question about claytor tablecloth hammock

[stevebo]

Hey guys, I am building a claytor type end channel hammock using a taffeta table cloth from the tablecloths factory. Heres my question, with the end channel, how wide is the channel/how far do I fold the end over? Also, do you fold it over twice for extra strength, or just once? Thanks for the help!

[Steve D]

When I made my channel-end tablecloth hammock I folded the ends twice to be able to sew 3 parallel rows of stitching through 3 layers of fabric. That was in August. I've spent at least one night a week (OK, missed one week in October) in it since and have not seen any indications of stress on the fabric or stitching (and I'm not exactly a light load either).

[DuctTape]

Another thing Claytor hammocks have in the channel is a section of webbing right at the edge of the channel. This serves two purposes. 1 Added structural integrity to an area where it can wear out. and 2. (I think more importantly) makes the channel not as easy to to compress so that it forces the ends to stay a bit farther apart similar to what is being solved by the mini-spreader bar concept. This allows for a shorter hammock to still feel large.

[Redoleary]

When I made the tablecloth end channel hammock for my wife IIRC I made the channel 2" (actual 2" of useable channel) and rather than double the fabric I sewed a piece of grosgrain between the layers. Seems to have worked just fine.