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  1. #1
    New Member sledjockey's Avatar
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    Ripped Tarp Repair Question

    Long story short, my tarp was the victim of a terrible tree attack this last weekend. It did a flying tree trunk wrestling move on my tarp and ripped the edging down the seam. It is made of what appears to be sil cloth (as verified by the manufacturer description as well).

    Here is my question: What "gotchas" should I worry about while trying to sew this back up?


    My thought process that is causing me anguish: I am assuming that I should use a straight stitch and use about the same size stitches, but what thread? I am worred that a heavy duty thread would just open this back up to be ripped again, but I don't want to depend on something as weak as cotton either. My plan included removing the current tabs, folding the sil cloth back over and sewing in a new edge seam, then putting the tabs back on, but should I seal it when I am done even though it is on the edge? It doesn't appear to have been sealed previously, but would that add strength or do I need the extra strength?

    Sorry if I am nuking the heck out of this, but I just don't want to screw this up. This tarp was on clearance via Amazon, but wasn't a cheap one.

    Thanks in advance:

    Here is the general damage:




    And a little closer:





    And even closer yet:



  2. #2
    Senior Member DemostiX's Avatar
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    My first thought on seeing the rip along the stitch line was that the original stitching had been too dense, weakening the fabric. Your additional pics show that thinking to have been wrong. Thread and density look as they should.

    Your inclinations and the model of the way it is already done are fine, IMO. Just use a heavy polyester thread, such as you already see. If you can't do the repair yourself, it would be easy for a cleaner / repairer do do it. But, unless you know the shop has and will use heavy thread, I'd find it for about $5-6, and supply it. Really, any seamstress should be able to to the repair and should have the right materials.

    You might want to save yourself a few $ by doing the ripping out of old work yourself, to re-use the strapping a seamstress may not have.

    Some of me has heavy rain collect in lower hems. But, if my sealing was almost but not complete, I'd have a hard time squeezing out the collected water from where I'd missed a spot.
    Last edited by DemostiX; 07-12-2013 at 11:24.

  3. #3
    New Member sledjockey's Avatar
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    Thank you for your reply. I will evaluate my "skills" this weekend and decide if I want to do this myself or "sub" it out. Probably will just do it myself so that I have it for my trip next weekend.

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