So just how hard is it to work with silpoly anyway?

[Crazytown3]

TreeRing like others said just take your time. If you become frustrated with it, don't try to force it, just walk away for a day or so. Trust me, it will still be there when you are ready.

[forces]

Another vote for going slow, here. I found on my machine that if I started sewing too fast, the stitch length became very VERY short; I presume because the 1.1 silpoly was losing grip and sliding along the walking foot. If the stitch-length gets too short, you wind up weakening the material because the holes created by the needle are so close together. So I would add that in addition to going slow, use a fairly long stitch-length because this stuff may slip along the walking foot even when you're taking your time. FWIW, I made my tarp with literally zero sewing machine know-how. I made a few mistakes, but the end result is still functional and you'd only spot the errors if you were really looking for them. Good luck!

[IRONFISH45]

1. Have as large of a work area as possible.
Put CATS, kids, puppies and pet birds in another room, away from your project.

MARK THE WRONG SIDE OF THE FABRIC BEFORE STARTING. Grey especially is difficult to tell right from wrong. Sharpie marks well.

2. Carefully use "Clover Clips" every few inches. Pins on the outside of the seam works if you use care. Sometimes I baste the ridgeline seam.

3. Seam tape requires technique (at least that was my experience).

4. DO NOT THREAD INJECT WHEN TIRED.

5. Start with a clean thread injector.

6. Start with a fresh needle.

7. Light up the stitching area.

8. Frequently check your stitching. As in every foot or so.

9. Keep the under layer of fabric from getting a fold or wrinkle, you do not want to sew in a fold.

10. If you are not careful one layer of fabric will gather just a tiny bit, by the end of your ridgeline one side will be about two inches longer. Securing the seam before stitching is very important to make sure there is no puckering.

[Cruiser51]

I suspect if your stitch gets short/shorter than set ... it is likely from pulling on the fabric. I found as I fed the material through, you apply a bit of tension on the material to keep it positioned and flat .... the difference between doing that and causing the material to slip on the feed dogs (causing short stitch) is not that great. So if the stitch looks too short, watch how much tension you apply in the material feeding process.

Afters reading Kitsapcowboy's write ups on the Batwing and Cat Tangle tarps, I am seriously considering trimming my new tarp with grosgrain, I even ordered the new foot for my injector ... I still have to do a few calculations for weight, but it seems like a very work efficient alternative, if you haven't, it is worth a look.


Brian

[TreeRing]

Afters reading Kitsapcowboy's write ups on the Batwing and Cat Tangle tarps, I am seriously considering trimming my new tarp with grosgrain, I even ordered the new foot for my injector ... I still have to do a few calculations for weight, but it seems like a very work efficient alternative, if you haven't, it is worth a look.


Brian

I've gone back and forth on what type of tarp to make and was thinking the same about the grosgrain! Kitsapcowboy's tarps look great, and it sounds like seam sealer may not be needed for the ridgeline. I need to re-read those posts and better understand how he does it.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk

[Two Speed]

Howdy all,

Excited newbie here...finally got around to sewing up my kit hammock today! Hammock itself was pretty simple, but the stuff sack took three tries. Glad I didn't start with the stuff sack!

Now I'm starting to think about sewing a tarp. I still have a fantastic but heavy tarp from my BWCA days that I figure will work for cold weather use, so I am thinking of making something light for summer.

A lot of folks here have cautioned about silpoly being hard to work with. The machine I'm using has a walking foot, and the 1.6 hyper D was a breeze. Is the silpoly going to be significantly more of a pain?

Also, silpoly, silnylon, or "membrane silpoly?" I'm kind of liking the idea of a pre-cut kit from RBTR to continue building confidence, but heck with all of the videos you folks have put out, maybe cutting my own would be an option.

Attachment 161225

I made a tarp out of Dutch's Xenon Sil Wide(it was on sale) and it really wasn't that hard to work with at all. I am fairly new to sewing so I always go pretty slow. I made my whole tarp on an $80 Singer Sewing machine from walmart and it worked fine. I used it at the winter hang in grayson highlands and the trap worked great as well. The most time consuming and frustrating part for my was cutting the bulk fabric since I have very limited space. Good Luck with your tarp its a fun project. I also used grosgrain on my doors like Warbonnet does on the superfly and it worked great.

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