First DIY Mummy Bag Underquilt - Need a few pointers

**FightingTheTide** · 11-10-2012, 21:27

I cut up some old board shorts instead of using crossgrain for the footbox opening, but I found it might be too constricting like it is. Has anyone ever cut the bag wide-open at the footbox to where the mummy bag would be more like a blanket? I'm gonna give this a shot to see if I can get more room for a diagonal lay.

Also, this bag has a draft collar with a cord running through it. The collar is right near the hood. I'm thinking about cutting the hood off and using the existing channel in the draft collar to run my shock cord for suspension. Any reason this wouldn't work?

EDIT - I cut the hood & zipper off, and cut the footbox open. It's approx. 68"L x 66"W/46"W. I'm going to run the shock cord through the draft channel tomorrow, do some sewing, and see how it turns out.

Pre-cut footbox (it's now cut wide open)

Draft collar near the hood, prior to cutting the hoof off.

**Lost_Biker** · 11-11-2012, 06:49

Looks good. That's pretty much how you do it.

**Redoleary** · 11-11-2012, 08:04

Looks like you've got it under control. I've done similar mods. Haven't cut straight thru the foot box as I wanted to get the "pod effect" of zipping the bag up if needed. It is however a bit confining in that config.

**FightingTheTide** · 11-11-2012, 16:55

Yeah I thought about keeping the footbox intact if I ever wanted a peapod-eque option, but I landed on cutting it because I need a diagonal lay.

Here it is! Cheapest underquilt I'll ever make - $0 (I had shock cord, locks, thread, and fabric on hand already)

I'm also making a canvas sock. I'm hoping the sock, this underquilt, my 20 degree synth bag, and a warm base layer will keep me warm this weekend. The weather should be in the low 30's at night.

**FightingTheTide** · 11-14-2012, 14:31

I hung under the spotty shade of some trees after lunch today. I was out there for an hour reading a good book to test the underquilt. The temp was about 45 F with wind gusts up to 12 mph...so I'm not sure what the actual temp was.

I was wearing jeans, cotton socks, a t-shirt, and a primaloft jacket. I was warm where it counted.

Here's a few pictures. The suspension is run through the ends. Is that the norm? Or do some run the suspension down the edges?

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