DIY Tarp FAIL!

**Freakin Farmer** · 12-22-2014, 21:08

Disclaimer: Please don't let me discourage any of you from trying this. Plenty of guys have made their own tarps. I, unfortunately, won't be one of them.

Mail man dropped off my silpoly this morning. I race home after work and cut off a test section to practice on. NOPE! A seamster I am not.

1. I have no where big enough space to work on the thing
2. A pair of regular scissors isn't ideal to cut those long lines
3. Setting the tension on the sewing machine is a nightmare
4. Polyester thread is a bigger nightmare

Luckily my wife works with a lady that use to be a professional seamstress who is going to do the job for me.

That all being said. I really do like the Silpoly fabric. From what I can tell it will make one heck of a tarp.

**IRONFISH45** · 12-22-2014, 21:23

A wise man knows when to give it over to the expert.

Oh, dear, I am still giggling. Maybe try something simple next time, like a basic ditty bag. Maybe a bit of basic cotton, just to see what thread injecting feels like when all goes well.

Cutting silicone treated fabric is different from cutting other types of fiber. Infact cutting slick or thin things requires a different technique than more stable fibres. Polyester, nylon, silk are all very easy to have a major oops while cutting.

I live in a very small house, I ended up taking my projects to the office and using the 60 inch long desk to cut the fabric on. I taped the end of the silnylon to the desk, drew a line and slowly ran my scissors down the line, slow is part of the key. I have used a soldering iron to make the cuts with, I managed to burn a hole where I did not want a hole. I finally taped the silnylon to the floor and ran a razor down the cutting line, that worked reasonably well, I sat on a creeper, like I use to work on motors, since my knees are just too sore to crawl around on the floor.

You need to get very creative to DIY. LOL, we all have a learning curve, that is what makes success so sweet. Also that is why sometimes we just call in the experts.

**Freakin Farmer** · 12-22-2014, 21:32

It's more of an equipment thing rather than a skill thing. On smaller squares I had no problems with practice hems and seams, etc. But wrestling around with 26 ft of fabric in my living room gave me a dose of reality - it just isn't going to happen in my house.

**hikehunter** · 12-22-2014, 23:31

Like many things .....practice.....presist ....an hopefuly you will prevail.....

I know I went thru a good deal of scrap (or was that crap) before I go it right....

**V_Allen** · 12-23-2014, 07:13

I work on the kitchen table - you need a fair amount of space to work in. Don't give up - the learning curve may seem steep, but it's worth it in the end! Pretty soon you'll be posting all kinds of things you've made.

**SirMarkos** · 12-23-2014, 09:30

Long lines on a tarp are the SUCK! But it can be done. I've made 3 so far

**Boston** · 12-23-2014, 11:54

Gathered end hammock's are good project's to start on. You'll get experience sewing long seams without risking really screwing up the finished product. Tarp's aren't that much more difficult.

**Freakin Farmer** · 12-23-2014, 12:07

One of the things that gave me pause is trying to figure out the tension on the machine in regards to polyester thread. I was getting a lot of "birds nesting" on the underside of the test swatch. I lowered the tension and that solved the problem, but the thread seems to be quite heavy for the fabric. Would regular thread be acceptable?

**Boston** · 12-23-2014, 13:04

What thread were you using? Being Polyester has nothing to do with the weight/size of the thread.

If you were using Coat's and Clark outdoor's thread, I'd try Gutermann Sew-All instead (Jo-ann's should have it). The Coat's and Clark is very heavy, and give's a lot of machines problems.