How to Sew a Tarp – DIY

How to Sew a Tarp - DIY

A tarp is an incredibly versatile shelter that comes in handy for camping trips, balcony setups, or terrace lounging. You can use it as a standalone cover for a field kitchen, a cozy sleeping spot, or even a hammock. Made from durable, weather-resistant ripstop fabric in vibrant colors, tarps are also a fun and stylish alternative to traditional garden awnings.

The best part? They’re surprisingly easy to make yourself! Below, we’ll show you step by step how to sew your very own perfect tarp.

Choosing the Material

To begin, select a design and material according to your needs. On the market, you will find a wide range of shapes, colors, and materials from which they are made. Below, we present various tarp designs.

The beauty of DIY tarps lies in the fact that you can create any shape you can imagine. For example, you might have a few trees in your garden and want to fit the tarp to an existing frame or other attachment points. We needed something to match our custom-made hammock, so we chose a universal square – a shape that can be mounted in many different ways. The finishing and sewing of attachment points is similar for every shape, although sewing along a curve can be more challenging.

Materials that are tear-resistant and waterproof work best. We recommend 20D ripstop silpoly in the color “bison”. The fabric is coated with silicone and PU, making it able to withstand even the harshest weather conditions (suitable for altitudes above 3000 m / 9,800 ft). Smooth 15D silpoly and strong silnylon are also excellent choices for tarps. You can find more tips on choosing the right tarp material in our dedicated article on the subject.

Required Materials:

Additional tools:

6 m² of Silpoly + PU or Silnylon, from 47 g/m² to 35 g/m² (your choice) If you’re unsure which fabric to choose for your tarp, check out our article.
0.2 m × 1.5 m 300D Ripstop Polyester (for reinforcing attachment points)
If you choose Ripstop Silpoly PU, seam-sealing tape will be useful.
If you choose 20D Silnylon, silicone adhesive will be useful for sealing.
1 m of webbing (20 mm) – for making attachment points for cords
1 × thread matching the color of your fabric
10 m of cord, 5 mm thick

Sewing machine
Scissors
Measuring tape
DIY TARP kit – available in our store, click here

Step 1 – Reinforcement components

Divide the 6 m of fabric into two equal strips of 3 m each. From the canvas fabric, cut out reinforcement triangles. The number can be adjusted according to the planned attachment points. Remember to cut them slightly larger to leave room for hemming the edges. In my case, I made 6 triangles with a base of 12 cm and a height of 7 cm.

We hem the four triangles at the base. The rest will be hemmed later together with the edges of the fabric. Similarly, I hem the sides of the two middle triangles, and the base is hemmed later along with the entire tarp. We fold the hem twice and sew it with a straight stitch.

Step 2 – Hemming the edges

It’s time to hem all the edges of the tarp while simultaneously sewing the sides of the triangle. It’s best to use a special hemming foot to avoid struggling with the fabric constantly slipping out.

Step 3 – Attachment points

We add straps, folding them so that one end is slightly longer. Insert the prepared loop with the longer end under the fabric and sew it, forming a box as shown in the image below.

Step 4 – Assembling the elements into a whole

Now that both pieces of the tarp have hemmed edges and all the triangles have been sewn on, all that’s left is to join them into a single piece. To do this, we will use a flat seam, though you can also use tape to reinforce the spine at the same time.

To make a flat seam, fold the edge of one tarp piece over the edge of the other by about 1 cm (Step 2) and pin it or press it to make sewing easier (Step 3). Sew with a double straight stitch (see illustration and photo below). To seal the seams, we recommend using nylon tape, which is available on our website.