Thread selection for piecing together fabric

[stevekalch]

Hello everyone, I've been lurking this forum for a while now and have used your ideas to make several of my own hammocks. Thank you all for sharing your experiences. But now I have come across a question that I haven't seen on the forum.

I have some material that I am dead-set on making an end channel hammock from. I have created a few already and they work great, but the problem is, the material is too narrow to be one continuous sheet. I have been joining two narrow sheets along the vertical planes in order for it to be usable. It holds my weight no problem for the 6 or 7 times I've used it. But the threads keep breaking on that center seam because all the body weight is directly on it. I have been reading up on sewing (I'm a super noob) to learn about zigzag stitches, kevlar thread, stretch thread, etc in order to explore more options. So far I have tried double and triple lines of straight stitch seams down the middle. Do you guy have any ideas on what to try next? Other than scraping the fabric, I'm open to suggestion.

Thanks for the help!
Steven

[WalksIn2Trees]

Most hammocks made from smaller pieces use a continuous piece where the primary support is, probably to avoid this, and too, many people don't like to lay on a seam anyway. I'm no expert but I'd say you need a stronger seam and probably the threads should be of similar materials as the fabric so that they stretch with the fabric as stresses are applied. A weaker thread will break while a stronger thread will rip right through.

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[Beeip]

A lot of mass-produced hammocks use three pieces of fabric side-by-side. Yes, two seams is a pain, but at least you won't be laying directly on it.

[DrPhun]

I too think the fabric is stretching more than the thread, putting all the weight on the thread. How about cutting one piece down the middle. Put the wide uncut piece in the middle and a half on each side? Then the part that wants to stretch the most won't have a seam.

[Theosus]

I've made a few hammocks with three pieces of fabric - I use one solid piece for most of it, and then a foot wide "wing" on either side. Look up "felled seam", thats the one I use, triple stitch it. But I wouldn't use two pieces sewn in the middle where the seam is directly under your butt.

[woodstove]

A small tidbit of info on seams
A parachute repair guy once told me "parachutes are the only item where you want a sewn seam stronger than the material". Would you rather fix a seam or repair a long rip? Seam wins every time .