Date: Sun, 16 Jul 1995 08:05:51 -1000 From: crowell@teleport.com (Carl Crowell) Message-Id: Organization: Kites By Carl Crowell Subject: Carrington cloth... some thoughts (like I can think...duh!) Working With Carrington Some first thoughts. My continuing quest for the perfect cloth has brought me to Carrington. This is a softer version of the nylon that most kite makers use. I avoided the cloth until recently due to the high amount of stretch that the fabric has. I am used to crisp cloth that holds it shape under stress. I like to be able to fold a crease and have it stay at least until I can sew it down. I like sewing to The Stretch: This stuff is like sewing silk. It will easily distort and pucker. Two pieces of fabric 41 long when sewn together can creep almost an inch (one piece ends up being longer than the other). The stretch is not uniform throughout the line of cloth. Some While sewing with this cloth, the direction that you sew becomes a factor much as it was before stabilized fabrics were used. If a quilted piece is being built, it is convenient to be able to build the skin of the kite and then cut it to fit. Reinforcin The Finger (or feel) of the Cloth: It has a texture to it. It is both softer than the more heavily stabilized fabrics and more heavily textured. As a result it is thicker, or at least behaves as if it was thicker. I was unable to quilt with double rolled seams. Five layers of this clot I adjusted my lap or seam width to 1/2 of normal and double stitched. This gives the same profile or seam shadow width as my double rolled seam. I do not think that this type of stitching is as strong or polished as the double rolled seam, but it is m The Colors: This cloth looks great! The colors seem to lighten with backlighting, but they should not fade as much as traditional nylons. Time will tell. carl = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Date: Wed, 19 Jul 1995 06:40:41 -1000 From: sasaki@netopd.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) Message-Id: <3ujci9$7qc@netope.harvard.edu> Organization: Harvard University - OIT/NSD Subject: Re: Carrington cloth... some thoughts (like I can think...duh!) I've reformatted Carl's note (very long lines), the words stay the same... In article , crowell@teleport.com (Carl Crowell) writes: |>Working With Carrington |>Some first thoughts. |> |>My continuing quest for the perfect cloth has brought me to |>Carrington. This is a softer version of the nylon that most kite |>makers use. I still use (and like) Carrington. Despite it's good points, it is no longer trendy, and the general buying public wants Icarex. |>I avoided the cloth until recently due to the high amount of stretch |>that the fabric has. I am used to crisp cloth that holds it shape |>under stress. I like to be able to fold a crease and have it stay |>at least until I can sew it down. It takes a change in technique, but isn't difficult to sew once you get the hang of things. |>The Stretch: |>This stuff is like sewing silk. It will easily distort and pucker. |>Two pieces of fabric 41" long when sewn together can creep almost an |>inch (one piece ends up being longer than the other). The stretch |>is not uniform throughout the line of cloth. For me, sewing Carrington requires a machine with a walking foot, or a needle feed machine. Some people, with far more patience can sew it without these gizmos, but I can't. |>While sewing with this cloth, the direction that you sew becomes a |>factor much as it was before stabilized fabrics were used. If a |>quilted piece is being built, it is convenient to be able to build |>the skin of the kite and then cut it to fit. I find that the walking foot, or liberal hot tacking and/or taping, makes this much easier to deal with. |>The Colors: |>This cloth looks great! The colors seem to lighten with |>backlighting, but they should not fade as much as traditional |>nylons. I like the look of Carrington in the sun, especially with backlighting. When the light strikes the fabric at the right angle, it seems like it glows. I like the colors too, many nice shades of blue. The fabric is more light fast than other nylon that I've used, but it isn't as good as Icarex. For light wind kites (of all type) I still use Icarex. Production kites are mostly Icarex (the Katana is still in Carrington). Single line kites are likely to be Carrington, or US domestic nylon. -- Marty Sasaki Harvard University Sasaki Kite Fabrications sasaki@noc.harvard.edu Network Services Division 90 Melrose Street 617-496-4320 10 Ware Street Arlington, MA 02174 Cambridge, MA 02138-4002 phone/fax: 617-646-1925 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =