Sewing Show & Tell....Thread

Has anyone worked with catenary curve cuts on tarps? I've seen it mentioned but I have a hard time finding any clear cut information online. There's calculators that give you some datum points and distances to cut, but nothing actually mentions how to determine the depth of a catenary curve.

@Sandman614 tagged as you are the most likely I know of to know anything about it.

https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php/85208-Catenary-Parabola-Curve-Calculator

 

Yep, I dunno if it's exactly a 'cat' cut. I just put 2 thumbtacs in a wall and hung a string between them, picked an arc I like, then transfered the arc to cardboard . turned out great.

 

Close enough. Do you have any clue how deep you would make the cut? Maybe 1" per ft of edge?

 

Best I can say: I think I had about 6-8" from the pin to the apex of the arc.

 

Looks really good man!!

 

Had a SNAFU today. Got new design back from digitizer. Did a flat stitch to check design. Stitched fine just needed a slight tension adjustment.




Load hat driver up and put a cheap hat on it to test it on hat. Got this. WTF?




Lol

Thinking this biotch is going to the techs in Atlanta for a checkup under warranty.

Unless I find something wrong first.

 

Thanks guys.

This is great! You could sell those hats.

 

Thanks! That's what I'm trying to do but my machine isn't wanting to work with me. Lol

They just replaced the hat driver and hat frame under warranty too.

It did the same thing with the last design and we finally traced it down to the hat driver that goes on the machine. Got a new one (driver) out and boom it worked perfectly.

 

Got this sucker about 95% done last night. Making an ultralight-style tarp shelter for a friend. I only call it "style" because it's out of 1.9oz PU with 420D reinforcements and it ended up being a bit larger than I intended.

Thank goodness I can use CAD, cause there was no way I was gonna figure out how to create the end triangles in 3D using traditional methods!



Pitch height is 46", pitched width is 88".

 

That's awesome! I want to do something like this when I get some free time. I've got a pile of projects sitting in waiting.

 

Knocked this out tonight so someone that was supposed to do it themselves and couldn't make it happen. She needed colors changed in the entire design and the rainbow done on sister. Didn't get a pic of the onesie when I finished it so here's the design in the software and a test stitch on stabilizer.

 

How difficult is it to use a program like that? I signed up for it last night when I saw that it was free for hobbyist. I have been piecing together the design I want for my first tipi/tarp shelter. The plan is to create a one man hot shelter for my solo hunting trips. I am just having troubles making the design come to life and making measurements that will fit a person, gear and stove.

Really want to dive into the world of DIY and start producing simple products for friends and family who can benefit from them. I have a handful of hunting friends that can't afford a lightweight shelter who have greatly helped me in the past 2 years when I first started. Heck, I have one friend who is going to take me rifle hunting this season (with his rifle) just so I can fill my freezer this year. It would be awesome if I could in return give him a light weight shelter so he doesn't have to pack a 10lb tent in anymore. He wants to upgrade most of his gear, but as a college student and a wildlife major, he won't have the financial possibility for awhile.

Problem is getting the proper dimensions and angles for the designs I want. My idea is a 1 man shelter that can easily expand into a 3-4 man shelter and have the option for a stove. Ideally, I could gift these 1 man shelters, and when we hunt together we can easily attach them to produce a roomy base camp.

 

Screwed around with some spare 420D and zippers I had laying around to try and make some clothes packing bags. The dimensions of the pack bags are restricted by how long the zippers were. I can say I much prefer working with coil zippers! I spent 3x longer doing this than I should've and literally ripped-resewed each seam 2-3 times until I got it as proper as I could.

 

Looks great! You use a bias tape along that inside bottom edge?

 

Thanks, I'll say yes. It was actually some scrap twill I had so it didn't bend around corners as well as bias would, but they were all co-planar seams so it worked alright.

 

I just found you guys!!! My parents needed me to store household stuff for them several years ago, one of those items was as sewing machine. I remembered my dad making things when I was little. Apparently they sold kits for backpacks, jackets, etc... you bought them and sewed by numbers. That was how he learned. I decided just to start small and teach myself.

My first project was a vest for my doggie. She is sand color, so when out playing in the desert she can be very hard to see.

My second one was window covers for the shell. Flannel inside and reflective outside with trim and cut out for window handle. I put in snaps to hold it in place.





My wife helps me with pinning things as I have a hard time dealing with them.

 

Hey a new guy, welcome! You don't have any more of those backpack kits do ya? I love kits, easy way to learn basics and some new techniques. Thanks for sharing your work. I've been thinking of making something similar to those window shades, however exclusively for thermal insulation. What materials did you use for the reflective bit?

 

Thank you! I have been searching for those kits for the last year. In the 80s, my dad made mittens, parkas, Marty McFly vest, backpacks, and duffle bags. All great stuff, just can't find them anymore.

I used

$24 Reflectix ST16025 Staple Tab Insulation Roll, 16 in. x 25 ft

this stuff from Amazon. The width was almost perfect. The first side I did, didn't come out perfect and I want to redo it. The second side, I decided to glue the flannel to the reflective stuff instead of a basting stitch. I will not use 2" nylon webbing for a border again. At least not before I buy a heavy duty canvas sewing machine. The loaner one from my mom doesn't like the heavy duty stuff.

 

Ahh cool, thanks for the info. You should look at bias tape, it's made to bend around corners like that. The webbing a lot heavier duty than bias, but the lighter weight makes it easier to work with at least. I also found that a wider edge binding is more difficult to bend around corners.

 

Taught the gal how to operate the machine and she is just about done with her first tote bag. Turned out really well. One small problem...she is addicted . Good thing my parents picked up that old singer, otherwise I might be fighting her for sewing time.