Any MYOGers in the Houston Area?

[John Papini]

Hello! I’m in the final weeks of preparation before I begin my 2016 PCT thru-hike and I’m working on a small project that involves sewing cuben fabric. I’ve never worked with cuben before, and I’m not terribly experienced with a sewing machine, so I’m wondering if there’s anybody here that lives in the Houston area who has experience and might be willing to hold my hand a little.

If nobody lives here that can meet me in person, can anybody offer tips about the kind of stitching I should be using for cuben (or about anything else that comes to mind)? I’m not worried about water leaking through the seams, but I am worried about getting a strong hold. I’ll be stitching cuben to cuben and cuben to webbing.

Thanks!

John

[AG]

I’m actually sewing cuben right now… and in my experience a flat-felled seam works very well. google “flat-felled seam” for various diagrams and examples. you can accomplish it in various ways, either with two passes or with three passes. you can also cover the finished seam with 1″ wide cuben-backed tape, which both adds strength and makes the seam waterproof. i also keep an iron on hand — with the setting very low (like between 1 and off so it doesn’t disfigure the mylar) — which helps creasing and flattening your seams as you work on them.

[Jordo _99]

I’m not worried about water leaking through the seams, but I am worried about getting a strong hold. I’ll be stitching cuben to cuben and cuben to webbing.

I haven’t done it…but I think the ideal process for this is to tape/glue cuben to cuben and sew cuben to anything else (netting, webbing, etc).

The reason for this is that cuben doesn’t stretch so the stitching can end up being stressed more than with a weaved fabric like nylon or polyester…you could probably tape cuben over top of the sewn seams to waterproof and strengthen them but I’d just tape/glue at the start….lots of threads in here if you search but maybe the search feature hasn’t been fixed/improved yet with the new site.

Here’s a link I had bookmarked:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?bo=watch&forum_thread_id=37663

 

[John Papini]

AG and Jordo – thanks for the advice!

Is there a particular type of thread I should be using?

Thanks!

John

[Valerie E]

I’ve sewn a lot of cuben — everything from .51 to cuben hybrid.  I think it’s actually one of the easiest fabrics to sew, but boy, was I ever nervous the first time…

I use regular ol’ Gutermann all-purpose thread, and I keep the stitches about medium length (you don’t want too many stitches per inch, or you’ll perforate the cuben too much; you don’t want too few stitches per inch, or your seams will be flimsy and loose).  Flat felled seams are great for tarps, garments, etc.; for stuff sacks, I just use a simple straight-stitch and trim off the excess (cuben doesn’t unravel).

In my experience, you can just hold the 2 pieces of cuben together, and they don’t shift around as you’re running them through the machine.  I’ve got .51 cuben stuff sacks that I’ve been using for about 850 miles now, and all the seams are still in great shape.

Good luck — you’ll do fine.

[AG]

I agree with Valerie, cuben is easy to sew. It doesn’t move around as much when you run it through the machine — i.e. not stretchy at all, and less flimsy/sheer than nylon. Thread: Gutterman or any polyester thread (because cotton might degrade when exposed to the elements). I’ve been using the “sew all” normal weight Gutterman which works great, but will probably use the heavier weight thread for packs since they take more abuse. You can also buy smaller needles too (70 I think, or is it 7?) because, like nylon, cuben doesn’t smoosh back and “repair” needle holes after you sew them. Ie if you poke a large needle hole, you’ll always have a large hole. So smaller needles are better.

 

French seam = clean and neat

Flat felled seam = very strong

Flat felled seam, with cuben tape = insanely strong and water proof

 

Have fun!

 

[Author]

Posts