Who here sews their own gear?

“I just bought a sewing machine. The thing weighs and is built like an anvil. Solid metal, belt driven and the guy at the shop sewed through 8 pieces of denim with it to show me it was capable of punching through heavy duty material. I'm stoked to make some cool stuff, like a tarp/tent, bags, etc. but was wondering if anyone had any pointers, good books, etc. for sewing outdoor gear?

And I know about the OTHER (blasphemy!)forum for this stuff.

Thanks, kids.”

“You mean there's another forum out there? well I never!”

“That's gonna be murded on your pack weight man! I think they make em outta Titanium now so it isn't as heavy. Did you get a stuff sack with it?”

“LOL”

“Over on TLB they have a section called make your own. There is a woman named Penny that posts there and she has a web site. Maybe do a search for her posts.


hashttp://www.backpacking.net/bbs.html”

“Closest I've come to sewing my own gear was to make a sleeping bag liner out of a hunk of fleece for winter camping. It was actually kinda fun doing it vs. buying something, plus a he!!uva lot cheaper...”

“Good luck with your new piece of gear.”

“I made a fleece bag liner.

There is a website with patterns for making gear such as tarps, tents, outerwear, etc. I will try my damndest to find that site for you (no, it's not the Ray J. site either) and post it's address. In the meantime, if anybody else can beat me to the punch, please do cause I think I got the website from someone here.”

“What kind of guy goes out and buys a sewing machine?

Oh, never mind. I guess the answer is obvious.”

“http://www.owfinc.com/index.html

Try this. They local fabric shop here sells patterns for gaiters, day packs, gloves, mittens, hats, tights and such. The only problem is that they dont sell much outdoor fabric. I've made footprints for two tents and still have lots of waterproof material left. Can't decide what to do with it. I've also made lots of fleece clothing and flannel, fleece, and silk bag liners.”

“I made a few lumbar packs and usually modify my gear to suit my needs. I customized the suspension on my internal Wilderness Experience pack by sewing on a Gregory hipbelt and a homemade plastic frame sheet made from a book binder. I fixed the shoulder straps directly to the pack for a custom fit. The pack fits and works great. I also put a plastic stiffener in the hipbelt of my Mountainsmith pack by using a couple pieces of vinyl siding and attaching them directly to the frame. It turned the pack from a mutt to a greyhound. No more sagging hipbelt and I contoured the belt to fit my hips. I also sewed on some REI shoulder straps and fixed them to the frame and the pack has incredible stability and weighs only 4 pounds at 4500 cu. capacity. It's amazing how good a pack can fit when you customize it with needle and thread.”

“Joy and I were just discussing a sleeping bag for Abby. We have an old slumberjack that we dont use and are considering converting it (actually cuttung it in two and resewing the cut edge) to a half size bag for her. Any suggestions on how to make a good sleeping bag for an infant?”

“I made some gaitors and mittens for my G.I. Joe when I was younger...had to have a decent outfit to wear with the Jim and Tammy Baker snowboard I made fer him!”

“That half-bag idea is what I did for buddur, 'cept I used the top half, took off the zipper and sewed on velcro tabs instead.

And I'd use synthetic fill fer the little one...if ya get my drift.”

“I'm thinking of starting from scratch with fabric and polyfill from the store. I'm thinking fleece on the inside, rip-stop nylon on the outside. It doesn't have to be terribly warm; if it drops down below 50* at night I'm not taking her. Maybe just some batting (for quilting) on the inside.

Velcro is a great sugestion Buddur. It'd be alot easier to strap her in instead of zipping, don't have to worry about catching little fingers and toes. Maybe snaps.

Too bad they don't sell those tiny samples of what a sleeping looks like! One of those would be just right.”