Sewing Help

Shop with us on Ebay
Advertise with us
Fins us on Amazon
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
S

shade

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
199
Location
Burbank, CA
I've made a lot of hammocks for my ratties but they always seem to kinda fall apart after a while. The thread comes undone and the fabric separates at the point where I sewed it. I was wondering what sort of methods do you guys use for making neat clean professional looking hammocks? also those um... bromets? is that what they're called? is there any site or anyone here that can tell me where I can get them and how to put them on? I have minimal sewing experience that's why I'm asking. The only sewing class I took was Home ec in 7th grade and I sewed a giant football lol.

This is the way I sew, its hard to describe so I drew a picture, hope its not too confusing:

sew.jpg


I dont know if thats the right way to do it but thats the only way I know. Anyone have a better stitch that holds well and looks nice and neat?
 
The best solution I can think of is a sewing machine just because with hand sewing as soon as one part of the thread is broken then it will all come out whereas a sewing machine (2 separate threads) makes it alot easier for it to stay together. Also the grommets can be bought from Walmart and are fairly self explanitory but a pain in the butt.
 
Check out: http://www.rattributes.com/blog/?page_id=47 All you'll ever need! :)

Also, I made my first 5 hammocks sewing by hand too. And I was doing the exact same thing as you (ie, just going up and down through the 2 layers of fabric. However, I knotted the ends slightly differently. I didn't so any loops. I just literally tied a Knot. Mine are still fine, even after being in the wash several times. The trick is to use TINY TINY stitches. It takes a LONG time, but otherwise, like the others said, it just isn't very strong.

^_^ It's probably best just to learn to use a sewing machine. And honestly, you don't even need a good one. I have an ancient Singer sewing machine (with a foot pedal and steel embossing and everything) and it works great! Got it for free too!
 
Oh wow there's a lot of stuff on that site. Thank you so much! and I do have a hand held sewing machine that I can use but sometimes it doesn't cooperate right lol. Thanks everyone
 
You sew by hand? I did that once, 2 years ago and I used a backstitch (good tutorials can be found on google :p), that hammock is still holding, no broken threads etc.. Of course it's easier when you use a machine, it's a lot faster. :p I also recommend Rattributes, but non-hammock sewing websites can also be a big help to learn the basics :)
 
I was also going to suggest the backstitch, it's a lot sturdier than a running stitch, which is what it appears you are using. Bear in mind that colonial women a couple hundred years back used a MINIMUM of twelve stitches to an inch for clothing, when hand sewing seams and such. Sixteen or more was optimal.

Getting a machine is a good idea, if you are wanting to make more than a couple. Singer makes a machine called the pixie which is tiny and all you'd need for this kind of stuff, and remarkably inexpensive. And grommets are great! You just hammer them on, or you can buy a little tool kinda like pliers which applies them.
 
Wow that backstitch is a very interesting one. I think I'll try that on my next project. Maybe i'll invest in that pixie too. Right now I just have a little hand held quick sewing machine. Thanks for all your help, I'll post pics of my hammocks as soon as I finish some new ones :)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top