UQ without darting?

[twowheels]

Has anybody made an underquilt without darting the material?

I've got an old down comforter that my gf said that she'll never use, so I can do whatever I want with it. It's minimum 75% down filling (according to the tag) with polyester lining, 58x74. Unfortunately one side is polyester fleece, so it weighs about 3.5 lbs. A bit heavy for backpacking and cycling, but I'm not ready to spend $150+ for this...

I'm not good with sewing and not sure that our sewing machine could handle such thick material. My thought was to just sew some channels along the four edges, cinch the short ends to the carabiners with shock cord to keep it stretched and use shock cord along the long edges tied to a higher set of tree straps to keep it hanging against the bottom of the hammock. I also considered adding some tieouts to my Beyer Moskito hammock to keep it in place. I understand that it won't fit perfectly, but will it fit well enough? The trip that I'm preparing for is in early August and temps are currently in the mid to high 40s at night. I'll be using a 0 degree mummy bag as a top quilt and can wear wool or polyester fleece if needed.

BTW, how do you get in a hammock with an UQ installed? Do you stretch the side cords and push down on it while you're getting in, allowing it to rebound back to the hammock once you're in? What size shock cords would you recommend for such a heavy material?

Thanks!

[gargoyle]

Your blanket can work. Not the best solution. Its going to be tough to get a good fit. Either tackle the "learning curve" of the sewing machine, or hand stitch some channels for the cords to go thru.

Yes, the quilt is suspended under the hammock fabric, via elastic shock cord. The shock cord allows the quilt to stretch and flex as you move in the hammock. You'll have to play with the tension and strength of the shockcord to get a good fit. You may need some thicker shockcord than normal due to the weight of your blanket.

Entering the hammock is normal, just make sure your sitting into the hammock fabric...not the quilt.
Attaching loops at the four corners will work for suspending the uq.
Adding a channel to the head and foot end would be my suggestion to cinch the ends closed with shockcord.

You could also try a simple pad for now. They do work. Quilts are really nice but expensive.

There area number of good videos here on the forum that will demonstrate using, attaching and entering the hammock with an uq.

[TinaLouise]

you say your trip is in Aug. and the temp are about hight 40 at night? You will need insulation under you and your blanket should work just fine IF...

1, you do some practice hangs before your trip to test out how to hang your blanket UQ.
2. you make sure you don't have any air gaps under you with the blanket UQ

You can work out #2 by doing #1 !!!

I don't use shock cord on my under quilts but I've made my UQ's to fit exactly under my hammock and I've added tie points onto my hammock to tie to the UQ. I did start with shock cord but ended up removing it as I further tested the UQ's.
As far as putting darts into your blanket to make it fit better... you can always sew it by hand. Try putting the blanket under your hammock and take some wooden clothes pins and pin the excess. Remove the blanket and hand sew the spots where you have the pins. Now you can try cutting off the excess and sewing together the cut edges so it looks a little neater. This would at least get the weight down a bit from the original 3.5 pounds.

[Ramblinrev]

The learning curve on the sewing machine is steep but for gear making quite short. Unless you have a toy machine you should be able to handle the fabric you are talking about. If you are going to tackle the learning curve you might want to harvest the fill and transfer it to an other lighter casing. Lots of resources for available for doing that. Either way.. you will want to tailor the quilt to fit properly. Several tutorial and forum resources for doing that as well. I'm sure some of the DIY designers could give you aid in the that process. I'm a hardware/technique guy not a designer so I can't be much help beyond the learning curve for the thread injector.

[Ramblinrev]

Try putting the blanket under your hammock and take some wooden clothes pins and pin the excess. Remove the blanket and hand sew the spots where you have the pins. Now you can try cutting off the excess and sewing together the cut edges so it looks a little neater.

FWIW: DO NOT attempt this indoors unless you live alone or your girl friend shares your love of outdoor gear. When you cut off the excess you will find feathers and down _all over_ the place. There are very few indoor solutions to this. It is simply the nature of the beast. The same is true if you try to harvest the fill. Borrow or dig out a decent sized tent a shop vac and a pair of your girl friend's discarded panty hose (ONLY from the trash... The ones on the shower rod in the bathroom are OFF LIMITS for this.)

Cut the leg off and slide it over the wand on the shop vac and use it to collect the fly aways. This effort is still limited to out doors or the man cave. The living room, den, dining room and kitchen are off limits for this project unless the above conditions are met. Have a good time. But be forewarned.... down and feathers present real and present danger to relational bliss if not handled with extreme care.

[Nightwalker]

FWIW: DO NOT attempt this indoors unless you live alone or your girl friend shares your love of outdoor gear. When you cut off the excess you will find feathers and down _all over_ the place.

Two lines of stitches, 1/2" or so apart. Cut between them. Very minimal loss.

[Ramblinrev]

Two lines of stitches, 1/2" or so apart. Cut between them. Very minimal loss.

That will do it with a machine stitch. The benefit for a hand stitch, unless someone is a skilled hand stitcher is still questionable to me. But then the only thing I ever hand stitch now is sewing on buttons/hooks/snaps. Beyond that it's all machine work.