Sewing tarp tie out grosgrain troubles

**m00ch** · 06-29-2018, 07:34

I have made my first 3 tarps in the last couple months using different methods to see what I like the best before I make my “real” tarp. (Those 3 will go to the kids).
The part that I have not gotten any better at is lining up and centering the grosgrain for the corner tie outs. I am sandwiching the tarp and corner reinforcement with the grosgrain just as I have seen several times just like on diy gear supply. But since you are blind to one side What is an efficient way to line up the 2 pieces and also keep them straight?

**MAD777** · 06-29-2018, 07:51

I have resorted to tack sewing by hand, enough stitches to keep things in place , before going to the machine.

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**carmen2kayak** · 06-29-2018, 08:02

Originally Posted by MAD777

I have resorted to tack sewing by hand, enough stitches to keep things in place , before going to the machine.

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My method as well.

**kitsapcowboy** · 06-29-2018, 08:06

Originally Posted by m00ch

I have made my first 3 tarps in the last couple months using different methods to see what I like the best before I make my “real” tarp. (Those 3 will go to the kids).
The part that I have not gotten any better at is lining up and centering the grosgrain for the corner tie outs. I am sandwiching the tarp and corner reinforcement with the grosgrain just as I have seen several times just like on diy gear supply. But since you are blind to one side What is an efficient way to line up the 2 pieces and also keep them straight?

The step in question is one of the most difficult parts of conventional tarp construction.

You can usually feel the grosgrain ribbon on the blind side through the patch and tarp panel to help you make sure it's lined up.

Start sewing at the free ends of the ribbon (furthest inboard), run the needle through, raise the presser foot to check that you caught all layers, drop the presser foot again, cross your fingers, and sew; starting at the free ends can help you arrest and problems early, and it allows the two tails of the grosgrain to close any discrepancies as you sew toward the tie-out point.

Sew with the outside of the tarp facing up for best presentation, so that minor any errors in misalignment are on the inside.

HTH...

**ObdewlaX** · 06-29-2018, 08:17

I'm in the middle of my first tarp project & have found jellyfish's YT videos to be pretty helpful. She goes through the whole process of making a tarp from start to finish, including adding the tie outs & side panel pull outs.

**Crazytown3** · 06-29-2018, 09:18

I do it pretty much the same as Kitsapcowboy does. I line the grosgrain edges up on both sides by feel, then starting at the free ends, I put the needle down through the material, check my alignments, sew my lock stitches, check alignment again, then slowly go for it.

Slight misalignments kind of work themselves out as you sew towards the outside edge of the tarp.

**m00ch** · 06-30-2018, 21:57

Thanks for the advice everyone. Laying under the tarp right now 2 hours into a forecasted 24 hours of hard rain. Everything is holding together just fine. A couple of the tie outs aren’t that pretty but they are functional.
One more question: do you “aim” your grosgrain at a specific point on the tarp? In other words to get the best pitch on a specific tarp what point on the ridgeline am I shooting for so I don’t have to pull the tie out on way or the other off if it’s centerline? Or is that some function of KP math that I may not totally grasp anyway?
Thanks again.

**kitsapcowboy** · 06-30-2018, 23:30

Originally Posted by m00ch

Thanks for the advice everyone. Laying under the tarp right now 2 hours into a forecasted 24 hours of hard rain. Everything is holding together just fine. A couple of the tie outs aren’t that pretty but they are functional.
One more question: do you “aim” your grosgrain at a specific point on the tarp? In other words to get the best pitch on a specific tarp what point on the ridgeline am I shooting for so I don’t have to pull the tie out on way or the other off if it’s centerline? Or is that some function of KP math that I may not totally grasp anyway?
Thanks again.

Most of the time, simply bisecting the angle on your corner patch is fine; I usually try to make sure that my reinforcing stitch rows are perpendicular to the grosgrain loop on the tie-out.

However, for certain applications -- most notably for my DIY dedicated hammock asym tarp designs -- I do indeed calculate the correct angle for the ridge line and lateral tie-outs and sew them accordingly.

Here's what my tie-outs look like on my adjustable ridge line Glasgow K.I.S.S. rectangular asym, at 25 and 30 degrees offset to the long edges...

Here are the very precisely calculated corners of my Cowboy D.A.R.T., a Dyneema composite parallelogram asym...

HTH...

**Redoleary** · 07-01-2018, 06:48

I don't even try to line them up I put them in a V to spread out the load.
hammock & tarp (9 of 17).jpg hammock & tarp (8 of 17).jpg hammock & tarp (2 of 17).jpg

**MikekiM** · 07-01-2018, 07:17

In the past I had tacked one leg of the grosgrain on the back side of the tarp, with a single line of stitches at the loosed end, then flipped the tarp and tacked the second leg of grosgrain using the back side of first line of stitches as a guide. This was as good as I could get things lined up.

Next time, I am going to use Red's technique. I think spreading the forces is good idea and frankly, the V looks cool