Sewing My First Sled.

[K'Tesh]

I'm currently working in a quiet corner (AKA my "Lair") of the English language school in my off time here in the PRC.  I've got a couple of kites in the works, but I decided to make my first kit a simple (yet attractive) design.  I mapped it out using office paper and packing tape.  The concept has evolved from the first drawing, to being cut out.  After cutting it out, I of course determined that I should have done it differently (I'll still make it, but it'll be smaller than intended).  Thankfully Ripstop isn't hard to find, nor terribly expensive here in China.  Of course, I wonder that if I were to start selling them, would it still be "American Made", despite being "Made In China"? 

[makatakam]

Nice design. Needs more red.  Made by an American in China. 

[K'Tesh]

21 hours ago, makatakam said:

Nice design. Needs more red.  Made by an American in China. 

Are you certain that I haven't slipped some red (or pink) into it?

OK... Confession time...  The first cut version has a problem.  Namely, Fray Check...  I can't find any.  I had planned on having it sewn up in layers with Fray Check treated unfinished ends.  No Fray Check...  No good. 

I recreated the pattern, now with a seam allowance to allow me to do finished edges and the new panels have been cut out.  I've managed to get one half of the kite sewn up (save the outer seams).  Regrettably, I had to teach a class before I could finish the kite, or even get a photo of the black panel joined to the other panels, but you should be able to get the point.

BTW, my sewing machine cost 56 RMB (just under $9 USD).  Surprisingly, it works fairly well.

One thing I discovered was by finishing the edges, then sewing them down to the panel, the panels lay flat, without being sewed down to the panel, the panels act like a new book opened, where one side curls up, and the other lays flat.

[makatakam]

You would benefit much by taping together the pieces being sewn . No more pucker. If the tension on your machine is adjusted correctly, the panels will be perfectly flat when sewn together. You may be able to get all that pucker out by grabbing the ends of the seam and pulling hard and twisting/torquing the length of the seam. PM me your mailing address and I will send you a roll of 3M 9460 transfer tape for free. Google it. If you check the build threads on any of the kite forums you will see it mentioned frequently. I have a bunch more than I will ever need, and it's light enough to send 1st class mail.

[K'Tesh]

Thanks Mark for the offer and the advice!

PM Sent!

I should add that I doubt that I can adjust the tension (much) on a $8.80 USD sewing machine. I have tried twisting and pulling it, and it did look better.  Photos later.

One thing I'll mention...  I've got a kite flying event this weekend, and I'm trying to get two kites made for it.  The sled stands a chance, the other...  Not so much (but maybe).

[K'Tesh]

As a kid, I'd sometimes play while mom was sewing something or else, and I'd watch what she was doing. I also had a costume made a number or years ago, and while the lady was sewing it up, I watched her too. Then I got my grandmother's sewing machine (all metal), and sewed up a few costumes for street performing (balloon art and contact juggling) and for bike rides (e.g. PDX's Worst Day of the Year Ride), and a handlebar bag for my 2009 Cycle Oregon ride.

Funny how seeing a man sewing gets the Chinese teacher's attention.  They've told me about how their moms or grandmothers would get the 3 standard gifts from their husbands (a bicycle, a sewing machine, and a radio) and use them.  However, things have changed, and now they are after the 3Cs (Cash, Car, and Cute).

 

[K'Tesh]

Spent most of the day on the kite... Got it finished, hustled out to the beach to try it out. Of course the wind was from the wrong direction so the buildings were creating currents that would trick you into thinking you could fly it. But no... Saw a kite flying well further down the promenade, so I headed off that way and found that there was a gap between buildings. The kite would try to fly, then come crashing down... The kite would try to fly, but the tails would snag onto something, and it couldn't go any higher until someone released it. I got it up just long enough to take a picture when it crashed again. As I was packing up, a kid comes rolling up on a scooter, and I try to shoo him away from running over my line... Then his little brother (4 years old or so) goes and runs right over the kite*. I managed to keep a civil tongue, and his mom apologized profusely. Fortunately, no damage that I could see. The wind then picked up, and I decided to try again. It goes up, but the sun has gone down. I fight with it for a while (line sailing off the spool, only to then stop and drop). I finally brought it in before it went swimming. A sled that mom made for me years ago went swimming in Lake Tahoe. I found that it would have made an excellent sea anchor.

Since there was still wind there, I decided to try one of my deltas as I saw that someone else still managed to get a kite up and flying stably. The delta goes up quite well, then rolls over, and drops into the ocean. I recovered it (not so good as a sea anchor... I also think that there was a current working with me).

On the plus side. I did manage to make a new friend... A kid from Australia (ethnically Chinese, but self identifying as Australian) who didn't speak the language was thrilled to find someone he could talk to.

Tomorrow is the school's kite flying event. Same area as I was flying in today. Wish me luck!

*For anybody counting, this is the second kite that some kid has deliberately run over here in China.

[Exult]

On 2018-04-27 at 4:02 PM, K'Tesh said:

One thing I discovered was by finishing the edges, then sewing them down to the panel, the panels lay flat, without being sewed down to the panel, the panels act like a new book opened, where one side curls up, and the other lays flat

It looks like you have by your own (re-)discovered the plain seam. Go to: https://sites.google.com/site/kites4all/home/kite-sewing-101

and search for the first instance of  "plain seam" and compare - was the principle the same? Another reason for moving from pins to tape than puckering (as @makatakam suggested), as you now also likely has discovered, is that the holes from the pins will remain afterwards in the ripstop. When joining the panels of my model kite using the plain seam, I instead of the tape or pins used glue: http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/8756-a-first-model-kite-probing-the-kite-building-ground/?do=findComment&comment=70908

which also worked as well.

Any pictures of the final result and kite-in-action?

 

[K'Tesh]

The plain seam...  Didn't know it's name.  I didn't quite use that.  Before I found this forum, I did a search for sewing ripstop kites, and found Andrew Newton's youtube video showing how to make a Rokkaku, and followed his example.  I'm not sure about the tape idea, as it would prevent me from trimming the inner portion of the seam like Andrew did.

Weird thing though, the kite shrank...  It was supposed to be 32" long, with a 48" wingspan,   However, it's now about 1" shorter, and maybe 1.5" narrower than it was designed for.  This puts a serious dent in my plans on building a Bell Tetrahedron.  I do have plans on making a Double French Military kite, and perhaps a Box kite.  Eventually, I want to clone my Hawaiian Team Stunt Kites.  My Hawaiian's sails are original, and a little damaged, but the cost of buying a new one is prohibitively expensive as they are "custom" despite being classic color schemes.

Here's the best shot of the kite in action (to date).  The tails are about 10m in length.  I'm seriously thinking about halving them.

   

Went to the kite flying event the school had planned.  It was pretty simple...  I give the kids a few words on kites (kite, string, stick, sky, wind, fly) get them to say the words.  Then we tested the kids on the words, and gave them a pre-made delta kite that they then painted and tried to fly.  The buildings got in the way of the wind.  I had arrived 2 hours early, and tried to set up the Tetrahedron (with paper "sails" (actually the patterns I build around the framework, and sprayed with red paint).  The wind there was severely unstable due to the tall buildings blocking much of the wind.  I did manage to get my large delta up and flying for a while, but then the wind shifted, and the kite nearly dropped out of the sky a couple of times.  By the end of it, my knees were killing me (arthritis), my back was killing me, and the heat was too much.  Worse, I couldn't find the Advil.  Important thing was, the kids had fun, and I got paid to fly kites again. No photos...  I was too busy, and hurting to take any.

 

I did find the Advil hidden in a box in my apartment after tearing the place apart.

[Exult]

8 hours ago, K'Tesh said:

The plain seam...  Didn't know it's name.  I didn't quite use that.  Before I found this forum, I did a search for sewing ripstop kites, and found Andrew Newton's youtube video showing how to make a Rokkaku, and followed his example.

To me, in the video, it looks like the mock french seam (though I have never tried one just read the 101 kite sewing).

8 hours ago, K'Tesh said:

Important thing was, the kids had fun, and I got paid to fly kites again.

Consider yourself lucky in this aspect. Often when I have a kiting session I instead just get late to work - as expected no bonuses and applauds there. If you happen to have a surrounding "crew", lend out your mobile phone and "officially" appoint one of the children to "Photo Officer in Charge" (perhaps a child that otherwise would stay unfocused). Apart from being handy, such things can make a child proud.

8 hours ago, K'Tesh said:

The buildings got in the way of the wind.  I had arrived 2 hours early, and tried to set up the Tetrahedron (with paper "sails" (actually the patterns I build around the framework, and sprayed with red paint).  The wind there was severely unstable due to the tall buildings blocking much of the wind.

Study the "holy" weather forecast, but be prepared for surprises.

8 hours ago, K'Tesh said:

The tails are about 10m in length.  I'm seriously thinking about halving them.

What about folding one of them double for light wind (I don't know how much resistance the folding part adds though) and allow two full tails for days with more and stable wind? Wait, are we talking about halving the length or the width? Making four narrow tails could add some flexibility. Add more tails the more wind it is? I also find this post about tail making interesting:

http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/1591-revs-with-tails/?do=findComment&comment=13038

or actually the whole topic:

http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/1591-revs-with-tails/

[K'Tesh]

3 hours ago, Exult said:

To me, in the video, it looks like the mock french seam (though I have never tried one just read the 101 kite sewing).

Consider yourself lucky in this aspect. Often when I have a kiting session I instead just get late to work - as expected no bonuses and applauds there. If you happen to have a surrounding "crew", lend out your mobile phone and "officially" appoint one of the children to "Photo Officer in Charge" (perhaps a child that otherwise would stay unfocused). Apart from being handy, such things can make a child proud.

Good idea...  A little late, but I can try to remember it for the "next" time...  Whenever that is.

3 hours ago, Exult said:

Study the "holy" weather forecast, but be prepared for surprises.

我的普通话不太好...

 

3 hours ago, Exult said:

What about folding one of them double for light wind (I don't know how much resistance the folding part adds though) and allow two full tails for days with more and stable wind? Wait, are we talking about halving the length or the width? Making four narrow tails could add some flexibility. Add more tails the more wind it is? I also find this post about tail making interesting:

http://kitelife.com/forum/topic/1591-revs-with-tails/?do=findComment&comment=13038

or actually the whole topic:

 

I'll have to look into that...  However, I decided to just cut them down in length.  Then the wind died...  Worse... From what I've been told, it's going to rain tomorrow and the next day.

[K'Tesh]

On 4/28/2018 at 12:56 AM, makatakam said:

You would benefit much by taping together the pieces being sewn . No more pucker. If the tension on your machine is adjusted correctly, the panels will be perfectly flat when sewn together. You may be able to get all that pucker out by grabbing the ends of the seam and pulling hard and twisting/torquing the length of the seam. PM me your mailing address and I will send you a roll of 3M 9460 transfer tape for free. Google it. If you check the build threads on any of the kite forums you will see it mentioned frequently. I have a bunch more than I will ever need, and it's light enough to send 1st class mail.

I want to say "Thanks!"  I got a package in the mail at work.  It arrived in great condition (a tremendous surprise, China Post has a poor track record with my packages).

I'm planning on a Double French Military Delta now. 

[K'Tesh]

Oh, I should have posted this a while ago...  I've been pretty busy at work, and forgot to get this posted. 

Under the tips of the tails that tall white building is the Marina Hotel in Yantai.  It's an abandoned hotel that overlooks the Yellow Sea.  

[makatakam]

7 hours ago, K'Tesh said:

I want to say "Thanks!"  I got a package in the mail at work.  It arrived in great condition (a tremendous surprise, China Post has a poor track record with my packages).

Wow. That took a while! I thought first class would move faster than that.