First UQ/ major sewing project...wish me luck!

Well, I've jumped in headfirst. My ripstop and noseeum has arrived from diygearsupply.com, and I've officially begun building my first UQ.

This will be a full length, winter quilt. Dimensions will be 72" long, 44" wide, and 3" baffles. Coyote brown outside, and olive green inside. This will be filled with 16 oz. of (stated) 750 fill power down from a "Royal Plaza" brand down pillow I purchased from Amazon using a gift card. Hopefully it won't have too many feathers. It won't arrive until next week.

I'm using the UQ calculator that meteor put together for my calculations.

I've just finished cutting and marking the outer shell tonight with 7 baffle lines. Because the outer shell is a little under 15 inches wider than the inner shell, i plan on placing 2 1/8th inch darts at the end of each noseeum line. The darts will be about 4.5 inches long. The sides will each have two 2 inch wide by 3 inch deep darts to bring the side length into alignment.

Tomorrow's fun will be cutting and marking the inner shell and baffles, and then onto sewing.

With all the resources on here, and the research I've been able to do, i think I have a pretty solid plan to start with. I don't think this will be the prettiest thing on earth, but if it keeps me warm and doesn't fall apart, I'll be pleased. I'll try to get some pictures up as I progress. We have an ohio winter hang coming up on the 20th, so I plan on being done and backyard tested before then.

Any suggestions on the darts? It's mainly the only thing the calculator leaves to the imagination. How do you sew your end seams? I'm using a 1" seam allowance at the ends, and plan on just doing roll hems with double stitching, since I'll be using grosgrain for shock cord channels. The sides have a 2" seam allowance, and I plan on using 3 stitch lines for strength, along with the grosgrain.

Mike


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Sounds like you have a good plan. I'm definitely interested in how it turns out. My plan is similar, though 25-degrees is my target... I'm thinking 2.5" baffles for most of the quilt, and the center 3 with 2.75" baffles to battle my constant CBS... (I sleep cold). Oh, I'm also thinking 2/3rds-Plus length. 50"-52" I'm 6' tall.

I don't plan on using much grosgrain, though. With 1.1 sewn in a large rolled hem, it gathers quite well for end channels. I figure if it wears out, I can add grosgrain later.

And I just ordered my Dutch Quilt Clips to help keep it all together.

Oh: if you make it too pretty, nobody will believe you made it. So show off the wavy stitches with pride!

Update: The inner shell and baffles are cut and marked. My wife is happy because I'm no longer using the living room floor, and my daughter is happy because I'm no longer using her marker :lol: (It bled through a little, but it's a washable, and none of my fabric pencils or chalk would leave a mark on the nylon...eh, it adds character) I've been banished to the basement for the duration of the project.

No pics yet, because it would just be some rectangles of fabric, which everybody's seen before. :D

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Originally Posted by USMCStang

Update: The inner shell and baffles are cut and marked. My wife is happy because I'm no longer using the living room floor, and my daughter is happy because I'm no longer using her marker :lol: (It bled through a little, but it's a washable, and none of my fabric pencils or chalk would leave a mark on the nylon...eh, it adds character) I've been banished to the basement for the duration of the project.

No pics yet, because it would just be some rectangles of fabric, which everybody's seen before. :D

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Could you please do "as you go pictures"?? I'm so confused on the entire baffle thing, tape, quilt loops, blah, blah, blah that a nicely illustrated thread with pics and steps as you go along would be wonderful. Thanks a bunch! See ya Jan 20

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Originally Posted by DivaB

Could you please do "as you go pictures"?? I'm so confused on the entire baffle thing, tape, quilt loops, blah, blah, blah that a nicely illustrated thread with pics and steps as you go along would be wonderful. Thanks a bunch! See ya Jan 20

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Yep, I'm done for the night, but I'll take some pictures of the cut and marked fabric before sewing the baffles on, and as I go along.

The further I go along, the more things like darts, asymmetrical cuts, seam allowances, etc begin to become clear. It helps to see it up close and personal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by USMCStang

Yep, I'm done for the night, but I'll take some pictures of the cut and marked fabric before sewing the baffles on, and as I go along.

The further I go along, the more things like darts, asymmetrical cuts, seam allowances, etc begin to become clear. It helps to see it up close and personal.

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That is wonderful...and Thank you!!

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Originally Posted by JohnSawyer

Oh: if you make it too pretty, nobody will believe you made it. So show off the wavy stitches with pride!

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Hallelujiah! Straight stitching is booooring - give it some character :lol:

Well, the UQ is sewn up and ready for stuffing! It's defintley not a professional job, but it looks a heck of a lot better than i thought it would!

Thus far, the most difficult part was sewing the baffles to the inner shell after they were already attached to the outer shell. Trying to keep that much loose, slippery fabric straight was a chore. Hindsight being 20/20, I shouldn't have used black to mark my stitch lines. Once you lay folded noseeum over the line, it almost disappears.

Here's a few pics of the process of sewing the baffles/ darts to the outer shell:

The marked base shell:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...-44-41_765.jpg

The first baffle, being pinned. (I cut them 5 inches wide, giving me an inch of seam allowance on each side for a buffer against crooked sewing :rolleyes: ):
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...-54-26_310.jpg

The first stitch line! Sewed the first baffle on:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...-18-23_297.jpg

All of the baffles sewn on:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...-54-37_358.jpg

Sizing up the first dart. Darts were something confusing to me at first, but once you cut the fabric, it makes sense. Since I'm using an outer shell that is much wider and longer than the inner shell, to provide extra loft, you have make sure that the edges are the same length without cutting the fabric. The best way to do this is a dart. Basically, you are "pinching" the fabric at the edge of the outer shell, and then sewing this pinch shut. For instance, if your outer, or bottom shell is 10 inches wider than the inner, or upper shell, you need to put a quantity of five two inch pinches at the edges, or four 2.5 inch pinches, or one 10 inch pinch, etc. Once you've sewn these in, your outer fabric's edge is the same length as the inner fabric.
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...1-58-51_45.jpg

A sewn dart, once completed. My darts were 2.5 inches wide, by 4 inches deep. Their ends stop right at the end of the seam line for the baffle:
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...-35-15_725.jpg

I unfortunately didn't take pictures of the process of sewing the baffles to the inner shell, because it would have looked like a big jumble of fabric. Basically, I just sewed them on left to right, like a zipper. I got good enough with the sewing by the third or fourth baffle that I didn't need to pin the folds down, and I just kept my seam gauge handy to double check my work as I went along the seam. I've got three of the four edges hemmed as well, and one end and side channel sewn on (I ran out of grosgrain after doing one long edge :cursing:. I'll have to run to the store tomorrow).

Once the third channel is on, I'll take some more pics and post them up. Diva, I'll make sure I get a good pic of the cross section of the open end, so you can see what the baffles and asymmetrical cut do prior to stuffing.

Sewing that second side on.... that's the thing that scares the heck out of me. I can't even picture how it's done, let alone do it :lol:

You are well on your way to a fine under quilt! It's looking like a professional job!