High-strength nylon filament is woven with a thicker yarn every so often in both directions, leaving a grid of small squares. Those heavy yarns keep a small tear from spreading.

A computer-guided cutter, or a worker with a round-bladed electric knife, cuts pattern pieces at an angle to the weave. A tear then follows a yarn into a seam, where it is stopped.

Four trapezoid panels become one long wedge, a gore about 13 ft long. A two-needle machine runs twin rows of stitches in a French fell seam that wraps the raw edges inside.

Gores are stitched side by side, typically 24 of them, until they close into a circle. Their narrow tops leave a small vent at the center.

Every panel and seam passes over an inspection table. A weaving flaw, a sewn-in pleat or the wrong stitch count per inch rejects the whole canopy.

Tape is sewn over each radial seam for strength. At the vent and the outer skirt, fabric is rolled around webbing and closed by a four-needle machine in one pass.

An automatic machine sews a V-shaped tab at each seam on the skirt, identical every time. A line about 20 ft long threads through each tab and is zigzag stitched in place, and short apex lines cross the vent.

The free ends of the suspension lines are tied to steel connector links on the jumper's straps, each in its set position and kept straight. This step is called rigging.