Mastering Everything About Nylon that i’ve learned from experience and soaked up from my friends by G. William Tyrrell Jr. Illustrations by Cathy Pasquale The late Bill Tyrrell wrote this article for KiteLines Magazine’s Summer/Fall 1981 issue. Some parts of it are dated, but it’s still an excellent primer on using nylon to build . Reprinted with permission from Valerie Govig. Visit www.kitelife.com for an online archive of back issues of KiteLines.

The rustle of nylon, particularly ripstop market at $1 to $6 a yard [ed. note: those are nylon, is the ubiquitous sound of kiteflying. 1981 prices]: Where did this come from and what is it? ripstop is, naturally, a originally developed as a cheap, strong, lightweight fabric, weighing ½ - ¾ oz. per available synthetic replacement for scarce running yard. But it’s very soft (little or no in during World War II, ripstop coating) yet very slippery, a trying combi- nylon soon became available for other uses. nation to sew with. Further, it’s extremely The boating industry adopted it for sails and stretchy, highly porous and hard to obtain. before long it found its way into clothing, Recreational ripstop is used for backpacks, tents, luggage, hot-air balloons backpacks, tents, sportswear, etc. Colors and of course, kites! here are often subdued (except for hunters’ Why is it called ripstop? It gets its name international orange). If you need wide cloth from its weave. Within the base weave (which (45-60”), it’s a possibility. Weights tend to be is usually very close) there is a slightly larger- heavier (1½-2½ oz.), coatings lighter. You diameter thread that runs checkerboard-style might work with these for kites less sensitive throughout the cloth in 1/8, 3/16 or ½” squares. to bias, such as deltas, taut boxes and big flat This is what gives it “rip-stopping” char- kites. acteristics. Of course, the fabric will tear if Balloon cloth is a group of and punctured, but the second weave gives the that have the asset of very wide cloth extra tear-resistance. That’s important color choice, making them attractive to artists in parachutes, sails and kites. for use in special designs or applique work on it’s the combination of high strength ripstop. Widths are 45” or 60”, but availabil- and light weight that so often makes ripstop ity is limited to balloon manufacturers (if you the kitemaker’s fabric choice. When you’re can find one in your area). looking at a cloth that weighs as little as half Nylon, or Acetate are an ounce to the square yard, the sail on a 6’ close, plain-weave fabrics that are somewhat delta , for example, could weigh under coarser than ripstop but still have wind- 1½ ounces. And the wide selection of bril- holding ability, as their use in windbreakers liant, translucent colors helps boost ripstop’s attests. (Acetates do not hold up and are popularity. not recommended for kites.) are also used for hot-air balloon envelopes (as is The Coating Factor ripstop), tents and luggage. “Aspen Cloth” one of the first things to notice about is one of the names for nylon taffeta. These these nylons is that they are coated. Urethane fabrics are not ripstops,so once a tear starts or acrylic is rolled into the cloth’s grain under they tend to run. The color range is wide for high pressure and some heat. This gives the coating – or the appearance of more – on one design effects and beautiful cobra (“dragon”) fabric slickness and low porosity which to side than the other. For kites, you present the tails. Less expensive than ripstop, taffetas are various degrees make the cloth water- and slicker side to the wind. about $2.50 per running yard by 45 inches windproof. Coatings also give enough body Wind, weather and wear-and-tear on a wide, and about equivalent in weight to 1½ to the fabric that it can be sewn convention- kite you fly a lot will eventually break down oz. ripstop sailcloth. A variation on nylon ally, on home or industrial machines. the crispness of the coating and soften the taffeta is nylon tire, satiny surfaced on one Ripstop coatings vary almost as much as fabric. If you’ve sewn before but not with side, used for flight jackets, evening wear and the base fabrics themselves. They run thick ripstop, you’ll find it takes some getting used such. The slick side can be good for slipping and thin and it’s often difficult to tell the true to, mainly because of its slipperiness – a trait wind, but examine the bolt for stretch. These weight of the cloth by touch. For example, of all nylons but especially ripstop. The slip- taffetas stretch on the bias, or diagonal,rather a cloth designated as 1½ ounces per square periness is a blessing and a curse –a curse be- than the straight of the grain. They also have yard can feel like a 2.0 oz., 1.0 oz. or even cause the stuff slides all over the place, and a a soft drape that flows with the wind, ideal a ¾ oz., depending on the thickness of the blessing because it’s easy to realign. (You can for dragon tails. Taffetas are also suitable for coating and the texture of the fabric you’re lessen slipperiness by dipping your fingers in Eddys, Rokkakus, large flat kites and others comparing it to. Heavier cloth with thin or no Tacky Fingers from a stationery store – a tip that gain extended wind range from flex. In coating may weigh less than a thickly coated from Kites of the Four Winds.) picking taffeta, observe its traits, adjust your lightweight. sewing practices to it, keep your kite sym- most coatings penetrate fabric evenly Types of Yardage metrical and it can work very well for you. and thoroughly, but sometimes there is more you can find the following nylons on the Do be careful to choose a low-porosity cloth.

46 Kiting | Summer 2015 Fabric shops offer lots of attractive stuff in that will undergo exceptional stresses, you in logical order of kite construction, you an ever-growing selection of blends with should ask your fabric supplier for more de- will: pattern and cut the fabric, sew the main high-tech names – not all of which will work tails, such as strength ratings on the different seams, sew in reinforcements (hems or edg- well for kites. Don’t depend on the clerk to grades of ripstop. A strength rating is a com- ing tapes), attach grommets, tabs, sticks and know what you need. Test samples yourself posite derived from weight, tear-resistance, all the other fixtures and finally bridle your by holding the fabric up to your face and weave, coating and other manufacturing kite. blowing. If air passes, the cloth fails. factors. Suppose you’ve got one of those one- Sailcloth ripstop or spinnaker cloth page kite plans. You need to lay out the kite – ah! The answer looking for our question. Can You Color It? parts on wide paper, enlarging them to full This fabric has pretty much all the qualities in spite of all the colors available in sail- size. Large cardboard pieces or big rolls the kitemaker needs. First is its low-to-prac- cloth, frustration with limited hues is quite of brown wrapping paper can be used (or tically-no porosity. This is imparted by the common. You can order custom-dying with smaller pieces taped together if expedient). coating we talked about. Available in 38” and a minimum quantity of about 1000 yards! Margaret Greger, fabric kite mentor, suggests 42” widths, sailcloth ripstop comes in up to Otherwise, uncommon colors – or stripes using “pattern-making paper,” sold in fabric 15 colors, but the real treat this stuff offers is rarely – can only be obtained as scraps from shops, four feet wide by any length, from a its range of weights. [Ed. note: today ripstop is sailmakers’ lofts or similar chancy sources. I roll, with one-inch dots all over it. She says available in more than four dozen colors, in widths have no personal experience with dye-bath- it’s the best thing she’s found for making big of 54” and 60”.] Here they are, in weights per ing ripstop in a home tub – my wife would kite patterns. square yard, before coating (coating adds 1/8 draw the line! – but I would like to hear from in laying out your pattern, keep in to ½ oz. per yard): others who have tried it. mind the width of your cloth. If the kite has half ounce is the lightest available. Its here’s something to consider: spirit- multiple parts (like a Parafoil), use these pat- tissue-paper-like feel belies its strength. To based markers. The 2”-wide ones are tern pieces to plan your layout on the fabric. take advantage of it properly on your kites, preferable but 1” ones will do. Simply lay out Move the parts around until you get maxi- you should reinforce the edges by using your cloth on a cardboard surface and draw. mum use out of the cloth. folded seams or edging tape. This ripstop is Marker inks will dry very fast and leave an (If you’re making a large kite, it may be sold only in red, white and blue in 38” width. intense color if you cover both sides of the a challenge to find space to spread out all the Three-quarter ounce is not all that much cloth. You can also use marker refill inks, fabric. We’ve heard of people thumb-tacking heavier than coated ½ oz., especially if the ¾ applying them with wide brushes for larger nylon to a carpeted floor to stretch it out and oz. has a light coating. The ¾ oz. is consider- work. A caution with these inks: make sure laying out their pattern on that. Just don’t cut ably stronger and more tear resistant than ½ you work in a well-ventilated area, because your fabric on the same surface!) oz., though, and comes in about 15 colors, the fumes are toxic. Learn to work fast with But here’s the catch. You’ve got to pastel to intense, from various manufacturers. brushes because refill inks evaporate quickly. observe bias. Even ripstop will usually have This weight is probably the most popular for I’m still in the experimental stages with these more stretch along the diagonal than along kites because of its strength-to-weight ratio inks, myself, but my initial work with this the straight of the weave. You want to main- and its easy sewability. technique has proven colorful. I would be tain an even bias on both sides of the kite, one ounce to l.2-oz. is next. What happy to hear from explorers who are blaz- that is, vertical or horizontal or symmetri- you’ve got here is an even stronger cloth ing parallel trails in this thicket. cally angled alignment. If your kite (for ex- with usually more color intensity – a more other than with marker inks, no one ample, a delta) has bias running on one side opaque, rich hue when the sun shines I’ve seen has really succeeded at painting differently than the other, the kite’s going to through it. It’s still lightweight enough for ripstop. Paint usually flakes off, requiring favor one side. (Do you want a political kite?) making super fliers and it’s generally avail- touchups after each flight, and tends to be Even with first-quality ripstop, the grain may able in about eight standard colors. opaque, so that whatever color you see in not be dead straight. Lay out the parts by the one-and-a-half oz. is about as heavy as reflected light on the ground will go to dead grain rather than the yardage edges. I’d recommend for most kites in ripstop sail- black in the sky as it blocks light transmis- now that you have the kite pattern cloth, but it’s very good for large and high- sion through your kite. pieces laid out, draw them onto the cloth. wind designs and big Parafoils. One-and-a- opacity occurs with silk-screen print- Use dressmaker’s marking pencil, which half has the most intensity of color, too. It ing, too, although some inks made for nylon makes a removable orange line, or tailor’s can be useful cut down into narrow fabric seem to have the flaking problem cured. If (French) chalk on dark colors, or ordinary strips for use as edge binding on lighterweight you are already familiar with the process, lead pencil on light hues. Margaret Greger cloth. Also it is popular for kite carrying bags. you could try it, but otherwise silk-screening uses dressmaker’s tracing paper and It sews well because it has more body and less would be a lot of technical overlay to wheel. Make sure you’ve allowed slipperiness than lighter-weight ripstops. About onto your kiting habit. And of course the for enough cloth for your hems or eight colors are available. point of print- Two to four oz. is a heavy-duty cloth ing is quantity that has little use in kite sail construction. production, of (The exceptions are 1.9, 2.0 or 2.4 oz. ripstops interest to the or taffetas with thin coatings and still light manufacturer but enough for large sails.) This stuff is excel- not the one-at-a- lent as reinforcing material, cut into strips time kitemaker. for edging tape, tails, pockets and tabs, and again super for equipment bags. Not quite as Can You Cut It? many colors come here, but they are bright in okay, so reflected light. For great strength, you could you’ve got this make a high-wind, high-angle kite with the lovely ripstop or 2.0 oz. sailcloth and it would last halfway to taffeta – what forever. now? if you’re making a very large kite or one

Summer 2015 | Kiting 47 stick sleeves. (Hem allowances vary with size or slow cutting of heavier cloth. You should all your tools in one place and plenty of light. of kite, but typically are ¾” wide.) have a tip temperature of 500° minimum A large work table is an almost-necessary ac- now for the moment of truth: cutting (preferably higher). Use 55- to 80-watt heat- companiment. (Ed Grauel’s model of a shop the fabric. You can use scissors, razor cutter ers with 700-to-1000° tip temperatures for has a converted door table, outfitted with or hot iron, as I’ll explain. Starting with scis- heavy cloth or high production on light cloth. measuring tape along the sides and neatly sors (sharp, tight ones), here’s a tip. Barely Some kitemakers get satisfactory results with labeled storage boxes underneath.) open the blades of the scissors and begin a a small 25- or 30-watt soldering iron with the i suggest you occasionally reread the cut, with the fabric held taut by tape or by tip cut to ½” to ¾” and filed to a rounded booklet that comes with your machine. hand. The blades will slice through the cloth. flat sharp blade (like a screwdriver). (I’m still learning from mine!) Make sure That sounds tricky, but it’s not. You’ll be an Though a pencil point or ground flat you oil your machine occasionally, follow- expert within five cuts. Try it on a few scraps spade will work, probably the best tool is a ing instructions in your manual. Keep the before committing the good stuff. sailmaker’s tip made for the purpose. Curtis machine clean; vacuum or blow lint and dirt To cut with a utility knife, Xacto-type Marshall’s customized silver tip is said to be out regularly (“So important,” says Harry knife or single-edge razor blade cutter, use a the best of all and it works very fast if you Osborne, who ought to know). Wind bobbins glass surface or table top, a piece of Formica have that need. slowly and evenly; fill several in advance for that you don’t care about, corrugated card- once the iron is up to heat and stable, big kites. board, a marble slab or the smooth side of a simply cut along your Masonite pattern or Don’t sew unless your mental and physi- piece of Masonite (though Masonite will dull straight edge (not metal, which seems to cal outlook is good. You will waste good fabric blades quickly). Glass is the fastest working draw heat out of the tip). Move the cutter as otherwise. Sew at a steady pace, not in spurts, surface. You can use a wood floor or table fast as the cloth will separate. You can weight to keep your stitching even. if you protect it with at least a half inch of your pattern with lead diving weights, gallon can you sew ripstop by hand? Yes! Lou- newspaper – the more the better – and don’t cans of paint, books or whatever to free your ise Crowley’s kites are wonderful examples. press too hard. Lay out your cloth on one other hand to lightly pull the cloth away as it But most of this article pertains to the more of these surfaces and use a straight edge to is cut. If the iron isn’t cutting smoothly, slow usual machine sewing. guide your knife or single-edge razor blade. down your hand speed. For mass production, (Use only a blade that is new or very sharp, use a hotter iron. Also for repetitive work, Which Comes First, Needle Or Thread? especially so at the tip.) The straight edge can a Teflon® wheel guide as made by Curtis For domestic sewing machines, there be a yardstick (metal is best), piece of wood Marshall and used with a cone-tip hot-cutter are two basic needle choices: the ballpoint or even heavy cardboard if you’re careful. will save pattern wear and provide a uniform needle (for knits and the like) and the regular Hold the straight edge or cardboard pat- and automatic hem allowance to your needs. sharp point, which is what you need to spear tern down tightly, particularly when you’re For one-at-at-time kites, you can work with through the tightly woven, crisply coated starting, and cut slowly but steadily, holding more ephemeral equipment. Like Margaret ripstop. If yours is an industrial machine, get the knife flat against the rule edge. If you’re Greger, you might find tagboard and paper acquainted with its parts supplier. He or she cutting one layer of fabric at a time, you (either lightweight kraft paper or white tissue will have oodles of needle types for every won’t need much pressure; only with “mass paper) adequate for patterns, especially ap- kind of fabric, machine model and use. You production” do these details get critical. You plique. Margaret says, “It’s true that a little can really match the needle to your work. can use scissors for one or a few kites, of paper edge may remain on the fused edge of You’ll be looking for a very long taper in course. The advantage of the knife/straight the fabric, but it’s easily pulled away. When what the industry calls a high-speed, antifric- edge route is that you obtain straighter lines. I am cutting fine detail, where weights are tion, cool-running “coated” needle. A “gov- incidentally, I’ve never had much luck too big for holding the pattern in place, I ernment” needle (a long taper design) gives using pinking shears to frayproof ripstop. use my fingers, and when that’s too close for less puckering of seams in ripstop sewing. But Ed Grauel swears by his and says, “The comfort, the eraser end of a pencil.” As a general rule in needle selection, use secret is shears large enough – I use 10½” Some more “hot tips” for the cutter tip: a thinner (lower-number) needle for thin- size – and keeping them sharp.” (I admit to Lightly file it sharp (not razor sharp or it ner materials and a thicker (higher-number) never having tried to sharpen pinking shears.) will tend to wander). Also keep it clean with needle for thicker materials. Also adjust your a wire brush. If it’s dirty, heat transfer will selection to the total thickness, or plies (lay- The Hot-Cutting Alternative slow. With a little practice and the right tools, ers) of fabric you’re sewing together. Below ultimately, however, hot cutting is better you can cut nylon like a pro (or if you’re a pro is a chart prepared for Kite Lines by Harry for cutting single kite parts because it seals then like a dedicated perfectionist amateur). Osborne, director of the clothing and the edge of the cloth, making it frayproof. incidentally, you can achieve the sealed department, Edmonds Community Col- Cold cutting of edges (to different degrees, edge of the hot cutter without buying the lege, Lynnwood, WA. Keep several needles depending on weight and coating) leaves tool by running the cut edge of your ripstop on hand as you sew and change the needle an edge that may fray. If you’re hemming or pieces carefully alongside a candle flame, al- often. A needle can grow dull after as few as tapebinding the edges anyway, coldcutting lowing just the edge of the fabric to sidle into eight hours of sewing. is OK, but anywhere that you have a raw-cut the flame. A little tricky, but some people edge, hole or vent, you should hot-cut the edges. claim success with it. (Be careful!) how to hot-cut? Again, use a glass A word to the wise: ventilate the area, or Needle Selection Chart surface or Formica. Masonite works, too, but work outdoors, when hot-cutting ripstop, to A = nylon in ounces per square yard may adhere to the cloth at the edges. (This minimize inhaling the fumes. And (in case it B = needle for < 3 plies is usually cleanable but sometimes leaves a isn’t obvious), make your entire kite work- C = needle for > 4 plies or reinforcements stain.) shop, with its hot-cutters, razors, fumes and your hot cutting tool can be an ordinary sewing machine, off-limits to children . A B c pencil soldering iron. A wood-burning knife ½ 11 11 or 14 can also be used. The trick is to match proper Getting Set To Sew ¾ 11 or 14 14-16 heat with tip design and your hand speed. A if you don’t yet have one, now is the 1½ - 2.0 14 14-16 25- to 45-watt model is suitable for light cloth time to make a work area for yourself with

48 Kiting | Summer 2015 Threading your way through this maze? for basic straight stitching on ripstop. A finer ing several items in succession, feeding one Now about thread. As the needle selection is setting will weaken the cloth and may cause after another through the needle without clip- governed by the fabric you’re using, thread tearing at the seams. ping threads until several sections are done, choice is determined by your needle. Poly- For zigzag sewing, the stitch length then clipping between sections. ester or nylon thread is recommended. Poly- can safely be set tighter, typically at 15- or When you’re sewing over thick seams or ester is more flexible and will hold thread 16-stitches per inch, which doesn’t exceed (in reinforcement bumps, slow down. Turn the tension better through the machine than its effect on the cloth) the eight per inch stan- wheel by hand and/or lift the presser foot as nylon. However, nylon is generally stronger dard for straight stitching. Up to as fine as 20 you move till you get through the thick section. than polyester in the same size. Gutermann’s per inch can be used for a stitch around margaret Greger says that she follows is a strong polyester thread for machine sew- an applique. Needle choice for applique work the dressmaker’s rule to stitch seams from the ing and comes in many colors. should be an 11 for ½ or ¾ oz. ripstop or taf- widest part to the narrowest. This means you A popular thread in fabric shops these feta and a 14 needle if you’re working with a will have less trouble with stretching on the days is “crystal” thread, in fact a domestic lot of thickness. wing stick casings of a delta, for example, if nylon monofilament. It has all the char- Be sure you’re using the right foot and you stitch from the base of the kite toward acteristics of mono line: strength, invis- throat plate for either straight stitching or zig- the tip. She believes that symmetry in a fabric ibility, economy and kink-proneness. Our zag stitching, according to the requirements kite is safeguarded if all seams are stitched friend Margaret Greger warns of the kinks of your particular machine. in the same direction (especially important and also of “bargain” thread at four for a To get used to ripstop’s slippery ways, with sled stick casings and Parafoil construc- dollar, which frays and isn’t worth the sav- try out some stitches on scraps. Make your tion). If, for instance, you hem the edges of ings. Margaret uses ordinary dressmaker’s machine settings and note the tension level a sled, follow the wide-to-narrow rule on the -covered polyester thread for all her on foot and thread settings. With practice, wingtips. Don’t start at one point and hem all small to medium-size kites. Neither it nor the you’ll develop a feel for ripstop work and the way around. Many materials will stretch polyester thread in most fabric shops is sized. how to overcome its slipperiness. (To get real and pucker and symmetry will be lost. These threads appear to be the equivalent of control over the material, you might want to old-fashioned 50, suitable for most needles buy a “roller foot” for about $1.50 at your Trouble-Shooting and sewing conditions. fabric store. It grips your fabric like a tiny let’s out some of the problems as- snow tire.) sociated with needles, threads and stitching. Guide to Needle Needle Thread now, for an exercise, line up two straight if you hear a popping sound coming 11 60-80 and Thread pieces of fabric and make an ordinary seam, from the crisp, coated ripstop as you are 14 40 or 50 Selection holding the sewn end with your left hand sewing, it indicates a needle problem. It can 16 30 or 40 while aligning the edges of the ripstop with be that you’re using a ballpoint instead of a Guide is based on polyester or nylon your right as it goes under the foot. Nylon sharp point, in which case simply replace it thread, not cotton. Note: needle size always needs your guiding (not pulling) left with the proper needle. Or you may be using (thickness) increases as number increases, hand. Go slow and easy at first. Secure your a needle that’s too thick for the cloth; if so, but thread thickness (denier) increases as seam ends by back-stitching or lock-stitching try one size thinner. Or it could be the result number decreases. a few stitches in place. of using a dull or damaged needle, which Ripstop needs constant attention to the you should simply replace. When you get into the serious-sized aligning process. Guide the cloth through; let Sewing with a damaged needle or an kites, the Parafoils or other highly stressed the machine do the work. Don’t apply drag oversized or wrong point can also fray the kites, I recommend stronger polyester or with your right hand or pull with your left. cloth on the bobbin side of your sewing. nylon thread. If you’re making multiple kites, Either of these can break needles or thread or needle breakage or bending can occur as small spools can be expensive, so consider jam the machine. the fabric deflects the needle during sewing. buying bulk thread in half- to one-pound A clue that something is wrong is when A bent needle must be replaced at once to spools. (No waste here; you can always fly your stitches are running much denser than prevent damaging the fabric or seam quality small kites off a large roll.) Tailors’ or sail- usual for no apparent reason. This is caused and slowing down your sewing. makers’ suppliers have 30-, 40- and 50-denier by extra cloth drag or weight, or by too much A too-heavy needle used on thin mate- polyester or nylon thread for sewing sail- vertical machine foot pressure tugging on rial will cause cloth to pucker so you won’t cloths and taffetas. (Check your yellow pages the foot/feeder/needle operation. Let the get a flat seam. Worse still, it will give you for sources.) Parachute Grade B military machine, correctly set, control the speed of a loose stitch that will weaken the seam and nylon is another good choice, limited in color the cloth and consequently the stitch length. lead to a tear. The hole being made by the but cheap. I regularly use it with a number 14 An exception to the above practices is needle is bigger than the thread. needle on almost everything I sew. Whatever sewing very large panels or heavy fabrics. if the needle is too thin for the thickness thread you use, cut it, never break it. Just try a piece of cloth about ten feet square! of the material you’re sewing, the machine one of the ultimately-ultimate uses of The weight creates tremendous drag over will indiscriminately skip stitches. The needle thread I’ve ever heard about was by a young the edge of your sewing surface. To correct thread (as compared to the bobbin thread) Parafoil maker named Rick Frederick whose this, work on or next to a larger table or may also break. kite won Grand Prize at the Maryland Kite persuade an accomplice to catch the flowing Sometimes the machine needs adjust- Festival about four years ago. It was sewn in fabric and keep it off the floor. With practice ment of the feeder plate. Some machines are panels of striking color contrasts with thread you’ll develop a feel for how much backward owner-adjustable, others require a service to match. Yes, the color on the top stitch pull you can get away with to compensate technician, but you can check on it yourself. matched its panel and another color on the slightly for extra cloth weight drag. It won’t Turn the machine’s wheel till the feeder is at bobbin stitch matched the adjacent panel! be much. Mel Govig and I discovered this its highest point of travel. The bottom groove phenomenon when we built a 3,200 square of the feeder teeth should be even with the Stitching Basics foot American flag of 1½ oz. ripstop on our top surface of the throat plate. If your feeder Stitch length is an important adjustment. home Singers. is too high or too low, height adjustment will Set your machine at eight stitches per inch you can sometimes save time by stitch- be needed. You may have to see your service

Summer 2015 | Kiting 49 person, but don’t be afraid to make adjust- costs about $5 to $10 for a home machine. will work better with the less shifty taffetas, ments yourself if your owner’s manual tells This works well for occasional use if you can which don’t hold a crease as well as ripstop how. The adjustments are surprisingly easy. match the binding material to the attach- and thus require you to use more refined If you have a diamond-toothed feeder, re- ment. If you are making multiple kites or hand techniques. You can also accomplish place it with a more correct straight-toothed manufacturing, then a professional binder a double fold hem with a professional folder design for ripstop sewing. attachment, custom-made for your machine attachment that leaves no raw edge to show and binding, is recommended. even on the back of the kite. Edge Binding Methods here are some tips on stitching tech- There’s a nice zigzag finish that Steve A hot-cut edge on nylon seals the niques for applying binding tapes. You can Edeiken (on his Rainbow stunt kites) and threads and prevents raveling well enough use either a straight stitch, eight to the inch Mel Govig use. They run a narrow but elon- to satisfy many kiters as an edge for strength, or a zigzag stitch for more width gated zigzag stitch right along the very edge method. The usual hem or framing string of coverage. If you’re using the zigzag, make of the raw (hot-cut) fabric. (Try it on a scrap may be dispensed with on smaller kites. But sure tension adjustments give you a stitch and see what happens.) A light cord can be perfectionists will discover that fraying can that’s tightened down snugly. If you can’t run right inside the stitch for more strength. start after extensive flying or heavy winds, get enough adjustment before the thread It’s quick and neat for an Eddy-type kite, for especially on a kite that has flutter in its breaks, use stronger thread. If using a home example. trailing edge. For this reason, or if you are machine, you may need more thread tension Some more tips for taffeta users: save cold-cutting your kite, you may want to bind range to get through thicker sewing with your scraps to use in patching or repair- or hem the edges. edge bindings. Here’s a trick that works on ing later, since taffeta is more apt to tear. There are various kinds of binding tape. my 10-year-old home Singer; it may work on Hot-cutting an edge makes it easier to align Bias tape is a narrow cloth trim in a polyes- yours, even if it’s another brand (check with and sew. Nylon edge binding (which doesn’t ter-cotton blend, in nylon or occasionally in your serviceperson): you can take the outer stretch) is a good treatment for taffeta. A very all-cotton. Nylon matches the sheen of our thread tension knobs and dial off. This will slight exertion of tension on the seam, both cloth best, but polyester is good, too. Cotton give you a few more threads of adjustment ahead and behind the needle, while stitching is not suited to kites because it fades and range. taffeta, can sometimes help with control, but shrinks. The double-fold bias tape has a fin- Also, when going around corners be careful, too much or too little will make ished edge about ¼” wide and is ready to be or binding more than one piece of cloth the fabric pucker. Ripping out stitches is slipped over the edge of the kite and stitched together with a narrow edging, you may easier with taffeta than ripstop and the old in place without the use of a binder attach- have to inch your way along slowly, touch- seam will heal better. ment on your sewing machine. It is good ing the switch lightly. A zigzag doesn’t use for binding around sharp curves. quite as much thread tension and can cover Pockets & Reinforcing and tapes will also bend a ¼” width or a curve better. Zigzag can be One way to make pockets for kite sticks in curves but not as tightly unless you use a ripped out more easily, too, if you make a is simply to use one of the tougher edge sewing machine folder attachment. mistake! If your machine has lots of choices binding tapes, such as grosgrain, about you can cut your own strips of cloth to of stitches (with cams or switches), my 1”-2½” wide, depending on stick diameter. turn into edge binding. Use a weight of fabric favorite zigzag for ripstop is one that stitches Ed Grauel suggests allowing additional sail about equal to ¾-2½ oz. ripstop. Heavier can three or four strokes for each zig and each area to fold over on itself for pocketing. This be used but it will take more adjustments on zag. It’s called a multistitch [a.k.a. triple zig]. is appropriate, of course, only on heavier your machine. Cut on the bias of the fabric If you like fine detail, you can use decorative cloth. If you’re using your own fabric strips, for tape that is to go around curves; cut on stitches in thread of contrasting color. 2.0 - 4.0 oz. nylon ripstop or taffeta is very the straight of the grain for stick sleeves or good. The final sewn pocket should be about any strong, fixed hem. Hemming Treatments & Taffeta Strategies two to three times as wide, and about four if you hot-cut the ripstop, you only have Instead of binding your kite’s edges, you to five times as long, as the stick diameter. to fold this ½”- ¾” binding once. Wider is can choose simply to hem them. Fold the Hot-cutting helps keep the edges from fray- easier to handle. Practice on scraps. Fold- edges twice (we fanatics don’t use just one ing. Position the pocket on the kite and sew ing edging material by hand is slow going fold), either by hand or augmented by iron the two sides; the fold will form the bottom but can be done with practice. Using an iron (to press the first fold) or by a hemmer foot. without sewing. If the pocket is large (over helps. If you find yourself making lots of Singer used to make an adjustable hem- 1½” wide), sew the open pocket on four sides kites, you should consider a binder attach- mer foot, but you may have to scavenge the to the sail, then fold over the flap and sew on ment for your machine. If you standardize service department of your local dealer to the two long sides to finish. Although a stick on one kind of binding tape, you’ll get your find one now. Caution: a hemmer foot isn’t can wear through almost any pocket, nylon money’s worth from the attachment, which at its best with the slipperiness of ripstop, but seems to wear the best. Where you need extra-strong pockets, you may want to use tough nylon webbing material or even leather, as Cloud Pleasers does on its deltas. Leather requires a special needle to sew and scissors to cut, but might be worth the extra trouble in exceptional cases. nylon bindings, whether ready made or cut by yourself, work well as reinforcements for holes, grommet mounts, bridling points or load distribution tapes. You can also use the more flexible tapes to outline appliques or vents. Another use for nylon edging tapes is in

50 Kiting | Summer 2015 Anytime you attach as much as the or pass a line through cloth, you help your kite’s sail, wear and eliminate tipsy tear sets in, even where flight caused by you’ve put grommets. To fabric bias in the relieve all those vulner- fins. Load dis- able points (keels, ribs, tribution can be spar hook points, tail most important or drogue mounts or if you’re building banner mounts, etc.) you large stressed- need reinforcement. The skin kites such easiest and fastest way I as flares, Codys modular construction of large kite sails made know to make a hole to or large boxes. of very lightweight (½-¾ oz. per sq. yd.) sail- accept a grommet is with your pencil solder- To prevent torn cloth. Parachute canopies and hot-air balloon ing iron. Just melt a hole right through the out pockets and envelopes are made this way. The technique sail with its reinforcing material folded over worn out fabric applies especially to kites that are made from it. Grommets should never be set directly into on your kite several bolt-widths of cloth. The panels of fabric but should be cushioned by extra mate- corners and to al- cloth are sandwiched between two load-carry- rial (edge binding tape, doubled self-fabric low for easy stick ing nylon tapes in such away that the panels or adhesive-back ripstop). Grommets and replacement, are sewn only to the tape, not to each other. grommet-setting tools are a stock-in-trade of Pete lanuzzi and An advantage of the system is that damage is most kitemakers. My personal preference is other proficient contained to the modules, which can be more for the ¼” hole grommets (3/8” for large kites) kitemakers use easily replaced or repaired than a whole sail. because the larger diameter spreads a load tape loops at the A strong way to reinforce a vent or hole over cloth better than a tiny eyelet. Again, corners of their is to tape (Scotch or masking tape) a patch of practice on scraps. kites. The tapes can be made from folded-over fabric over the area to be cut out. Hot-cut the By the way, a quickie hole (not strong, twill tape or strong shoelaces. Sewn into the patch and sail together. This will “weld” the just quick) can be melted through nylon if corners of the kite, a few inches along the two edges together. Sew up and remove the you need a pass-through for a bridle, for ex- hem, leaving enough of a loop unstitched to tape. (Try not to sew through the tape; it may ample. Light a match, blow it out and apply accommodate the slotted end of a kite stick, gum up your needle.) quickly to the cloth while the match is still the tapes don’t get frayed or cut even when A similar technique calls for adhesive- white-hot. (You always have matches around they onto pavement. For large kites back or crack-and-peel ripstop, a material to seal line ends, don’t you?) and others for which you want to control that is used by sailmakers for repairs, quick skin stretch, the tape can be stitched across lettering and applique work. You simply hot- Tips For Tapes the cover from the cut the stuff, crack the backing off and stick Techniques for loop-making can help corners and then it on. For maximum adhesion, keep surfaces binding tapes do double duty on your kites. stitched to a stick clean and dry, and burnish the crack-and-peel For example, on kites with fins or keels, you loop to distribute with pressure using any hard, slippery tool can insert a short length of tape (the width stress more evenly. (a screwdriver handle, bottom of a glass or of the hem) inside the hem, making a loop As an alternative cup, bottle cap, etc.) The idea is to get the of about one to two inches long (depending to loops, the stress maximum bond through pressure, especially on size of kite) to extend out from the point tapes can be sewn at the edges. Done right, the patch will have before you reinsert the tape on the other side into the kite cover a more transparent look than if you applied of the hemming. Lock stitch across the tape (as far as 10 to 20% only thumb pressure. Adhesive-back ripstop in the hem. A stronger way is to use edge of the sail width). needs no sewing and is especially good in a binding folded in half over the full outline of At the edge, the hurry. Like most adhesives, it works even bet- the keel. I do this by sewing the binding over tapes can wrap over ter warmed up. The press of a warm (nylon the trailing edge first, trimming it off flush a metal ring and setting) iron will make more permanent adhe- with the leading edge. Then I sew tape over the slotted stick sion. the leading edge, leaving a 3”-6” tag hanging inserted into the off the lower end. I bend ring. It is prob- this back to form a sewn ably obvious to the loop over itself about an artists among us that these edging tapes can inch or two long. It works strengthen the kite not only physically but vi- as a good line attachment sually. Dark or black edge taping can separate point. It helps to allow an the colors to give a stained-glass window ef- extra inch of tape to ex- fect. You can deliberately select a wider dark tend into the kite structure edging than you functionally need (up to 2” at the base of the keel or wide), just to really make the colors glow. (Be fin to take wind pressure the first in your sky!) off the cloth. This method applied to large Parafoils, The Piecing Route for example, has another Sewing sections of colored fabric to- advantage; in transfer- gether makes an attractive kite. Here are some ring sail loading to the of the mechanics: edges, which won’t stretch Start with simple stripes. (They can be

Summer 2015 | Kiting 51 extremely effective.) Run them across, again alongside for a very strong seam. up-and-down or obliquely slanted on your Again, the heat-welded seam convenient- kite. Whatever the fabric grain, keep it ly holds two modules in perfect alignment for symmetrical. Margaret Greger says that you when you sew on load-bearing tapes as horizontal stripes seem to work better described before. If a panel has to be replaced than vertical for lateral balance. Also you or repaired, you rip the seam from the tapes may safely mix fabric weights in horizon- on the side next to the damaged section. The tal stripes. Create your stripes by simply welded seam inside can be easily pulled apart piecing together strips of fabric in colors and the new or repaired panel sewn back in you like. Almost any measure from 2”-24” place. works, in uniform or varying widths. In ef- fect, you’re making new bolts of cloth from Ideas? Did You Say You Need Ideas? which to cut out your kite or kites. This is Please indulge me while I go off on also an easy way to make large panels from a tangent about color. Here’s what I like: smaller-width yardage for super cloud- smashing, brassy, brilliant, electric, vibrant, busters. sky-bustin’ patterns of artistic genius you A simple plain seam is fairly adequate never knew you could do! But you can. and the face of the kite is neat, with no Some suggestions: use high contrast hot stitches showing. Sew straight stitches, colors next to cools, bright ones next to black eight per inch. You can strengthen this or white. seam by running a second row of stitches consider the medium we’re flying in: on the back to secure the open edges. A light to deep blue sky and white to gray lapped seam, with ¼”-½” overlap, is neat if hidden. Now run a second line of stitching clouds. Contrasting colors will show the kite the flapping edges are sealed with a hot cut. close to the outside edge. You now have a flat, vividly against that natural background. Con- now, the very finest and strongest seam clean and classy seam. sider unconventional combinations: green of all, which every good sewing class teaches, now that you have made this striped and red, purple and orange. Sound garish? is the flat fell seam. It is the strongest joiner as stuff, you can play all kinds of layout games You’d be surprised. In the sky they can look well as the most aerodynamic seam because with it and different kite patterns. Keep your super! Don’t always let your favorite colors there’s no drag from loose edges fluttering kites symmetrical, of course. prevail. Experiment! For impact, cut out the around on your kite. Kites of the Four Winds Stripe yardage can be the basis for chev- backs of your kites behind appliqued pieces to and Cloud Pleasers make their delta kites rons, diamonds, Bermuda style pieced circles let the hues glow by themselves. using this seam. It is not so terribly hard to and more. Black or a dark color surrounding a make. At the risk of repeating what you can mel Govig has a system for joining these lighter color makes the kite look bigger and find in any sewing book, we’re describing it that we can learn from. He takes two pieces livelier. Even light blue or white are more bril- here: of ripstop of the same size, say, a yard by liant this way. Concentric circles (like archery lay two pieces of ripstop together a bolt width. He then takes a long straight targets), or rainbow arrangements, composed (wrong sides together if your fabric has any edge and his soldering iron cutter and makes of separate bands of color, will blend together front/back orientation). Offset the upper four stripes (two pieces of fabric) by cutting in the sky. You can alternate these bands with piece about ¾” from the edge of the bottom through two pieces at once. This creates a black for a contrasting effect instead. piece, which will project beyond. Fold the heat-sealed edge. The heat seal is not strong Socko colors may not be to your taste. lower ¾” edge over the upper piece and sew but will hold the pieces together until they You can go the opposite, quiet direction with with your basic eight stitches per inch. (Zig- are sewn. Mel sews these seams by running a ripstop, too. Use white with pastels or subtle zag is easiest but straight stitch is stronger. wide zigzag stitch right over the welded seam strokes of color for dreamy effects. That’s always true, but especially here. How- after spreading the fabric flat. By using very here’s something that hasn’t been done ever, zigzag’s inherent stretchiness isn’t much light foot pressure and thread tension settings, yet, as far as I know: layering of colors in kite of a consideration unless you’re building a he finds that the machine gathers the seam sails. You can work with loose pieces of cloth really big kite.) Now, open the seam flat and into a bead and “wraps” it into a very tight, in various shapes and colors, moving them fold the free edge over so the cut edges are strong, almost-flat abutted seam. (Try it on about and taping them in place temporarily scraps.) to find combinations that please you. Some mel is still discover- will look good in reflected light as well as the ing new applications more intended transmitted light. And you can for this heat-welding put a white or light blue cover over the entire technique, which can outside with the colors inside the sandwich. be used on ripstop as With ½ or ¾ oz. cloth, there’s very little a new way of basting, weight penalty on this new pastel blending to temporarily and game. quickly join fabric prior To make the effect even more trans- to setting a permanent lucent, like a frosted windowpane, wipe seam. As an example, petroleum jelly on a rag and rub it all over the for larger kites and extra cloth until the sail becomes translucent. With strength, a seam can be a little care, you’ll get it even. Then rub off stitched about ¼” from the excess. The result will be something you a heat-welded edge, haven’t seen before. And you can continue while the pieces are still to experiment with color spots, cut-outs, together, then the mate- silhouettes. (Think of a witch on a broom- rial folded flat and sewn stick, completely concealed on the ground in

52 Kiting | Summer 2015 reflected light but a stained glass ground does not weaken or change the colors; visible in the sky’s window design), often it intensifies hues, like ground-glass transmitted light. don’t be timid. backgrounds do for transparencies or slides. Nobody’s done it You can enlarge it in laying out the pattern pieces for your yet.) onto a kite. Those kite, be sure to allow for hems on the pieces, let me over- of you artists with if you plan to have them. (Zigzag stitching generalize about kite access to graph- alone over appliques makes a flatter kite, but decoration. Much as ics equipment are in hemmed edges are slightly tidier. To hem I admire finely detailed luck. Others may find appliques or not is your option.) Also make applique work, it looks an opaque projector at a allowance for interrupting elements in the great only if you’re going to school or library. If you’re kite, such as keels, sticks, pockets, binding, fly the kite no higher than the able to beg or barter your etc. (You don’t want your beautiful toucan, family room ceiling. It gets lost way to using it, an opaque for example, to be suddenly narrowed visually in the sky. If you want it to stand projector makes enlarging quite by a sleeve stitched down its middle.) Where out in the air, use simple patterns, easy. you have this kind of break, just split your stripes, geometries or bold freeform if you can’t find a projector, pattern in a straight line over both sides of the designs. The exceptions: more detail don’t give up. Go to the time- hurdle. is dramatic if the kite is big enough (as honored graph squares technique. once you have the parts laid out, stick we know from the Japanese). A strong Lots of books describe this, but we’ll them down temporarily with tape (doubled- design can hold busy elements risk repetition and summarize it here. sided is easy). Then step back. Does the together. Draw a graph of evenly spaced lines design look right from 10’-20’ away? If not, i have found simple over the original until the entire page move the pieces like a jigsaw puzzle till it does. borders to be striking. A is covered with squares. Then draw single color will only the same number of squares on a large Attaching Design Pieces look as good as its piece of paper, as large as practical for There are various ways to “baste” or pre- shape or contrast the cloth you have. The squares can be pare pieces of fabric for stitching to your sail. against the color any size as long as the quantity matches You can glue-stick it, tape it or hot-tack it. of the sky at any particular moment. While your original. Simply draw in, on your large (Some traditionalists use pinning but I don’t this may in fact be quite beautiful, the mere paper, box by box, the design that’s in each of recommend it when there are better ways.) addition of a black or contrasting edge can be the original’s boxes. When you have roughly To explain: Margaret Greger says that very effective. sketched your lines, use a wider -tip glue-stick is the easiest method. you can try out your ideas in advance marker to blend the lines together smoothly. lots of people use sticky tape, either the without wasting expensive ripstop by using Then cut out the pieces and use them to make standard kind or double-sided. Standard tape coloring markers and plain white paper. fabric parts. works well if you tear it off as you go through Draw your kite in pencil, then make photo- The kite background can be either dark the needle. You can use double-sided tape copies. Fill in colors and designs until you or light. Dark hues will give you an outlining under the edges of your kite pieces, making like what you see when you hold the paper up effect around the design parts, like leaded sure the wrinkles are out and not in the way to the light. glass, after you cut away the backing to let the of the stitching path before you sew around out of imagination? Look around you. light shine through. On the other hand, light the edges. To help prevent gumming up your Walk through a wallpaper or tile store, a values, particularly white, will let the color machine’s needle, take a tip from sailmakers, department, a craft shop, a gift-wrap depart- through without your needing to cut away who use ¼”-wide tape. ment, an art museum (check Mondrian, the back. Using a solid white background Another sticking method uses artist’s Matisse, Magritte), a fabric store. Study ad- is a good approach for a design with many spray mounting adhesive, which seems like a vertising graphics. There’s design every place colors or intricate shapes. Making the basic wonderful idea because it gives a nonperma- you look. Let examples get you started, then kite shape of one solid piece of fabric avoids nent tack and you can pick up and reposition modify to your taste. the problems of seam weakness and stretch your pieces all you want. These sprays come Think you can’t draw what you see? You differential of a pieced-together kite. (Ripstop from several makers (3M Photo Mount is the know someone who can. Ask. Get friends is such a lightweight cloth you rarely sacrifice recommendation of Sky Zoo Kites) and are involved. (I always say kites are people-mag- much in weight.) In addition, the white back- available in artists’ supply stores. However, I nets. And this goes for building them as well as flying them.) one of the best ideas is to pirate designs from stained-glass pattern books. I just re- cently toured a book rack in a craft store and produced a King Tut, a toucan, an American eagle, sailing ships, antique cars, cherubs, airplanes and art deco abstract designs that are screaming to be colored in with ripstop! Stained-glass designs correlate to kite possi- bilities because they are simplified yet exotic. You want the minimum number of parts to make the maximum recognizable design at your favorite flying altitude.

Transferring A Design if you now have a pattern you like (say,

Summer 2015 | Kiting 53 use an iron set on the low, nylon setting. Don’t use a wet cloth or steam as they will tend to stretch the fabric. Margaret Greger uses a tissue paper press cloth. Be careful ironing and test on a corner when increas- ing ironing heat because if it’s too hot it will cause puckers that are well-nigh impossible to get out afterwards. Puckering is more apt to happen with lighter weight ripstops than with heavier ones. The best way to straighten ripstop (for instance, when it comes mashed off a bolt) is to give it a bath in warm clear water and hang it to dry over a straight rod. (Thanks to Cloud Pleasers for this helpful tip.) Of course, no matter how sleek the kite looks brand new from your workshop, it will soon get wrinkled when you roll it up and bag or rubber-band it. (Margaret Greger makes flat bags about ten inches wide, have to be fair and warn you that they emit around the edges, one piece at a time. Keep muumuu-like for kite comfort.) Most of the fumes, are flammable and tend to gum up the base fabric flat as you go. Take it slowly wrinkling will straighten out with flying. needles. You may not find these drawbacks and carefully. With a little practice, you’ll Sometimes you will find bargain nylons overriding. All adhesives (sticky tape, spray soon be a pro. that are soiled or wrinkled on a balloon- or mount, crack-and-peel) share the gumminess if you want to cut away the back of sailmaker’s cutting room floor. You can characteristic. an appliqued kite, you can do it cold (with salvage them and pay perhaps no more than or, you can use a hot tacker (or spot scissors) or hot (with a hot-cutter). Leave the your washing or ironing labor. tacker). It’s a lot like a pencil soldering iron but least amount of raw edge you can, 1/8” or less. There are other forms of wear on nylon, has a finer point. The sailmaker’s version has How do you hot-cut without going through such as degradation of colors and cracking a built-in spring that releases the cloth neatly. the applique? Roughly scissor out the back, caused by sunlight after many hours of flight. The tool is, of course, designed for the purpose, leaving a 1” edge. Then put a steel rule and/ An old, much-flown Parafoil will look all but you could, with a light touch, use the sharp or curved metal edge under the fabric for cracked, like a dried-out apple, but will usu- tip of a 25-watt pencil soldering iron. backup as you hot-cut carefully! (The Dritz ally fly just as well as ever. Sand is abrasive on To make an appliqued kite using a white EZY Hem Gauge at about $2.75 in fabric kite covers that frequent the beach. Ripstop is background, draw your pattern directly on the shops is a neat and useful aluminum rule, not forever, but it’s relatively more enduring white ripstop, using a marking or lead pencil straight on one side and curved on the other. than, say, washi, the Japanese rice paper used or (better) a marker in the same color as the It can serve as a heat-resistant shield for hot on kites which are rarely flown a second time. fabric piece. Next, place colored ripstop pat- cutting work.) I’ve yet to see ripstop ritually burned at the tern pieces under the white base. The colored beach after flight. pieces will show through, with the advantage Wash & Wear Kites that you don’t have to cut out the pattern Ripstop nylon is fairly easy to care for. The Rewards pieces first. You hot-tack them in place by You can wash it in warm water and hang none of these techniques are easy the lightly touching around them, at ½” intervals, it on a clothesline to dry. (Don’t put it in a first time, but they are a lot simpler than with the sharp tip of a hot tacker. The hot- dryer.) Light surface dirt will come out, but they sound. (They are easier to do than write tacked points seal the fabric pieces together deep soil and stains may not. Ripstop will about, let me tell you!) With practice, though, smoothly for easy handling when you (next) hold suds a long time so that in rinsing you they become easier. You grow facile in the stitch right over the tack points. may never get a clear rinse and spills or rain art of translating from kite-seen-on-paper to Some suggestions for stitching applique on the kite later will produce foam. Don’t be living fabric kite. We’ve all learned there’s pieces on a kite: sew your parts down to the alarmed; most kites don’t seem to mind. nothing like answering a thrilled spectator’s base fabric, preferably with a zigzag stitch, all can you iron the stuff? Yes, it’s safe to compliment with, “Thanks, I made it myself.”

Acknowledgements my heartfelt thanks go to the super Zoo Kites), Curtis and Gray Marshall, Cathy for two things. First for her added vitamins people who helped (in lots of ways) to bring Pasquale, Robert Sessions (Hood Sails), Tal of information and tough editing work to this learning-for-fun tool to print. I simply Streeter, Sallie and Nick Van Sant (Kites of make this whole article usable. Second (and couldn’t have written it alone. First, I thank the Four Winds) and especially Rita Siravo, I insisted she include this) for her dedication Mel Govig for his constant flow of techni- who first encouraged me to sew (“Every man to Kite Lines as a communicative tool that cal input. Others who lent me important should know how to sew”). Special thanks helps us all know each other. Though it’s a knowledge support are Louise Crowley, Tony go to Annie for sharing her machine and big collective article, all of us feel strongly Cyphert, the Edmonds Community College her spirit and to Babs for typing and car- that it is just a start on the subject of kitemak- of Lynnwood, WA (in the persons of Harry ing. Finally, I suspect that more than a few ing with nylon. Do you have sewing, materi- Osborne and Paul Doherty), Judith Faecher, spouses will know what I mean when I save als, procedures and design tips you’d like to Doris Fithian, Fran and Mary Gramkowski my greatest appreciation for my wife Mary share? Just write to Kite Lines or to me in the (High Fly Kite Co.), Ed Grauel, Pete lanuzzi, for enduring a lot of disruption while helping shipping and communications department at Jeannette Kehl, Bruce and Carolyn Ken- me keep my feet on the ground when I have The Fabric Lady. There’s more to come. nington (Cloud Pleasers), Marty Lowell (Sky my head in the clouds. Last I thank Val Govig Bill Tyrrell

54 Kiting | Summer 2015