View Full Version : how to talk wife into sewing for me..
Crawldaddy
05-04-2007, 15:57
Im going to ask her to sew an odd size silnylon tarp for me. Shes an accomplished sewer but has never dealt with silnylon. What kind of differences will she confront messing with this kind of material? (It may take a bigger bribe from me) Thanx
txulrich
05-04-2007, 16:13
Im going to ask her to sew an odd size silnylon tarp for me. Shes an accomplished sewer but has never dealt with silnylon. What kind of differences will she confront messing with this kind of material? (It may take a bigger bribe from me) Thanx
The 2 biggest issues will be the size of the pieces and the slipperiness of the material. BTW, make sure she doesn't use cotton thread. It will eventually rot and your tarp will fall apart.
Frolicking Dino
05-04-2007, 17:37
Has your wife ever made a wedding or prom dress? If so, she knows how to deal with the large, slippery pieces. I suggest a serious bribe.... flowers, candy and a foot rub.
Peter_pan
05-04-2007, 19:19
Silnyl has been the undoing of many a fine relationship..... when she finds out how cheaply you can get most products made of silnyl she is going to extract pain on you at the rate of 10 fold the hassles you are setting her up for.....YPMV...:eek:
As a purveyor of silnyl tarps and bags I'm biased....
But know this.... Personally we gave up sewing this snot slippery stuff three years ago in favor of having a factory with double lap, double needle machines and automatic hemming machines do it private lable for us.... All in all better products and lower cost....
Certainly my days are more pleasant not messing with Silnyl.... But hey some folk get off on pain... try it you may like it.
Pan
Forget getting her to sew it. Ask her to show you how to sew. As Brian Frankle said: if you learn how to sew, you can make whatever the Hell you want.
gstepclassical
05-04-2007, 19:49
Just got done with two tarps and four stuff sacks. I can honestly say that I would rather slam my hand in a car door than sew silnylon.
rptinker
05-04-2007, 20:04
Has your wife ever made a wedding or prom dress? If so, she knows how to deal with the large, slippery pieces. I suggest a serious bribe.... flowers, candy and a foot rub.
True Enough! When i asked my wife to sew a plastic tarp she demanded that i do the laundry two weeks in a row as a payment. A small tarp for two weeks worth of laundy? That started me up in the right direction. I never asked her again to sew anything for me! Seriously, I think the wife did it on purpose. I got the feeling that she was laughing behind my back. I have no regrets though...:p
Forget getting her to sew it. Ask her to show you how to sew. As Brian Frankle said: if you learn how to sew, you can make whatever the Hell you want.
I'm with you here. Get her to teach you. I get a great feeling knowing that I made most of my gear, or all that I can at the time. Plus it is easier to fix if you need to.
BTW, I don't think sewing sil is that bad. I would rathere sew it than DWR or untreated ripstop. So much easier to deal with. You do not need to go through the added step of heat sealing the edges.
blackbishop351
05-05-2007, 00:01
BTW, I don't think sewing sil is that bad. I would rather sew it than DWR or untreated ripstop. So much easier to deal with. You do not need to go through the added step of heat sealing the edges.
Same here. Sil doesn't stretch nearly as much as 1.1 oz. DWR when you're working with it, either.
PappyAmos
10-01-2013, 21:16
Forget getting her to sew it. Ask her to show you how to sew. As Brian Frankle said: if you learn how to sew, you can make whatever the Hell you want.
+1 Most of this stuff is not that hard - Once You Get The Machine Adjusted For The Fabric! Trial and error with scraps of the same fabric will guide you to the right settings.
PappyAmos
10-01-2013, 21:29
Just got done with two tarps and four stuff sacks. I can honestly say that I would rather slam my hand in a car door than sew silnylon.
I hate to hear this! If the machine is adjusted properly it should not be that hard! Yes Silnylon is slippery. However, once the hems are pinned together, all you have to do is guide it more or less straight through the machine. Put a weight on the excess fabric along side you so it doesn't pull on your work. So your seams are a little wavy - so what! You'll get better! Missed a spot? Go back over it!
When I look at my hems next to the ones Underquilts.com did on my quilt shells, they aren't as pretty. But they will hold! Yours will too!
Trial and error with scraps of similar fabric leads to confidence.