2' x 10' banner done today, couple questions

[helpinghand 1]

Ok, I did a banner for a guy. Biggest size I've worked with yet and they wanted the letters weeded out and the rectangle left. Now when I got the banner it had a few "waves" in it from when they stitched it. Is that common? If it would've been just letters I don't think it would've been too much of hassle but with an 88" x 6" rectangle it was a bit of a bugger. There was a small crease over in one strip. I was very frustrated. Then I remembered others saying about heating vinyl a bit to do rivets and such so I got out the blow dryer lol. I heated it and pulled hard with my hands and it seemed to come out pretty good. Anyone have any other tips and tricks? Ended up looking good but the stress I had doing it wore me out lol And when you look at it, I know it doesn't take up the whole banner but this is how the customer wanted it as he's going to fold it over and attache to the top of his stand at markets.

Thanks, Heidi

[JoeDirt 5]

I'd look for a new banner supplier, but I use the guy BannerJohn recommended on ebay. And use to buy roll banners (bigfoot) and never had that problem.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

stitched (sewn) banners will pucker along the seems if the sewing machine is a straight foot,not a walking foot. What this means is, the top foot moves along with the feed dog( that thing UNDER the material that moves back and forth).

Even with a walking foot,if the tension is wrong...you get puckering too.

I don't like sewn banners for this reason and another...the thread gets dirty FAST and doesn't look good.

Heat welded banners look good,seldom pucker,and NEVER let lose.