Completed First DIY Hammock

**Kamper Kurt** · 07-04-2015, 02:18

So I made my first DIY hammock today.

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It is a double layer hammock that I made for my daughter. I didn't like the pad sliding on mine and I read that putting it in between the two layers would help. I tried to follow many of the basics from XTrekker's DIY videos, but made a few alterations based off other comments and suggestions here on the forums. So a thank you to everyone.

Overall it looks ok. Some of my stitches wander back and forth about 1/16 of an inch, but I assume that I will improve my sewing with time.

The only bummer is that it is about 11 feet long, which was too long to hang correctly on my hammock stand. It had a lot of sag and when my daughter tried it, she wanted to roll out the side which is a bit floppy.

I am hoping that when I hang it tomorrow with a longer ridge line that the problem will go away and that it holds her in better. Once I know I have this one right I can move on to my next project.

**brianb** · 07-04-2015, 05:18

Congratulations Kurt, you're going to make a lot of little mistakes for a while. Don't get discouraged, to your point, get better. One thing that helps me a lot is drawing lines on the fabric. I don't do it for every project, but for the more complicated ones it's a big help.
Hammock looks great, I like the color. I bet it hangs great from some trees. And you can always shorten it if needed, but I agree with your thinking about lengthening your top bar on your stand instead.
Good luck and congrats.

**xxl_hanger** · 07-04-2015, 05:43

I congratulate too. For my taste you did it too fast as a novice. (Yesterday you ask for sewing advice and 5 hours later your first hammock were already done!) The time I needed to cut my fabric properly and to prepare the sewing was much longer than your complete sewing time. You should try to sew as carefully you can in the beginning. Speed comes automatically later with learning by doing it properly.

**Kamper Kurt** · 07-04-2015, 09:20

Originally Posted by xxl_hanger

I congratulate too. For my taste you did it too fast as a novice. (Yesterday you ask for sewing advice and 5 hours later your first hammock were already done!) The time I needed to cut my fabric properly and to prepare the sewing was much longer than your complete sewing time. You should try to sew as carefully you can in the beginning. Speed comes automatically later with learning by doing it properly.

I did do my cutting and pinning the day before which took me a while. I also spent several hours practicing sewing on other things that day. When I went to sew I just set the machine on slow and kept going. It was probably 5-6 hours of just sewing, but no idea if that is fast or slow because I had never sewed a larger project before.

I tried laying in it myself. My Pares hammock is pretty wide, and I had never laid in a more narrow hammock before. I thought that it might benefit from the foot box/ head box mods I have seen on the forum. Or maybe the guy lines on the side to hold it open.

But I still want to hang it at it's full ridge line length today before I make any other change.

**xxl_hanger** · 07-04-2015, 10:26

I doesn't matter how long it takes in the beginning. Only the result is important for you. I couldn't sew like you in the beginning (it's only a few weeks ago when I started my first longer sewing project). In the meantime I think I'm capable of sewing almost everything. It would be only a matter of time. I still try to stop me a bit and say to myself. Be careful, try to make it as proper as you can, time doesn't matter.

There is a guy in this forum who wanted to bet with me, that I would sew the same project several times in the beginning. I'm sorry. It did not happen. All pieces I sewed were almost perfect right from the beginning. Try to have always a good plan and try to think twice before you cut anything. Then it works this way and you will discover your capabilities very fast. It is much easier then I thought.

For example roll-hems or flat felled seams. I'm almost able to do them blindfolded in the meantime without any pins or hem guides. Ok, it can last a bit longer but again this doesn't really matter.

**Japhy Ryder** · 07-04-2015, 11:26

XXL, yes, you are probably right, the project was probably rushed. But hey, isn't that how we all learn.

Kurt, as you take on more projects and your skills improve, you will look back on your first drafts and say "I can do better". And that is the fun part, making better and better gear both aesthetically and structurally.

My first DIY hammock, tarp, TQ. UQ projects all got cannabalized for parts once my skills improved. And even my second drafts got gifted to my wife. Because Darn It! I can do better.

It does get a lot more fun as the quality of your projects improves.

Keep on sewing brother.

**xxl_hanger** · 07-04-2015, 13:13

Originally Posted by Japhy Ryder

XXL, yes, you are probably right, the project was probably rushed. But hey, isn't that how we all learn.

Problem is only that it can be a bit expensive if you try it more than once. Then it can make sence to buy it instead of diy. I didn't want to pay an apprentice's due or to learn it the hard way. On the other hand I was ready to bet that I would need only one attempt to make it properly. I did it accordingly. During my last project I used the seam-ripper too ... at least three times. I got lucky. Nobody can see it ... and I could make even another proper stitch line to hide the parts which look not very professionally (at the foot box of my TQ). I made no sewing mistakes. The biggest mistake i made was, that I tried to rush the whole project too without any good plan. So I got my prompt punishment for the improvisation I tried - but no reason to do it again. If I would do it again, it would look very professionally for sure.

This is the nice thing with sewing. One can learn very fast from mistakes and try to avoid the same mistakes in the future.

**Kamper Kurt** · 07-04-2015, 18:40

Ok, got it out to the woods where I could stretch it out a bit.

Trees were a bit far apart here, but just testing out the range.
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No problems with it at all now that I was able to hang it at the correct length, although I do think that it could benefit from a foot box. I need to look for a thread now on how to measure and add that.
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If I can sleep in it my daughter should have no problem at all so I am calling this a success.
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Now I need to make a single layer for my son and a couple bug nets. After that I will work on an UQ.

**Spark** · 07-04-2015, 18:53

Looks Great to me. I like the tu-tone color.

**Randerson** · 07-04-2015, 19:02

Looks good, and sounds like it works well when enough distance to set up properly. Check out the DIY "stickies" for a "knotty mod". I didn't want to burn/cut a hole in the hem of the hammock so I sewed a strip if grosgrain onto the inside of hammock and sewed grosgrain loops on either end of that strip to tie the shock cord off to.