If most people don't trim selvedge, why hem the long sides? Any reason to other than esthetics? Or do most of you do it that way? It's another hard to search question as "hem" is too short to search.
If most people don't trim selvedge, why hem the long sides? Any reason to other than esthetics? Or do most of you do it that way? It's another hard to search question as "hem" is too short to search.
Hemmed edges are less likely to snag or start a tear. If you sit on the end, a disproportional amount of weight rides is the edge depending how its gathered/whipped. Hemming can create more strength.
Untrimmed ends may be stronger vs cut and unhemmed as the selvage looks to have been heat sealed or calendared to prevent unraveling.
Iv had both hexon 1.0 and robic 1.0 failed on me with unhemmed edges, but neither failed at the ends. Leads me to believe it's mostly for aesthetics.
Where/how did they fail? I've also been considering the very light materials, maybe you can save me some of the learning curve. I weigh about 180.
Under my but. The robic was probably a manufacturing fail and, is part, the reason it's not available any longer.
The hexon 1.0 failed due to a kid deciding to jump in while I'm testing, im suddenly very over the weight limit.
Again, both failed directly under my butt, ripping width wise most of the way across.
The hexon 1.0 gets little use for me now. It's just not wide enough, even in a 12'. 6'3"/175. But while I was using it, it was surprising strong with little stretch. Significantly less stretch then the robic (aka mountian) in 1.0 or 1.2.
If you were to buy ,say 4 yards of fabric of a bolt or roll, the long edges are the selvedge edges. The shorter edges are always cut edges in my experience. Cut edges come unraveled easily unless the fabric has a waterproof coating or lamination- in this case the fabric won't fray until it has been used heavily. Selvedge edges come in different forms- some have a distinct woven edge. I made a hammock out of ripstop nylon which had this edge (I didn't hem the selvedges) and it caused no issues.Lots of today's lightweight synthetics have a wide selvedge with a lot of small holes where it was attached to machinery in the manufacturing process. I prefer to trim these off unless I can incorporate the entire mess into a hem.(The very edge also often has loose threads.) The best way to tell if you need to hem an edge is to try to tear it. If it tears you'd better hem it.
Mostly I was wondering if getting the extra width from leaving the selvedge edges untrimmed and unhemmed had a down side. I guess the answer is "depends". I've ordered some XL material from ripstop by the roll to find out if the extra width is noticeable more comfy for me. The new "super wide" at 74" should be wide enough that removing the selvedge (or rolling it into the hem) doesn't matter much, so I'll probably do it to be safe.
Thanks also for the failure info. I have a 1.2 Robic hammock I guess I'll have to keep a close eye on.
It will certainly rip at some point if not hemmed. This happens mainly when sitting into the hammock or sitting across the edge (sofa style). Once that happens, you have lost your extra width advantage because now there is a big rip.
1.2 didn't have the manufacturing issues some batches of the 1.0 did. Like any ultra thin fabric, it needs regular care and inspection but it should not let loose without giving you warning signs.Originally Posted by HMLCK
That's comforting, thanks. I'll keep an eye out as it is quite thin.
If you're going to sew a channel, why would you be averse to sewing a hem? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
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