ChrisS
WKR
I'm a DIYer at heart. I built my own electric brewery to make beer, I've built a wine cellar, I tie my own flies, I'm in the midst of a canoe rehab, and I redid my bathroom. I like to learn new things (I also like to learn when its best to just hire someone who knows what the hell they're doing). Thanks to this place and others, I found out that a lot of high end outdoor materials are available to DIYers and with a few hours a night, we can make pretty cool gear. I pestered my Mom about sewing up a quilt. I said I had been looking for a older sewing machine, but couldn't find a decent one under $150. She tells me that she has three in the basement and I'm welcome to any of them. Lo' and behold: the cadillac of sewing machines (circa 1957):
It works fine, I cleaned out some old lint and thread, reoiled the works and put some grease on the gears. Works like a champ and powers through pretty much anything. It has gotten away from me a couple of times, I've been practicing being a little lighter on the ol' gas pedal.
My mom took on my quilt and showed me how to set everything up and work the machine. It came out pretty decent. I have a middling 0F bag, a 20F HG quilt, and I wanted something light and synthetic for summer fishing trips. It's deceiving, but I put a taper on there. It's 3.6 oz APEX and the 1.0oz HyperD fabric from ripstop by the roll. It came out pretty good and, with the stuff sack, it weighs about 17 oz.
I added some velcro to the footbox so that it can be opened flat. I also added some lineloc 3s to the four corners in case I wanted to use it as an underquilt.
Once I got the machine home, I picked up some cheap fabric and made a bunch of stuff sacks. I also made an x-pac reinforced stuff sack for my stove pipe to minimize getting soot everywhere or the sharp edges tearing something. I wanted to make a tarp, so I bought a bunch of silpoly. I started with a DIY packcover like I've seen on here before (combo pack cover, groundsheet, emergency tarp, etc) to get the hang of sewing the rolled hems. It's 45" x 54" and has x-pac reinforced corners with guyouts. Weighs 3 oz:
Up next will be the tarp (I've been a little hesitant to cut the material because I want to make sure that my dimensions come out correctly). I'm also going to take a crack at some pullouts using Brad's tutorial. Ultimately, I want to make a shelter of some sort. I have an 8-man tipi, so I was thinking of something between that and the simple tarp.
Thanks for the many tutorials on here and for people posting their projects. It's definitely easier to take a crack at something if you can see what others have done.
It works fine, I cleaned out some old lint and thread, reoiled the works and put some grease on the gears. Works like a champ and powers through pretty much anything. It has gotten away from me a couple of times, I've been practicing being a little lighter on the ol' gas pedal.
My mom took on my quilt and showed me how to set everything up and work the machine. It came out pretty decent. I have a middling 0F bag, a 20F HG quilt, and I wanted something light and synthetic for summer fishing trips. It's deceiving, but I put a taper on there. It's 3.6 oz APEX and the 1.0oz HyperD fabric from ripstop by the roll. It came out pretty good and, with the stuff sack, it weighs about 17 oz.
I added some velcro to the footbox so that it can be opened flat. I also added some lineloc 3s to the four corners in case I wanted to use it as an underquilt.
Once I got the machine home, I picked up some cheap fabric and made a bunch of stuff sacks. I also made an x-pac reinforced stuff sack for my stove pipe to minimize getting soot everywhere or the sharp edges tearing something. I wanted to make a tarp, so I bought a bunch of silpoly. I started with a DIY packcover like I've seen on here before (combo pack cover, groundsheet, emergency tarp, etc) to get the hang of sewing the rolled hems. It's 45" x 54" and has x-pac reinforced corners with guyouts. Weighs 3 oz:
Up next will be the tarp (I've been a little hesitant to cut the material because I want to make sure that my dimensions come out correctly). I'm also going to take a crack at some pullouts using Brad's tutorial. Ultimately, I want to make a shelter of some sort. I have an 8-man tipi, so I was thinking of something between that and the simple tarp.
Thanks for the many tutorials on here and for people posting their projects. It's definitely easier to take a crack at something if you can see what others have done.
