Question Do you hem your banners?

[netsol]

when i leave the house in the morning i often stop at the local dunkin donuts.
they get their banners from dunkin (unhemmed)
the banner changes every couple weeks, the wind will often tear a corner.
i keep a handheld grommet tool in the car, so if i see the tear i will install a new grommet

we had heavy winds the other night. that unhemmed banner looked like a mop, it was so shredded

probably worth the effort to hem

 

[Stacey K]

when i leave the house in the morning i often stop at the local dunkin donuts.
they get their banners from dunkin (unhemmed)
the banner changes every couple weeks, the wind will often tear a corner.
i keep a handheld grommet tool in the car, so if i see the tear i will install a new grommet

we had heavy winds the other night. that unhemmed banner looked like a mop, it was so shredded

probably worth the effort to hem

That's very nice of you!

 

[DL Signs]

It would be nice to have a sewing machine. For banners that do need to be sewn, we send them out to a local place that has the capacity to do really long banners, we also have them finish our pole banners.

We also did huge fabric backdrop banners for trade show exhibits. Would sew together panels, hem the edges with sewn in velcro so they could all be attached together at events. Bigger ones we did, when fully assembled, were 12-16'h x 60' long. Had a Mitsubishi industrial double needle machine, and that thing would just fly through it. You could sew a 4x8 banner in probably a minute. I got spoiled...

 

[tulsagraphics]

It would be nice to have a sewing machine. For banners that do need to be sewn, we send them out to a local place that has the capacity to do really long banners, we also have them finish our pole banners.

It's really not that much of an investment if you wanted to get into it. You don't need to buy anything new and fancy. Look for an older machine... roughly 1985 or before when everything was built to last (I think it was in the mid to late 80s when China started making the same machines. They swapped out metal parts for plastic and used cheap cast metal -- so bad!). I love my 1980s Mitsubishi (even though it isn't my main machine anymore). You can pick up a quality older machine for around $1-1.5k. Keep it oiled and treat it nice... it will last you a lifetime and then some.

Just try to go for the largest bobbin size you can find. Most of the older industrials will probably be "M" size. My newer Consew has a U bobbin (I think that's the largest size available in lock stitch machines -bobbin is about 1-3/16" in diameter and almost 1/2" thick). I don't really keep track, but I think with a U bobbin you can stitch about 4 or 5 "3x10" banners before reloading. The M size bobbins on older machines will give you about 1/2 to 2/3rds of that.

Not sure what you're paying now, but many, many years ago I think Fellers was charging about .50/sq.ft. So hemming a 3x10 would run $15. But if you're doing it in-house, it would cost you maybe 2 or 3 cents (plus your grommets).

 

[tulsagraphics]

For the record, I prefer the look of a clean, unhemmed banner so I avoid hemming when I can.

In the probably 1,000 senior banners I've made with no hems that are on the chain link fence for 1-2 months each, I've only had one grommet tear off so I'm pretty confident with the no hem approach on those. I have a lot of customers that re-use banner yearly for brat fry's so I always hem those.

I prefer the look of clean, unhemmed banner too... nice and flat... right before I run it through my sewing machine. You will not curl on me or my client, banner!

 

[tulsagraphics]

We also did huge fabric backdrop banners for trade show exhibits. Would sew together panels, hem the edges with sewn in velcro so they could all be attached together at events. Bigger ones we did, when fully assembled, were 12-16'h x 60' long. Had a Mitsubishi industrial double needle machine, and that thing would just fly through it. You could sew a 4x8 banner in probably a minute. I got spoiled...

The good 'ol Mitsubishi 220, aye? Yep, fantastic machine. Although... hemming large panels together under a relatively small machine arm is no easy task. Certainly easier if you're surrounded by big slippery work tables to slide those heavy things around.

 

[GAC05]