I made this tarp a little while ago and have been practicing pitching it in my backyard, testing different pitching techniques. I live in the Mojave desert, and the wind ALWAYS blows, so to keep the tarp from blowing around I set the guy-lines pretty tight, and I been noticing the stitching holes around the ridge-line guy-out reinforcements were getting stretched open quite a bit (see pics). Now, I don't know exactly what do do about it. Can I just add a 2nd row of stitching behind the first to distribute the load over more fabric? Should I rip out all the stitching and replace the reinforcements with larger patches of 70d fabric? If I don't do anything, is this thing going to rip wide open?

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-vBBkn9UvuQM/TkLd_xqMV4I/AAAAAAAABEk/eP7D4v7x0Fs/DSC04507_web_lg.jpg

thanks,
BM

Edited by Ultra_Magnus on 08/10/2011 15:00:48 MDT.

2nd row of stitching would probably work. Have it several stitch lengths away from the first row of stitching. I don't think those holes are heading towards a catastophic failure, but you probably want to reinforce it somehow

You could add a 2nd reinforcing piece bigger than the first. A couple stitch lengths bigger in every direction. Put a row of stitching on both sides of the original row that has the stretched open holes.

Nice - blue thread for the blue fabric and black thread for the black webbing

Thanks for the help. I'll get it strengthened here in a bit.

As for the colors of the thread, I did mess up in one place. I was using that extra strength gutterman black thread on the grosgrain loops, but later on in my sewing I decided to put another pull out on the center of the ridgeline, and when I went to sew on that reinforcement patch I forgot the change the thread. I have many kids, so I do this stuff late at night after they are out of my hair, and I didn't notice until it was too late, and I wasn't going to rip it out and redo it at that point.

BM