SIZING A CGEAR SANDFREE MAT FOR THE AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

Just a wee blog post here to let you know that one CAN successfully resize a CGear Sandfree mat for a Class B RV. 

I don't know what in the hell I was thinking when I bought an 8 foot by 8 foot mat of this brand name.  I used it once and realized that it was way too large for our needs.  Furthermore, it doesn't pack down very small size as the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) of which it is constructed is rather unruly.  Furthermore, it is only sold in square sizes, and I wanted a rectangle to fit beneath our awning.

NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!  I want RECTANGULAR!!!

Here are a few #vansizedsewing tips for working with this product.

I used this binder for my cut edges, which bought via Amazon. Strapworks rules.  I've bought stock from them before, usually directly because their entire inventory is not on Amazon.  Color is silver gray. 

So I chopped my 8'x8' mat in half, but may I say, this mat is truly aggravating to sew.  It's made of two independent layers of HDPE fabric, both of which float free except at the bound edges.

It's quite springy and it became a bit of a chore to wrangle both halves into the new bound edge. 

Important:  As you are feeding it through your sewing machine, keep it under tension.  Left hand pulls away from you, right hand pulls toward you.  This will prevent rumples and wrinkles.  And for goodness sake, bind up your excess so that it's not running away from you.  I used binder clips to keep it under control.

Push-me-pull-you. 

Can you tell which part of it is my bound edge, vs. CGear's OEM work?

Wait until it gets a bit dirty.  Then this slight difference won't be visible at all. 

Of course, I had to sew new binding on both of my chopped halves, because if I had left the other half just sitting there, I'm afraid it would have started to curl and perhaps unravel.  But I'm satisfied with the finished product, and if the first half gets worn out from use, then I've got another half to fall back on.  Two of the right rectangular size, for the price of one square.

Half the size and half the bulk. 
And yes, I know my grass needs to be cut. 

Fair warning - if you Google "push me pull you", you'll get a few pics like this, plus a large number of pics of animals copulating.