DIY helpful tips

The DIY section of this forum is awesome. Many of you have helped me with several projects from my very first hammock and tarp, to my latest gravity filter. My thanks for all who take the time to post in this section, and make tutorials. I thought it would be a neat idea to have a thread where we can post our favorite techniques, tools, hints, tips, etc so we can all be better at what we love to do. A lot of these things can be found already in specific threads, but they can get lost in the large volume of posts that happen here. This would be a way, especially for the new DIYers to get helpful info in one place.

Here's a couple things I've found very helpful.

Spring clamps -- help hold silnylon to the narrow table that is my work surface.

Hot knife -- is so much better than scissors for most cutting tasks, particularly on slick fabric.

Masking tape -- I have to admit that not everything turns out perfect the first time, so I end up ripping seams apart and redoing. Masking tape removes the little thread pieces quickly and neatly.

My wife has this fabric cutter that has a round blade, kinda like a pizza cutter. Boy does that thing cut nylon! And talk about controlling your cut! that thing can cut dead on straight or in just about any curve you might use. It is really a cool tool. I suppose they sell them at JoAnn Fabrics.

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Originally Posted by Jcavenagh

My wife has this fabric cutter that has a round blade, kinda like a pizza cutter. Boy does that thing cut nylon! And talk about controlling your cut! that thing can cut dead on straight or in just about any curve you might use. It is really a cool tool. I suppose they sell them at JoAnn Fabrics.

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What do you cut on? I might not get away with using a roller type cutter on my dining room table...:o

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Originally Posted by hppyfngy

What do you cut on? I might not get away with using a roller type cutter on my dining room table...:o

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In that case...I wouldn't use a hot knife either.:D

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Originally Posted by hppyfngy

What do you cut on? I might not get away with using a roller type cutter on my dining room table...:o

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You can go to home depot and buy a sheet of 1/4 Lauan for around $10. Will protect your table and you can get them to cut it in half for a dollar (fits in the car easier).

The rotary cutters work best on a cutting mat. The downside to mats is size -- big ones are pricey. I have a 8' folding table that I just cut on it, but blade nicks become an issue. It's pretty frustrating to have a nick in a rotary blade while cutting ripstop.

Luaun can sometimes have splinters. The 1/4" hardboard is much smoother, and still inexpensive. I have used a 6" wide strip, 8' long under my cut, and just done it on the floor. Mark a straight line down the center of the board, and use that as a guideline for thin fabrics like sil and mesh.

Best two pieces of advice I could ever give are:

1. Don't get in a hurry. Speed causes unnecessary mistakes.

2. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. You can't make an improvement with screwing up once or twice.

I like to use a desk stapler to do my pinning when possible. You turn the anvil (bottom plate) around 180 degrees and the staple will form with the tine pushed out reasonably straight instead of clinching in towards the center.

The walking foot is a must for me. When sewing together multiple layers of unlike fabrics, it really makes the job come out much nicer.

Another neat trick is to use a rolled hem foot to do a flat felled seam. Honestly, I'm just getting acquainted with an adjustable rolled hem foot, so I can't say that this is one of my favorite tricks yet, but I think it will be.

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Originally Posted by pedro

I like to use a desk stapler to do my pinning when possible. You turn the anvil (bottom plate) around 180 degrees and the staple will form with the tine pushed out reasonably straight instead of clinching in towards the center.

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Never would have thought of that!! You can bet I'll be doing some stapling instead of pinning in the future!!

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Originally Posted by pedro

I like to use a desk stapler to do my pinning when possible. You turn the anvil (bottom plate) around 180 degrees and the staple will form with the tine pushed out reasonably straight instead of clinching in towards the center.

The walking foot is a must for me. When sewing together multiple layers of unlike fabrics, it really makes the job come out much nicer.

Another neat trick is to use a rolled hem foot to do a flat felled seam. Honestly, I'm just getting acquainted with an adjustable rolled hem foot, so I can't say that this is one of my favorite tricks yet, but I think it will be.

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Stapler. Quite possibly the tip of the month. Thanks Pedro!

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Originally Posted by TadTheTinker

Best two pieces of advice I could ever give are:

1. Don't get in a hurry. Speed causes unnecessary mistakes.

2. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. You can't make an improvement with screwing up once or twice.

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Sooo... don't be afraid of getting in a hurry or being a screw up...

I already am not that! I win! :)

jk...

also really like the spring clamps idea detailman

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Originally Posted by Knotty

Stapler. Quite possibly the tip of the month.

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It would get my vote!

That's a really neat idea. I wouldn't have even thought about flipping the plate. I don't really enjoy pinning, so I'm down with trying a stapler. Got a couple of really good ones at the office with extra long arms/necks/whatever that piece is called.

What to make, what to make?

problem with that (for me), is the staples still have to be removed; which is trickier than just pulling out a pin, and they are not re-useable. But hey, Sew your own seams...
KM(who is tight with a dollar, you bet..)

In a video by TZBrown detailing his diy hammock with a footbox, he used hair-clips. Because my daughters have almost a billion of them, and because I hate working with pins (one or two always escape, and I have a little one who is now crawling and puts everything in his mouth), I decided to give it a whirl. Works like a champ!

I will say, however, that for ease of use, the out-stretched staple method is awesome (if a bit wasteful). Line up and cha-chunk... all done. And because the staples aren't going back in on themselves they really aren't that much more difficult to remove than a pin. They still leave me with pointy metal things that my children will find a way to disperse all over my house, so until they move out--hair-clips.

Love all these ideas. Keep them coming!

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Originally Posted by timabababaluka

In a video by TZBrown detailing his diy hammock with a footbox, he used hair-clips. Because my daughters have almost a billion of them, and because I hate working with pins (one or two always escape, and I have a little one who is now crawling and puts everything in his mouth), I decided to give it a whirl. Works like a champ!

I will say, however, that for ease of use, the out-stretched staple method is awesome (if a bit wasteful). Line up and cha-chunk... all done. And because the staples aren't going back in on themselves they really aren't that much more difficult to remove than a pin. They still leave me with pointy metal things that my children will find a way to disperse all over my house, so until they move out--hair-clips.

Love all these ideas. Keep them coming!

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Or you miss a few and don't take them out. My mom made a vest (I think it was, or jacket) for my daughter. My dad brought it over, and just messing with him, I started looking for pins, AND THEN FOUND SEVERAL. Mom missed sewing a seam, and all the pins were still in place. Glad I checked it before my daughter tried it on.

On my tarp and on a double layer bridge hammock where two pieces of fabric are cut the same and then stitched, I use the hot soldering gun to cut both at the same time. They melted together and no pins were needed for that first row of stitching.

the stapler trick is great. i will def. use this for my next diy'er

I'm a big fan the the barrettes, I can open and close them one handed and just slide them off when they get to the presser foot. They seem to hold securely enough for most tasks, much faster than pins for me.

Here's the barrettes in action, holding my rolled hem before sewing.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G...201%252529.jpg

I like the barette idea! I'll have to try that.

As far as the issue of retrieving all of the pins/staples, I use a magnet to sweep my work area.

Wifes who know more about the thread injector than I do.

This is a tip that i think can help a lot of folks.

Don't take things so seriously. Its a DIY project and it doesn't have to be and exact replica of what your copying. As long as the footbox triangle, shelf, end cap, tarp door, whoopie sling, locked brummel eye loop,... is close it will work and it will be a custom design. Too may DIYers want to know the exacts and that is the whole fun in the DIY stuff in general. We all make mistakes and some times that is a good thing. WD40 was a mistake.

Take it easy and enjoy making your own gear.