Sewing 101 – Everything you need to know to sew ________ from ripstop nylon

[Pilate de Guerre]

I'm not a master or even very proficient, but most of what I do know about sewing I've learned from this and other DIY/MYOG forums and am deeply grateful for the spirit of sharing. I wish I could contribute more first hand, but, until then, I found a fantastic resource aimed at the kiting community. Kite Sewing 101 – Everything you need to know to sew kites from ripstop nylon.

Can't say I have any interest in kites myself, but they are an interesting bunch in so far as they are another odd fringe recreational community. One that uses many of the same materials as long distance scenic walkers and also has a strong DIY/MYOG ethic. I'd bet the kite building also has a few grown-up hardcore/punk kids applying DIY ethos to new domains, too ;)

Much of the advice and guidelines in the document are the same I've seen given by the top-notch seamsters in the MYOG community here and on other forums. Some of it is contradictory. For instance, Javan and others have consistently recommended smaller needles than the article. But then some UL fabrics are different than what kite builders use so I'm thinking smaller is right, but it's probably best to experiment a bit and find what works for your machine and specific application.

Some of it is new, or, at least, new to me, such as the suggestion to 'hot tack' seams before sewing. These bits may or may not have applications to outdoors gear.

Thread tension is often talked about as the cause and solution to many problems with the sewing of UL fabric. The document does an especially good job explaining tension and fixes, complete with diagrams!

Hope this helps someone.

[Jamie Shortt]

Outstanding resource. Thanks for sharing.

[Author]

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