Quilt plans

[Dutch]

I have been playing around with down salvaged from an Ebay sleeping bag and walmart cheap bin polyester. Now I want to make a real nice one. I was looking at HE's instructions http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=98 and I noticed he didn't have a head hole. In order to make a head hole I plan on making 2 half quilts and sew them together. I was planning on 80" x 40". Free magic up the one side and drawstring on both ends. I want it primarily as a top quilt but the option of using it as an underqilt. I plan for 2" baffels and 12 oz of quality down. I am hoping for a total wieght of 2 pounds or less. Now for my questions;

1. HE and JRB use dwr on their quilts. It really limits the list of supplier.Is that nessesary?

2. What is a good source for dwr 1.1?

3. Speer has 900 down for $26 / 3.1 oz. Is there a better deal on high quality down?

4. Do you hem the no-see-um before you attatch it?

5. How far up does the free magic come up to make the foot box?

6. Do I the latest set of HE's directions?

Thank you in advance

[Preacha Man]

1. You can use pertex, or momentum 90, but they cost more. You can use any material as long as it is down proof (won't let the down out )

2. You can go to thru-hiker, outdoor wilderness fabrics, Ed Speer's, etc... Just Jeff has a good deal of links on his home page.

3. Not in my opinion, Ed is great to work with, and his down is really great.

4. I do not know if it is necessary, but I would to make it stronger.

5. I usually use 18"

6. Why not? They are great, and HE's Quilt looks great.

Dwight

[headchange4u]

1. As long as the fabric is down-proof I it doesn't have to be DWR. It would certainly help since wet down doesn't insulate well.

2. Quest outfitters, OWF, Thru-Hiker,etc. This thread has some links.

3. HE and I split an order of down from here. Great stuff but there is a minimum order.

4. No need to hem the bafsle before sewing them to the shell.

5. JRB does 18". When I made my quilt I did it 24".

6. HE's directions are great. I used them while making my quilt.

[GrizzlyAdams]

Dutch's question number one has been on my mind also. I have yards upon yards of uncoated 1.1 oz rip-stop. How would I tell if it isn't down-proof without doing the obvious empirical test?

Would I want DWR anyway to protect the down from inadvertant wetness? ---probably!

Would it work if I just sprayed the material with DWR coating before sewing, and periodically kept it up before it was likely to wear out (thinking that spraying coating on fabric through which wetness passes, with down behind it, is a Fundamentally Bad Idea.

?

Grizz

[headchange4u]

You may be better off treating the fabric beforehand with some sort of wash-in water repellent treatment like Nix Wax.

How do you know fabric is down proof? You got me.

[Dutch]

Thanks for the replies. HC4U I knew about all the resourses in htat thread but could not find any DWR in the bunch. If I'm getting uncoated 1.1 I will go with Speer, but I wish he had more color selection. I like the nik wax Idea and I think I have some. Those are the set of HE's instructions I was looking for. When I click on order for that down supplier it says site is under construction.

[headchange4u]

The link comes up fine for me. Maybe they were updating when you clicked on it. Here's a direct link:

http://www.featherind.com/


OWF does carry 1.1 ripstop with the DWR treatment. Comes in black, dark green, green, silver, and white.

[angrysparrow]

The link comes up fine for me. Maybe they were updating when you clicked on it. Here's a direct link:

http://www.featherind.com/

That link works fine, but when you visit the page and click 'Order' it gives an 'Under Construction' notice.

Dutch- Click the 'Our Company' link to get their contact phone and email. You should be able to place an order that way.

[Coffee]

The site has been saying that for a long time, way before I ordered from them. It seemed a little shady at first to me, but it came through ok.

I didn't put the directions in for the head hole because I did it a really backwards way. I put a slit in the fabric, and sewn a head hole around that. Sewing 2 small ones together is way easier and looks way better.

Somewhere in a post here the jacks said that rolling the fabric on the baffles so that the seam goes through 2 layers of netting drastically extends its life. It is also supposed to hold up better in the wash. For the little work it takes, I would do it.

I asume free magic is like velcro that attaches the quilt. I put mine up around 18" on each side. I basically cut the piece in half, I think. I am going to add some to the head end as well. That way when I wear it I can seal the sides.

I read multiple places that DWR is downproof and untreated is not. I read somewhere here that people are making quilts using untreated 1.9 that is holding the down. Plus wouldn't you want to use something to trap out the mosture.

Also I keep meaning to put this in the directions, but make it 8 to 10 inches longer than you are tall. If not when you gather the ends it will only come to around your neck. Yeah I learned this one the hard way.

[Dutch]

Thanks once again for the replies. I e-mailed that down supplier and they replied right back to me. They say they have a minimum order of 2 pounds. I think the price is good but I have to convert it to American $ to really know.

I may be selling a pound of down in the near future.