I've had a few successful projects now, and while there was a period where I was convinced my sewing machine was from Satan, I think I've tamed the beast!
First I found some ripstop something or other at the local Walmart and decided I had to make a double layer hammock for my son. That went well enough. Nothing too exciting about it. It's only about 6' long because I figured a 4 year old doesn't need a full size hammock. We'll see how it goes.
Next I got some random cheap fabric from Walmart (they were out of the ripstop already) and made an over cover for my HH exped. asym. It ended up a touch short so I couldn't just velcro the ends that wrap around the suspension. The velcro wouldn't hold for too long after I got in. I ended up sewing the ends together to make a cone that the suspension passes through. The down side, of course, is that I can't remove it w/o taking the hammock down, but I figure I can leave it on and just roll it up and leave it above the hammock or something. I'm replacing my hammock suspension soon though, so maybe I'll be clever there.
At any rate, bottom line is, the over cover looks a little off from the outside, but inside it looks perfect! I tested some scraps and it turns out the fabric is water proof or at least very water resistant. It held water over a jar for several hours with no signs of leaking or seeping through. We'll see if that ends up giving me condensation problems.
Let's see, what was next? I made a hammock seat for my daughter. I haven't quite finished this yet. By hammock seat, I mean it only has one attachment point at the top to hang from a good branch or similar instead of the trunk of the tree. Basically, it's a sack with the front open . She's 2 and half years old. I think she's going to be swallowed by this thing, but we'll see.
Most recently I've finished up making 2 whoopie slings from 1/8" amsteel blue. Tonight I'll be replacing the suspension on my HH with them. I had noticed in some other post that opie suggested that, when ordering slings for a HH to make note of it so he could make the slings accordingly... If there's some step I should have taken there I, um.... didn't .
I may just make a small loop from the old suspension (I'm out of amsteel) and re-tie the hennesy knot with it so there's just a small loop coming out of the hammock that I can toggle onto whatever suspension I want. Then it'd also be relatively easy to disconnect and attach my over cover w/o having to re-adjust the suspension... Too many fiddly bits.
And of course, screenshot or didn't happen, right? I'll get some pictures tonight maybe and add to this post.
Next on the list: I still have a square about 4.5' x 5' of the waterproof over cover fabric. I think I'll try out bridge hammocks for the kids. I'd be reassured that they'll be sleeping flat in them where in a gathered end hammock... who knows what position a 4 year old would wind up in. Likely upside down.
Anyhow, that's enough text for one post I think.
P.S. Before anyone asks, my avatar is a picture of a Bacon Explosion I made earlier. It was amazing.
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