I want to stretch this fabric across two poles of a gazebo to create a shade. Does the 6 foot side have a decent finish, or would I have to hem it to avoid fraying?
578523
Just to add life to the fabric it would be wise to turn that raw edge under & Hem it..since it isn't attached to anything, the "raw" edge could begin to fray after extended us, especially if you have any wind to speak of.
578524
Both long sides are finished but one is finished more securely than the other and I expect you would want to either hem, use butterfly clips or velcro tape to form a hem on the ends and possibly sides. I used velcro tape for an indoor use and it worked well. Am thinking of doing something similar to what you describe next summer and will likely fold the ends and put in grommets to hook it in place.
578525
The sides are finished and should not fray unless cut. It was very easy to use staplegun to fasten to wood. If you need to add grommets to allow fastening to other material, fabric seems like it would work well. If you did choose to hem, it would be easy to sew any size hem (even very small) if you wanted to reinforce. But with uniform stretching and stapling, it should work well for your purpose. I had material up in AZ sun for 6 months and it is still like brand new.
578526
It will not fray. The material is kind of like the shelf/drawer liner you can buy that is rubbery and non-slip
1893180
The fabric only on mine currently measures 53". I'm sure its stretched, its certainly seen hard play here. Its lasted better than any other.
2099340
That is actually what I did. I purchased the shade with the intentions of covering it with a chevron fabric. I used hot glue and folded about an inch over on each side. The roller mechanism inside malfunctioned the first time I pulled it down. I don't believe it had anything to do with the weight of the fabric, but more the quality of the item. I hope you have better luck than I did.
561106
I used this sun shade last summer with excellent results. There are indeed grommets in each of the corners through which you can thread a rope to suspend it over your patio.
353244
I got up on a ladder and measured. It is 72" and a smidge (less than 1/4"). That smidge may be partially because of the play on the hook part of the measuring tape. My shade is hanging in an open area on a front porch, not against a window. I guess it provides a slight shading, but the bright glare of the sun comes right through. I was hoping for shade like a patio umbrella provides, but this isn't it.
1174195
I wouldn't. Not unless you could hem both pieces after you split the canopy. It is a strong fabric, surviving snow, wind, summer sun over 100* but cutting it down the middle would open the cut ends to fraying.
108801
I had no problems with fraying when I trimmed mine. I hung it inside our skylights- if they are outside, the wind may produce more wear.
187358
Don't plan on cutting the fabric if you don't have a way to sew a hem on it. It'll fray or unravel pretty quickly
1754612
I cut the grommet and removed it and then threaded the fabric alone around the pole. Once I screwed the top piece of my umbrella in place it held just fine without the grommet. I figured based on the cost of the product it would not matter to me if the fabric started to tear in a couple of years it is no big deal. I have been using mine for about a month with no problems.
1158711
Kerry, This fabric is 54 wide and is sold by the yard. I think you would need 2 yards to allow for some overhang. You will have some extra fabric
1155863
This product will make the hem to stiff and crinkly. I would just sew the hem by machine or if you cannot do that just buy some hem tape at the fabric store.
2183144
It is not a problem--the shade stays wherever you put it. It does not look bad if it is scrunched up a little at the bottom, and it stays in place. I bought just one at first to see if it worked ok, then bought 4 more. I am very happy with them.
1914472
You can easily poke a needle through the fabric of this lamp shade. There are inner and outer layers of fabric and at the top and bottom there is about a 1/4" of space between them but this flattens out if you smooth your hand over it.
997315
Sounds to me like you need a chain long enough to reach the fence. Be sure to attach to a fence post and not the fence. I use chains and and attach a turnbuckle to tighten the shades. I just received my order of 4 square sail shades. I have a couple of guys coming in to dig the holes (with a rented auger) and I plan to set seven 4x6x16' posts in concrete. The other side will be attached to my house. This will cover my back deck which in 56' X 18'.
848819
The four corners each have a roundish metal loop that is attached pretty securely to the material itself. It is on you to determine how you will attach it to posts or whatever you are attaching it to. I had a few different places where i needed to attach mine, so on one side i used a carabiner and clipped it to an eye screw in an existing patio cover. On the other side i simply used rope and tied it to a tree. I believe they make a screw product that lets you cinch it down tighter than i did. http://www.altiaproducts.com/EBayImages+Ads/Products/Sun%20Sails/SSL18TKS/SSL18TKSp4.jpg. I can tell you that unless you cinch it down super tight this thing will blow like crazy in the wind. Mine is only as tight as I could pull the rope and tie the knot, and it still blows around quite a bit. In one bad storm it even pulled a pretty thick eye screw out of the wood it was attached to. For the most part the thing works great and does just what you would expect.. provide a ton of shade at an extremely low cost.
2031886
I think this is a good choice of fabric for that. The only thing to be aware of is that chiffon frays easily on the side where it is cut, so you just have to make sure that it doesn't get pulled to much on that side.
1549076
Not really. It would cause the shade panel to unravel and the frame cannot be cut down without destroying it. Sorry. Maybe the six footer would work?