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DIY Webbing Tutorial on a Budget, Part 1: Materials & Hardware

By Rain Noe - June 27, 2013

in Materials | Object Culture

Learning how to work with webbing is a useful skill, but many industrial design programs don't cover how to work with flexible materials. And if you've ever seen a production facility cranking out say, MOLLE systems for military bags, it's easy to get intimidated out of ever attempting to work with the stuff.

It is possible, however, for someone with average manual coordination to design and construct their own webbing projects using simple, affordable materials and a borrowed or thrift-store sewing machine that's been set up properly. For the design student on a budget, or the industrial designer who wants to dip their foot into the webbing pool without investing in expensive machinery, we put together this series of videos to help you get started.

In Part 1, we cover some basic materials, hardware, and terminology you'll need to know. Webbing comes in a lot of different types, and it's better to know exactly what you're working with. (It also helps to know exactly what the hardware parts are called, so you can Google for suppliers and variants.) Lastly we've included costs. Since local prices can vary, we've used the online supplier McMaster-Carr as a baseline.

Webbing types shown in video:

Lightweight Polypropylene - 1" wide - $0.25/foot on McMaster-Carr

Extra-Strength Cotton - 1" wide - $0.82/foot on McMaster-Carr

Ultra Abrasion-Resistant Nylon* - 1" wide - $0.93/foot on McMaster-Carr

*NB: Ultra Abrasion Resistant Nylon is not suitable for the methods we will use.

Hardware shown in video:

Plastic Squeeze-Release Buckle - for 1" webbing - $5.74/10-pack

Plastic Feed-Through Buckle - for 1" webbing - $5.68/25-pack

Nickel-Plated Steel D-Rings - for 1" webbing - $6.22/10-pack

*Slide-Bolt Spring Snap with "Strap-Eye" - for 1" webbing - $2.56/each

*Also called "Swivel Snaps" or "Snap Hooks"

All of the links above are to McMaster-Carr, an American website. If you are outside America and know of sources local to you, please help out our international readers and sound off in the comments. Also pipe up if any of these parts are known by alternate terminology in your neck of the woods; we're pretty sure you Australians refer to these things as like, "chadwozzers" and such.

* * *

» DIY Webbing Tutorial on a Budget, Part 1: Materials & Hardware
» DIY Webbing Tutorial on a Budget, Part 2: Tools You'll Need
» DIY Webbing Tutorial on a Budget, Part 3: How to Set Up Your Sewing Machine for Webbing
» DIY Webbing Tutorial on a Budget, Part 4: Learning the Crucial "Box X" Stitch
» DIY Webbing Tutorial on a Budget, Part 5: Putting It All Together

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Kevin Shields

2 years ago

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Super helpful series and pretty stinking funny to boot. I paid $5.50 for my picker so I am a verified idiot (though that was after 10% sales tax ;-).

I am using a thread stand but my thread is still arriving at the machine twisted. :-/. Any tips? As you allude, it is really frustrating... I get about 80% through a box stitch and suddenly my machine starts to get all gummed up.

Thanks again!

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Alexandra Climpson

6 years ago

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You can get products at a fabric store to prevent fraying, or you can just use clear nail polish.
This is a terrific series. Thanks!

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Mike

10 years ago

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A good source of materials in the UK, both for webbing and for fixings can be found at the Ebay shop handystraps1.
I've used them quite often. Never let me down and seem competitively priced.
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Stefan Nysten

11 years ago

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Great series!

Point: Single-handedly, the female buckle is easier to release from male than vice versa.
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Fred

11 years ago

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I agree with Gabriel and nym; these in-depth articles have been absolutely fantastic! Keep up the good work!
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Cody Blank

11 years ago

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McMaster unfortunately uses some incorrect terms for those Acetal buckles, and charges WAY too much for their webbing.

"Squeeze-release" buckles are correctly named Side Release Buckles
"Feed Through" buckles are correctly name Ladderlocs

There is good quality polypro webbing out there as well, so don't right it off completely. Applications that are going to be in contact with water frequently can benefit from polypro's advantages over nylon in this situation.

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nym

11 years ago

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Great article, as well as the wood-series!
Love the video as well...it's sharp, down to the point yet still sympathic.

Very time efficient presentation of the contents :)
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dave

11 years ago

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I think the best place to buy materials for this in the UK is ebay.
the two big sites for outdoor/technical fabric/haberdashery are:
http://www.profabrics.co.uk/
and
http://www.pennineoutdoor.co.uk/

they are good if you need technical specs on the stuff you are buying, but you can't beat ebay for range.
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Gabriel

11 years ago

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Thanks for this article, and articles like it, like the series on wood. While we all like seeing out-there, wicked designs, it's really stuff like this that puts a particular value on an ID specific site, and turns it from a good read to a real resource. I needed more articles like this when I was in school, and certainly love getting them now as well. Keep 'em coming.
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Exploriment

11 years ago

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I've put together a post with a long list of sewn goods, more specifically sewn goods for outdoor or tactical, suppliers. None that I have any financial benefit from. I just put this together for other designers/DIYers, small scale makers. I've given each a preamble, explaining their approach and note of any out of the ordinary things they carry. Hope it helps someone like me.

http://exploriment.blogspot.ca/2013/03/diymyog-material-sources.html
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