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  1. #1
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    Talking My first (2) DIY progress...

    Working on my first two DIY hammocks. I purchased the fabric and am working on the simultaneously. The first one, for myself, is going to be a slightly altered zHammock made out of two 10' 1.1 DWR layers. Slightly altered means that instead of attaching the two layers in the centers of the long ends, I plan to attach them at diagonal corners (sewing about half the long length together, then doing the same on the diagonal side.) I don't know how well it will work, but it makes sense in my head. I feel that this might help to hold the pad at a diagonal.

    The second hammock is going to be for my fiance. After I had all of the edges pinned in place to make a rolled hem, I think that it might be 1.9 DWR. I'll have to wait until after I have sewn it to weigh, since it has a lot of pins stuck in it right now. They didn't have the 6 yards of fabric that I wanted to purchase, so I got the 5.75 yards they did have. My fiance's about 5'2" so I figure that the 8.25' long hammock will be sufficient.

    Since I don't expect to have access to a sewing machine until spring break (another week), this is all that I can do at the moment. I've got the thread and the bobbin loaded... just waiting. The anticipation is killing me!

    I do have some scraps of the 1.1 oz left over. I think that I might be able to make them into a set of hammock tubes, or perhaps a stuff sack. I'll have to measure them and see what I've got. Maybe this'll keep me busy for a day or two. I certainly hope so!

    I figured that I would keep this thread updated as I go along, sort of a journal of my experience. Any suggestions/comments are welcome!

  2. #2
    Senior Member Preacha Man's Avatar
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    You could always sew by hand , or wait till spring break. Sounds good. Wait till you don't need to pin to roll hem , I love being able to sew one in 5 minutes, and I hate pinning. Keep up the work, and after these two, there will be many many more

    Dwight
    Psalm 19:1-3 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."

  3. #3
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Preacha Man View Post
    You could always sew by hand , or wait till spring break. Sounds good. Wait till you don't need to pin to roll hem , I love being able to sew one in 5 minutes, and I hate pinning. Keep up the work, and after these two, there will be many many more

    Dwight
    I have debated sewing them by hand, and I wouldn't mind. At least I wouldn't mind until I got about a foot into one and realize how far I have to go. So I'll be waiting, unless I can find a sewing "lab" that I can get access to here on campus somewhere.
    What do you do so that you don't have to pin to roll hem? Is that using a roll hem foot?

    There will be at least one more. My sister wants one, and I think it'll make a perfect birthday present for her! Also, I've got a Byer Amazonas Traveller Hammock that I kind of think might be converted into a bridge hammock. The support strings broke on it (my fault, let it get wet too many times, I think) and I think that I might be able to give it a new life.
    Last edited by froldt; 03-02-2008 at 12:29. Reason: fixed spelling error

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by froldt View Post
    What do you do so that you don't have to pin to roll hem? Is that using a roll hem foot?
    A 1/2"+ rolled hem can be done without pinning after some practice. It may not come out perfect, but it sure beats pinning everything. I can normally keep it even within a couple millimeters or so. If the seam is wide, it is not very noticeable. For a narrow seam, the roll hem foot is the way to go. Takes some practice, but once you got it figured out, it works great.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Preacha Man's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=froldt;51705]I have debated sewing them by hand, and I wouldn't mind. At least I wouldn't mind until I got about a foot into one and realize how far I have to go. So I'll be waiting, unless I can find a sewing "lab" that I can get access to here on campus somewhere.
    What do you do so that you don't have to pin to roll hem? Is that using a roll hem foot?QUOTE]

    I just roll a little at a time and go about 6" at a time. They are not always the perfect of hems, but they are rolled, and I never really notice them when I'm laying in my new hammock

    Dwight
    Psalm 19:1-3 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."

  6. #6
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    I was thinking back over what my cost has been so far and thought it might be useful for someone else to look at... and if not, then I'll have it here for my record.

    My hammock:
    $7 - 20' of 1.1oz DWR from Wal-Mart - $1/yard
    $10 - 30' of 1500 lb strap = 33.33 cents/foot (ratchet strap from Wal-Mart)
    $3 - poly cord from Lowes (already had) for whipping
    $5 - polyester thread from Wal-Mart
    Total - $25 (of which I already had $3 and will be able to reuse the $5 on second hammock)

    Other Hammock
    $5.75 - 17.25' of 1.1oz DWR from Wal-Mart - $1/yard
    $10 - 30' of 1500 lb strap = 33.33 cents/foot (ratchet strap from Wal-Mart)
    Total - $15.75 (I'm not counting the costs for materials I have left over from first hammock, the thread and poly cord for whipping)

    I also spent about $1 on some bobbins for the sewing machine and $2 on straight pins. While these costs should be included, they will be distributed across all hammocks/projects made as they are reusable.

    These two hammocks will be finished for around $41.75.
    I expect that the third hammock will cost around $16 as I will only have to purchase the straps and fabric.

  7. #7
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    As a comparison, I purchased a Byer Travel Hammock for about $22. The averaged cost for the two DIY hammocks is $41.75/2= $20.875. My DIY hammock is not only a bit cheaper, but larger, should safely hold more weight, and is double layered. The double layer should help me stay a bit warmer, and will better enable me to use my pad.

    Of course, I didn't have to purchase a sewing machine or needles for it. This cost also doesn't include the time I will have spent working on it. I spent entirely too long pinning the rolled hems, though I was able to watch some TV while working on it. However, I'm enjoying it, so well worth any time spent!

  8. #8
    Senior Member HappyCamper's Avatar
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    Are you considering a structural ridgeline? I like not having to think about getting the sag right everytime I hang.

    You did much better on your price than I did. I had to pay $3 a yard for my material and then with cinch buckles, biners, and spyderline. You also got a better buy on webbing. I really don't want to add it up. But my camp stash is so much bigger with all the odds and ends left over!

    Good job!

  9. #9
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HappyCamper View Post
    Are you considering a structural ridgeline? I like not having to think about getting the sag right everytime I hang.

    You did much better on your price than I did. I had to pay $3 a yard for my material and then with cinch buckles, biners, and spyderline. You also got a better buy on webbing. I really don't want to add it up. But my camp stash is so much bigger with all the odds and ends left over!
    I do plan to add a structural ridgeline. However, I've got to purchase the line for that. There's a boating store at home. I'm going to check there to see if I might be able to get a good deal on some line strong enough.

    I learned about the webbing here on the forums. I purchased a set of ratchet straps from Wal-Mart. I won't be needing the actual ratchets, and I will have to remove the hook from the strap, but there were two 15' straps included, all for around $10. I'm going to try and sell the actual ratchet mechanisms, maybe I can get some of my money back. (My old workplace was in need of them when I was last there... hoping they still are.)

    Yeah, my left-overs are fairly minimal. I have either enough fabric to make a pair of snake skins or a number of stuff sacks. Haven't decided which route I should go yet...

  10. #10
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    Got them hemmed and sewn together!

    Quote Originally Posted by froldt View Post
    I have either enough fabric to make a pair of snake skins or a number of stuff sacks. Haven't decided which route I should go yet...
    First of all, after reading some threads about it, I decided to go with something along the lines of the BlackBishop Bag. These two first practice bags are nothing like what I will eventually make, but they will suffice for now.


    Well, I got the hammocks hemmed and sewn together last night! It took longer than I thought because... well, we'll get to that in a minute.

    My sister brought over her sewing machine and after supper I was able to get started. I cut one of my pieces of scrap in half and made two stuff sacks (simple fold-over bags with a channel sewn in the top to run a cord through.)

    Confident that I could hem the hammocks, I started. And that's where it all went wrong... I finished the first hem, all the way around. Apparently when I was changing projects, I bumped the tension setting, from 9 to 0. So on the top of the hammock it looked fine, on the bottom, I used at least 4 times the length of thread that was needed. So as to not waste it, I went back and got real familiar with my stitch ripper. I was able to save almost 3 full bobbins worth of thread, and had to throw away at least two more.
    So, once I got it all undone, I was able to sew it back together and then sew the other three sheets (two double hammocks).
    It was late but I decided to go ahead and sew the hammocks together. I went with sort of a modified zHammock design. The red lines are where I sewed the two layers together, and the black lines I left separate so that a pad can be inserted.


    Once the sewing was finished, as much as I wanted to get to the whipping, it was time for bed. I've got the materials to get them both whipped and hung, but I won't be able to get around to that till tonight. I still need some cord for ridgelines, but at least I'll be able to get them hung and put to use!

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