than that....?
    Trust nobody!

  3. #13
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    If you really want to do a tarp make a PU coated one first. Then make silnyl stuff sacks. The sheer size of the tarp is what is tough to deal with as an early project. The PU coated fabric is much easier to handle. Then you can tackle the slippery sil and it can be a bear to get under control.
    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."
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  4. #14
    Senior Member Brian's Avatar
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    Ramblin has some sound advice - especially since PU fabric can be much cheaper than silnylon, it would be a good 'first step' towards a larger sil tarp.

    Cannibal - I have unknowingly and unwittingly acquired the skill of not only walking on sil while climbing up/down stairs carrying fabric up from my garage, but also the skill of walking on 15+ loose layers of silnylon on a hardwood floor (**Don't try this at home!**). Heh, the things we take pride in in this world.
    Brian MacMillin
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  5. #15
    Senior Member Cannibal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian View Post
    Cannibal - I have unknowingly and unwittingly acquired the skill of not only walking on sil while climbing up/down stairs carrying fabric up from my garage, but also the skill of walking on 15+ loose layers of silnylon on a hardwood floor (**Don't try this at home!**). Heh, the things we take pride in in this world.
    You're my new hero! I once busted my butt stepping on a piece of sil that was about 8" square. It was on carpet, but still...layers! You should join a circus.
    Trust nobody!

  6. #16
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    haha thanks for all the help guys. ill keep all of your advice in mind. I was wondering what would be the best place to buy gear project fabric would be, I bought what seems like 1.9 ripstop from jo ann fabrics but they had a limited selection of anything? I have looked at thru-hiker and was just wondering if this would be the best and or cheapest place to purchase fabrics.

  7. #17
    Senior Member tight-wad's Avatar
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    A square/rectangular tarp isn't so bad. Curves, ie cat curves, are a whole 'nother story!

    The issues with tarps, in addition to slipperyness, are the volume of fabric to handle, and the long lines of stitching. With volume you need lots of space. For the long lines, you need to be patient and careful to keep the seam widths uniform.

  8. #18
    Senior Member TinaLouise's Avatar
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    If you're not wanting to spend a whole bunch on silnylon, look into the seconds of 1.1oz silnyon at Outdoor wilderness fabrics http://www.owfinc.com/ I call them to order and also asked if they give a boy scouter discount (yes!!!) Shipping is by slow mule but again if you're wanting to save a little and you've got the time to wait....

    About the sewing of silnylon, I found that the silnylon must have grimlins hiding under it because every time I laided it out and would turn around to do something else, the silnylon would not just shift but would completely slide off the table. Even if no part of it was hanging over the sides, it would still slide away from me. I had to put some very creative paperweights down on it to make it stay put. Also if you're gonna sew something like a tarp, you can not use pins to keep the layers together because you will have to seam seal every single hole that you poke into the silnylon!!! I have a walking foot on my sewing machine that helps keep the layers feeding correctly under the sewing needle. Still I can only sew a few inches before having to straighten up what's going next to be sewed. Always sew with 100% polyester thread (check your thread to make sure it's not polyester covered cotton) I've made all different sizes of sil stuff bags and when I'm headed out camping, I go through my collection and find the just right size for my stuff on that trip. Hope some of these ideas will help.
    TinaLouise

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by TinaLouise View Post

    About the sewing of silnylon, I found that the silnylon must have grimlins hiding under it because every time I laided it out and would turn around to do something else, the silnylon would not just shift but would completely slide off the table. Even if no part of it was hanging over the sides, it would still slide away from me. I had to put some very creative paperweights down on it to make it stay put. Also if you're gonna sew something like a tarp, you can not use pins to keep the layers together because you will have to seam seal every single hole that you poke into the silnylon!!!
    Clothespins!

    Tape!

    Seriously - wrassling my way through making a Ray Way quilt taught me a lot about ripstop and making stuff sacks taught me I don't like sewing silnylon. You need a new needle for each project and keeping seams straight is as much fun as bathing my cat.

  10. #20
    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TinaLouise View Post
    Also if you're gonna sew something like a tarp, you can not use pins to keep the layers together because you will have to seam seal every single hole that you poke into the silnylon!!!
    I beg to differ on that statement. Here is the reason. If you are sewing a flat felled seam for the ridgeline it is possible to pin on the selvage that will be folded into the seam and sealed Each one of those holes would be sealed by seam sealing the entire ridgeline seam which you would have to do anyway. Once you get the first seamline sewn you no longer need the pins as the fabric is solidly attached by the stitches.

    Pinning the edges is another issue but there you can make a choice between sealing pin holes or figuring the pinholes around the edges are not a problem in terms of keeping you dry. Further... silnyl tends to mist through with heavy rains so how much a few pinholes would matter is again a personal decision.

    Silnyl does have a mind of it's own. No question about that.
    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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