So I found this awesome tutorial for bike panniers that are made with oil cloth:
http://www.bicitoro.com/tutorial-oilclo ... e-pannier/
I was wondering if anyone has dealt with it before and what the results were.
I found a place that sells it by the yard:
http://www.oilclothbytheyard.com/pages/about-us
Oilcloth
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Eliste
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Re: Oilcloth
Its very different to work with. I know a girl who did bike panniers similar to that with it and it worked well.
One of the big problems is getting it held in place when you stitch. For fabric, you can use pins because the weave re-corrects itself after you take the pin out. That doesn't happen with oilcloth. Once you put a hole in it, there's a hole in it. Forever. So you have to find different ways of holding your seams together. Its not that difficult, for instance you can just use clothespins, just something to know and watch out for as some methods like clothespins may shift a little unlike pins.
But it does play hell on needles I find. It dulls them very quickly and if they're not sharp it really doesn't want to go through the oilcloth. I also think it makes my needles a bit gummy and I always worry that it'll gum up my machine, although it hasn't yet.
Its also more difficult to get proper seams as you can't really iron it without the chance of it melting. This means you kind of have to plan for how you want to finish your work and do seams that will allow for that as you can't get the same nice creases as you do in normal fabric. Some types of seams don't work well with it either, like french seams, because of the lack of ironing, but also because the oilcloth is so thick once you get a few layers it won't go through a non-industrial sewing machine without difficulty. Its basically like all of the hassle of sewing with leather, plus some.
That said, it is dreadfully useful for keeping things dry, so....
One of the big problems is getting it held in place when you stitch. For fabric, you can use pins because the weave re-corrects itself after you take the pin out. That doesn't happen with oilcloth. Once you put a hole in it, there's a hole in it. Forever. So you have to find different ways of holding your seams together. Its not that difficult, for instance you can just use clothespins, just something to know and watch out for as some methods like clothespins may shift a little unlike pins.
But it does play hell on needles I find. It dulls them very quickly and if they're not sharp it really doesn't want to go through the oilcloth. I also think it makes my needles a bit gummy and I always worry that it'll gum up my machine, although it hasn't yet.
Its also more difficult to get proper seams as you can't really iron it without the chance of it melting. This means you kind of have to plan for how you want to finish your work and do seams that will allow for that as you can't get the same nice creases as you do in normal fabric. Some types of seams don't work well with it either, like french seams, because of the lack of ironing, but also because the oilcloth is so thick once you get a few layers it won't go through a non-industrial sewing machine without difficulty. Its basically like all of the hassle of sewing with leather, plus some.
That said, it is dreadfully useful for keeping things dry, so....
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Firestarterr
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Re: Oilcloth
Good to know. I am really leaning towards it for keeping my things dry. Plus there seems to be a wide variety of patterns and such. I do worry about it ripping though, I feel like I would have to reinforce it somehow.
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Eliste
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Re: Oilcloth
Good oilcloth you don't need to worry about ripping. If its good quality, then it is fabric that has then been treated to give it the oil feel, meaning there's already fabric in it to give it sturdiness. Its one of the things that makes it so difficult to work with because its so thick. You'll also find that even if you try to rip it, it won't budge.Firestarterr wrote:Good to know. I am really leaning towards it for keeping my things dry. Plus there seems to be a wide variety of patterns and such. I do worry about it ripping though, I feel like I would have to reinforce it somehow.
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Firestarterr
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Re: Oilcloth
Would it be better to try and make my own? I don't really want to if I don't have to. I can't tell how sturdy the stuff from here is http://www.oilclothbytheyard.com/pages/about-us . Do you know of anywhere else that would sell it?
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Eliste
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Re: Oilcloth
I really would not try to make it yourself. That site says this: "Oilcloth is a retro fabric, its cloth treated on one side with a waterproof coating, originally popular in the 1950’s." That sounds like proper oilcloth.Firestarterr wrote:Would it be better to try and make my own? I don't really want to if I don't have to. I can't tell how sturdy the stuff from here is http://www.oilclothbytheyard.com/pages/about-us . Do you know of anywhere else that would sell it?
They do say they do swatches, so you could see if they would send you a small sample. If you can see the fibres on one side, then you should be good to go.