DIY UNDER QUILT suspension similar snugfit

[Mule]

I think I can now attach the drawing.
Mule

[Narwhalin]

Very nice! I will be using this method of suspension on the underquilt I am making. Question:

Can I design a synthetic bag with differential shaping by making the hammock side fabric smaller than the outside fabric? Or do you all think it would be easier to create the quilt, then sew pleats like skskinner did?

[Mule]

If your quilt is thick, say 2 inches or more, I don't think you will need to sew pleats. The placement of the loops for the bungee/spandex should be all you need. But if you are making the quilt from scratch, you could do both by moving the baffles closer together by about an eighth of an inch on one side than the other. Say, you have 10 baffles, times 1/8 inch would make the inside surface 1 1/4 shorter than the outside. Then put your loops inboard of the edge on the inside about an inch and you would really hug the hammock well. Mule

[Narwhalin]

If your quilt is thick, say 2 inches or more, I don't think you will need to sew pleats. The placement of the loops for the bungee/spandex should be all you need. But if you are making the quilt from scratch, you could do both by moving the baffles closer together by about an eighth of an inch on one side than the other. Say, you have 10 baffles, times 1/8 inch would make the inside surface 1 1/4 shorter than the outside. Then put your loops inboard of the edge on the inside about an inch and you would really hug the hammock well. Mule

Right now I am planning on making a summer quilt with a single layer of climashield 2.5. It should be about .6 inches thick. I am a bit confused as to what you are saying with the baffles. I was planning on just using a single sheet of the climashield, and putting the quilting loops in to keep it all together. Are you saying I should cut the climashield into shapes and sew all the different peices together to create the differential shape? I just don't get what you are saying.

Or should I just sew a quilt with equal size sides, and shorten up the hammock side fabric as you describe by sewing in pleats? This seems easier than trying to attatch peices of fabric that are different sizes, but then again, I don't know what I am talking about, so enlighten me! Please!

[Mule]

OK, now I get the picture. Since you are making it from thin climashield, I would simply make the inside piece of fabric shorter than the outside and as I sewed it I would pull the long side into small pleats as I sewed. That way you will be leaving the outside of the quilt to stay loose. Then go ahead and suspend the quilt from the tight side only and stay an inch or so inside that edge. Should make a really nice canoe shape when on the hammock.
Now, instead of baffles, just mark off however many inches you want to have between the pleats as you sew the long piece to the short piece. Remember to start in the middle of both sides and work toward the outside from there. For instance, say your outside piece is 1.5 inches shorter than your inside one. Say it is six feet long. You have 1.5 inches to take up over six feet to make both ends meet the same. So starting at the center of each side begin sewing and then pull a 1/8 inch pleat (1/4 inch total length) out of the long side say every foot. That would be 1/4 inches of fabric gathered into the long side every foot, so in the three feet to the edge from the center, you would gather a total of 3/4 inches. Now start from the center of the same side of the quilt and go the other way. 3 1/8 inch pleats all using 1/4 inbh total length each, one every foot for three feet is again 3/4 inches. That uses up your 1.5 inches difference between the long side and the short side.
You could actually do the same when sewing the short width sides too.
Mule

Mule

[Narwhalin]

Alright, Mule...you will have to bear with me. I am completely new to this type of stuff! A few questions:

1. I thought I would have to make the inside fabric both shorter and more narrow. You are telling me just shorter, right?

2. Do I make the insulation the same length as the outside fabric?

3. I don't understand exactly how to do pleats. I get that I make the pleat 1/8" every foot or so, but do I need to sew all the way horazontally across the outside (or long) peice? Or, do I just fold the fabric, and incorperate it into my stitches down the length of the long peice?

Thanks for your help! I greatly appriciate it...

[Mule]

1. I think it would be better to make the inside piece both narrower and shorter than the outside one. You see, your quilt is going to be quite superior to mine since you are doing this from scratch.
2. Yes, I would make the insulation the length and width of the finished outside fabric.
3. By pleats, I am talking about just gathering a little material of the outside and have it gathered as the machine sews over it, so the ends of the two pieces of fabric will eventually end up the same length where they are sewed together. You won't have to put pleats all the way across since you are starting from scratch, you can actually start with a shorter piece on the inside instead of making it shorter as you would have to do if you were working on a sleeping bag or something that was already sewed together.
Do you have a pair of Dockers that are pleated? Look at them. In the front, the waste band is one length, but the material in the front of the trousers was once wider. Since they are sewed to the waste band with pleats, they end up the same overall width. The pleats leave extra room so the trousers / underquilt have more internal volume.
Please let me know if you need to call me. I will help in any way I can. Mule

[Narwhalin]

1. I think it would be better to make the inside piece both narrower and shorter than the outside one. You see, your quilt is going to be quite superior to mine since you are doing this from scratch.
2. Yes, I would make the insulation the length and width of the finished outside fabric.
3. By pleats, I am talking about just gathering a little material of the outside and have it gathered as the machine sews over it, so the ends of the two pieces of fabric will eventually end up the same length where they are sewed together. You won't have to put pleats all the way across since you are starting from scratch, you can actually start with a shorter piece on the inside instead of making it shorter as you would have to do if you were working on a sleeping bag or something that was already sewed together.
Do you have a pair of Dockers that are pleated? Look at them. In the front, the waste band is one length, but the material in the front of the trousers was once wider. Since they are sewed to the waste band with pleats, they end up the same overall width. The pleats leave extra room so the trousers / underquilt have more internal volume.
Please let me know if you need to call me. I will help in any way I can. Mule

1. Darn! Would have been so much easier the other way...oh well...

2. Cool.

3. Alright, I understand pleats now. Thanks, Mule!

So, I get how to do the lengthwise pleats. The only thing I do not understand now is how I am going to gather and pleat the larger (outside) fabric width wise.

I may call you sometime next week or Sunday if I need some help. I will try to get it on my own, though, I promise! Thanks again, Mule! Very helpful...

[Miguel]

Not to change the subject Mule but being a retired Marine, I must say the quotes at the end of your posts have made me smile. Are you also a former Marine?

Miguel

[Mule]

Yes. Semper Fi