canvas and booth

[mikey]

without wanting to sound stupid ....... how do you attatch the striped canvas fabric to a lazy tongs booth

[lesclarke]

This was covered a while back, with most agreeing that Velcro, available as sew-on (for the fabric) and stick-on (for the wood, or ali) is the most common way.

I also use large press studs, sold at sewing supply shops, and used for attaching boat covers etc, one part screws into the wood and the other is sort of riveted through the material. The velcro does most of the actual 'holding' and the press studs are useful for lining things up in the correct position.

The velcro is a straightforward job, the press studs require a fair degree of accuracy in the positioning, and practice on spare bits of fabric to determine the correct size of hole. ie they need to be snug.

Oh, yes, trial and error is needed when positioning the press studs, (male bit`) as sometimes the ideal position will interfere with the folding of the frame.

[James]

You could ask Miraiker Battey. I believe she's an expert in these matters!

[Tony James]

Not at all a stupid question Mickey. Velcro is excellent in some situations and less so in others. Be careful about strain and stress. If the stress is across the strip of Velcro then it should be ok, especially if you use wide width Velcro.

But if the stress is along the strip, from one of the ends, it can pull apart quite easily.

The snaps or studs Les refers to are brilliant and hold together under the most stressful situations. They come with a small tool - use a block of wood as a base when hammering them to the fabric. No sewing involved. When Les mentioned the hole you have to cut and being careful, that's because they also provide a 'tube cutter' to cut the hole and the resultant hole can be too big. You might be better to use a bradawl to make a smaller hole. You'll find these fasteners in Hobbycraft stores and John Lewis Partnership stores.

For a pelmet or apron hanging from the playboard edge Velcro is good. However, constant pressing on and pulling off reveals the material limitations. It becomes less effective over time and use and will begin to slip. Instead of regular Velcro use heavy duty. The soft loop part is denser than regular but you can use regular and sew it onto the fabric. The hook part is quite different, like a heavy plastic. It will cling to any Velcro loop extra effectively. It is self adhesive and sticks well to the narrow edge of a playboard but not for long. Fix it permanently with very small tacks, spaced two or three inches apart.

And another tip about about pelmets. Cut your playboard with wide radius front corners and take the pelmet round the corner and across the back edge too. This way the ends of the pelmet are protected and not exposed to the wind. In bad weather a heavy wet pelmet will hang heavy and pull away from conventional Velcro, especially if it is not in the first flush of youth. Taking the ends round the back stops the wind getting to it and pulling it away.

[johnstoate]

Another way of fitting the tilt is the old-fashioned way, using eyelets round the edges of the tilt, and tying these to the frame with tape or cord. -A bit time-consuming, but very secure, and can also be used to hold bracing in place when the weather is typically 'English'!