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  1. #1
    Senior Member creativeKayt's Avatar
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    Fabric Question: Goose down

    Howdy all! I hope this isn't going to sound really dumb...

    I bought a Walmart Ozark bag and used half to make an UQ, which turned out nicely, but is a little bulky. So, I decided to use the other half of the bag and an old goose down pillow I had to make another down UQ. I pulled out the polyester fill and stitched in 1" internal baffles where the original sewn through seams were. Then I added the down and stitched up the ends.

    But, the new UQ seems to be shedding down, even while stationary on my cutting table. My question is.... Is this part of the normal settling process or do I need to buy special down-proof fabric to make my goose down UQ? Being a goose-down grommie, I need the advice of my goose-down betters.

    Thanks for the help, in advance. I'll post pics when I finish, regardless of the route I end up taking.

  2. #2
    Senior Member hangnout's Avatar
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    coming from a pillow it is probably more feathers than down. Feathers will come out of most material. For down a "calendered" ripstop nylon will work great. With quiality down (800fP) you can get by with a good nylon fabric that is not calendared.

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    Senior Member Ramblinrev's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by creativeKayt View Post
    But, the new UQ seems to be shedding down, even while stationary on my cutting table. My question is.... Is this part of the normal settling process or do I need to buy special down-proof fabric to make my goose down UQ? Being a goose-down grommie, I need the advice of my goose-down betters.
    While it is true that higher quality down is less likely to shed through non-downproof fabric, the difference in cost between "calendarized" and regular nylon is negligible compared to the cost of the down. Calendarized nylon is pressed between two rollers, one of them heated pretty hot. The heat slightly melts the texture of the fabric on one side making it less porous. IMO when you are paying premium dollars for the fill, using the best fabric makes sense.

    There may also be other issues at work here. Any inexpensive synth bag I am aware of is hot spot quilted. In other words, the quilting is done with a heat process rather than thread. This is fine for a synth fill because the synth is stable and doesn't shift around a lot. The fabric can have a much looser weave which only makes the shedding worse. Plus the holes left by separating the fabric layers are much larger that holes left by removing thread quilting. I think the idea was a good introduction to working with down. But now that you are aware of some of the hassles and pitfalls, you have a better understanding of the quality issues that make down and synth fill so different.
    I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

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  4. #4
    Senior Member creativeKayt's Avatar
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    Thanks. I was afraid of that, but, as you said, I really wanted to experiment, having never worked with down before. Since I don't want to waste the effort, I think I will put on another layer of better fabric. Unless anyone has a better idea.

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