[pct-l] Sympathy (Ray-Way tarp)

[Rebecca Mezoff]

I feel your pain Dave.  I have sewed three of these tarptents now  
(well, I made the old tarptent, pattern still on line, don't know if  
it is what you're talking about exactly).  I made them of silnylon and  
it is a slippery son of a gun.  I am a good seamstress and still had  
trouble.  I did the best I could and then seam sealed the heck out of  
it.  I did what I think is called a french seam which made it look  
better and once sealed makes a good water barrier.  I made the initial  
seam rather large then folded the remaining material around and  
stitched again.  Because I knew I was going to do this, I used lots of  
pins making sure not to make holes in the part of the tent that was  
beyond the seam.  I suppose you could try something like binder clips  
to hold it if you don't want the holes (potential leak sites) in the  
fabric.  They make seam clips for sewing, but they aren't very tight  
and I don't think would hold the silnylon.  I also made rain pants out  
of this material--best, lightest rain pants ever... but even more of a  
sewing challenge.

Good luck!  Believe me, once you're on the trail and people ask where  
you got your cool tent and you tell them you made it, they won't look  
too closely at the seams.  They'll be impressed you can sew! (And  
envious of the money you saved by making your own gear.)
Happy sewing!
Rebecca