[HEIRLOOM TECHNOLOGY _HIN_AS_MT_MA_ON_CT_K]

By Tim Anderson

Make your own hammock in less time than it takes to read this.

Hammock. Barbecue. Canoe. Hurricane. All are important elements of life in the Southeast and Caribbean. And it turns out these are all words from the Arawak Indian language, dating back to before Columbus arrived in the “new world.”

Some things just don’t change, and it’s a good thing. The hammock is one of those things. There are lots of types of hammocks. The ones we’ve all seen are fancy, complicated ones that are good to sell to rich, industrialized people like us.

There are other types that are much easier to make. Ever wanted a hammock and not had one? You probably weren’t more than a few feet away from the materials needed to make one, and it wouldn’t have taken you more than a couple of minutes to make it.

40 Make: Volume 09

Here’s how to make your own hammock in less than a minute:

1. Get a large piece of cloth such as a bed sheet. I didn’t have one to spare so I bought two roll ends of cotton cloth for a dollar a yard at a discount store. Use any kind of cloth that appeals to you. Most types of cloth will be strong enough when new.

SAFETY WARNING: When it gets old, eventually it will rip and you’ll fall onto the ground, just like the fancy commercial hammocks you’ve fallen out of in the past.

2. I’m making a big hammock, so I sewed the pieces of fabric side by side using a “flat felled” seam. Skip this step if you’re in a hurry or if you’re starting out with a sheet that’s big enough.