jus_young
17-01-2012, 11:14 PM
Having been a ground dweller for some time, I decided that I needed to try this hanging thing that everyone keeps talking about so a Christmas list was given to the good lady and a hammock with associated accessories was on the way. My only concern with the hammock side of things was the issue of staying warm as even in the tent I have a problem with cold feet! The obvious solutions of mat, cocoon, underquilt were all looked into and immediately the cocoon went by the wayside because, as you already know, they are not easy to come by in the UK. A little play in the hammock set up at home also showed that my mat was not going to work easily either.
An opportunity for a weekend away made the issue a little more urgent and, after looking at some underquilts, decided that a home made version was going to be the most affordable option at the time and needed to be made fast.
Thought I would share how the whole process went, hope you find this useful :)
The chosen donor sleeping bag was a 2 season bag obtained from Wilkinsons for £11. The colour isn’t too bad but the choice was really made due to the price. Originally the bag weighed 1.35 kilos (just under 3lbs) and measured 190cm x 75cm. The obvious problem was always going to be trying to get the length required for the underquilt as most cheap bags are only designed to come up to your neck as opposed to the underquilt which I wanted to hang under the full length of my body. The hope was that by using the bag open and diagonal I would get the extra length required, and it didn’t work out too bad.
3482
So the first step with the bag open is to work out the finished size of the underquilt and therefore which bits to eventually cut off. The dimensions you require may well be dependent on the make of hammock you are using. I have the DD travel hammock and the priority for me at this stage was to get the biggest area of underquilt possible that could be further refined for version 2 in the future. As such precise dimensions were never calculated and the whole project really was just guessed! As you can see from the picture I used my tree huggers placed on the bag to get an idea of the curve I wanted that would use the best of the available area. Then using tailors chalk from the wife’s sewing kit, I marked the lines ready for sewing (of course a marker would do).
3483
Once marked the bag then needs sewing. Don’t be tempted to cut off any excess yet as this just means you will have to pin it all together to sew later – just seems more work to me. You will need to sew around the entire outline of the underquilt, not just the curves you have marked as the existing zip and top hems will all be removed. I stitched around the outline twice for strength though this was probably overkill due to the draw cord that is added later, its up to you really. The stitching may not be easy as it is important that the insulation is sewn within the new hem or you will find that it will drop away from the edges when hung under the hammock leading to cold spots.
Once sewn get brutal with the scissors and remove all the excess material. Cut close to the stitching so that you have as little material as possible getting in the way of the draw tube you are going to put on next.
3484
3486
To make the tube for the draw cord I used 50mm (2 inch) nylon ribbon but found this to be a little tight when it came to sewing. Next time round I will use 70mm which will just give that extra bit of play. This part of the process takes a bit of time but cannot be rushed, the ribbon needs to be pinned in place as it slips everywhere when you try working with it. Take the ribbon and fold it around the outside of the hem you have just sewn on the bag. The trick here is to not have half of the ribbon on each side but to have a little extra on the side of the quilt that will be laid on the bed of the sewing machine. This way when you are stitching you are pretty much guaranteed to catch the side of the ribbon you cannot see with your stitches. I also folded over the ends of the ribbon as well as heat sealing them just for strength when the cord pulls on it. Two tubes in total with the open ends of the tubes at the far ends of the quilt.
3485
An opportunity for a weekend away made the issue a little more urgent and, after looking at some underquilts, decided that a home made version was going to be the most affordable option at the time and needed to be made fast.
Thought I would share how the whole process went, hope you find this useful :)
The chosen donor sleeping bag was a 2 season bag obtained from Wilkinsons for £11. The colour isn’t too bad but the choice was really made due to the price. Originally the bag weighed 1.35 kilos (just under 3lbs) and measured 190cm x 75cm. The obvious problem was always going to be trying to get the length required for the underquilt as most cheap bags are only designed to come up to your neck as opposed to the underquilt which I wanted to hang under the full length of my body. The hope was that by using the bag open and diagonal I would get the extra length required, and it didn’t work out too bad.
3482
So the first step with the bag open is to work out the finished size of the underquilt and therefore which bits to eventually cut off. The dimensions you require may well be dependent on the make of hammock you are using. I have the DD travel hammock and the priority for me at this stage was to get the biggest area of underquilt possible that could be further refined for version 2 in the future. As such precise dimensions were never calculated and the whole project really was just guessed! As you can see from the picture I used my tree huggers placed on the bag to get an idea of the curve I wanted that would use the best of the available area. Then using tailors chalk from the wife’s sewing kit, I marked the lines ready for sewing (of course a marker would do).
3483
Once marked the bag then needs sewing. Don’t be tempted to cut off any excess yet as this just means you will have to pin it all together to sew later – just seems more work to me. You will need to sew around the entire outline of the underquilt, not just the curves you have marked as the existing zip and top hems will all be removed. I stitched around the outline twice for strength though this was probably overkill due to the draw cord that is added later, its up to you really. The stitching may not be easy as it is important that the insulation is sewn within the new hem or you will find that it will drop away from the edges when hung under the hammock leading to cold spots.
Once sewn get brutal with the scissors and remove all the excess material. Cut close to the stitching so that you have as little material as possible getting in the way of the draw tube you are going to put on next.
3484
3486
To make the tube for the draw cord I used 50mm (2 inch) nylon ribbon but found this to be a little tight when it came to sewing. Next time round I will use 70mm which will just give that extra bit of play. This part of the process takes a bit of time but cannot be rushed, the ribbon needs to be pinned in place as it slips everywhere when you try working with it. Take the ribbon and fold it around the outside of the hem you have just sewn on the bag. The trick here is to not have half of the ribbon on each side but to have a little extra on the side of the quilt that will be laid on the bed of the sewing machine. This way when you are stitching you are pretty much guaranteed to catch the side of the ribbon you cannot see with your stitches. I also folded over the ends of the ribbon as well as heat sealing them just for strength when the cord pulls on it. Two tubes in total with the open ends of the tubes at the far ends of the quilt.
3485