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  1. #1
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    DIY build with pics for a sculpted down DIY Underquilt for HH Side-zip

    I have been considering the idea of creating my own underquilt for quite a while now. My reasons were the significantly increased comfort (compared to a roll-mat), less weight, but mostly a lower packing volume. (The issue on my trips is volume, not weight) It was really the expense that held me back. Even when making one yourself, the cost of the down is quite high. In the end, thanks to a helpful eBayer, I managed to find a supplier who was able to sell 250 Grams / 8.9 Ounces / 0.5 Pounds for approx. £65.- / $90.-. I needed about 350 / 12.3 / 0.8, meaning I would need two bags worth…

    Anyway, over time, I started forming a picture of what I had in mind as, reading the forums, I was keen to find a different way of tackling the potential for cold-spots. A big caveat here… My design is made uniquely around my Hennessy Hammock, required modifying the Hennessy permanently, and therefore my solution would not easily be transferable to a different hammock. The usual designs are far, far more flexible, but appear to carry a risk of a cold night here and there. I have used this Hennessy for years, and have no intention to change, so for me, it made sense to attempt to come up with this personalised solution.

    The idea was to create an underquilt shaped to the (loaded) hammock and to use a zig-zag all around type of suspension. While putting it all together, I decided to take photos and write a “build” thread, in case someone would like to play with the concept.

    First of all, a photo of the end result:



    This design meant I had to overcome a number of unique challenges, mainly to create the correct 3D shape, not once, but twice (for both top and bottom layer) and with a “differential-cut” baffle of varying width, due to the tie-outs on the Hennessy and my wish to follow the shape of the hammock.

    Here’s how I tackled the challenge:

    1) I set up my hammock in the garage in the most natural position possible, as if I were camping in the wild(Having said that, the mess in the garage is pretty wild too!)



    2) I always sleep in a foetal position facing the left (or the zip), with my head closest to the left /head-end tie-out and my feet at the lower tie-out on the other side. I calculated percentage weight for various parts of my body and used weights of water and fire-bricks to recreate my figure lying in a foetal position in the hammock. I had placed two sleeping mats and an old thick curtain below the weight both to protect the hammock and help regularise the shape of the weight so it would resemble my body more.



    3) I then took another old curtain from our stack and used clips to fit it around the edge of my hammock as best I could. I attempted to keep a reasonably straight edge where the blanket was meeting the edge of the hammock wherever possible



    4) I used more clips to create 3 “pleats” in the curtain on either end of the hammock, ensuring the curtain was taut against the hammock. I was not too concerned about the exact location as I was only making a “mould” of the hammock.



    5) Using pins, I then followed the pleats through to the bottom of the hammock, gathering up any spare curtain material, further shaping the curtain to exactly fit my shape in the hammock.



    6) Using the sewing machine, I sewed a seam following each pleat and cut off the excess before fitting it back around the hammock. I found I had to repeat these few steps to get the exact shape. The photo below shows how the curtain now fits precisely around the hammock.



    7) As I stated before, my intention was to use shock-cord around the entire edge of the quilt in a zig-zag manner to suspend the underquilt. This meant I had to lose about 3 inches around the edge of the curtain. I marked it off with marker as per below picture:



    8) I also needed to mark the foot- and head-end. In order to get a “straight” line following the hammock shape, I used some webbing as a ruler



    9) I removed the now completed mould, and cut off the excess material around all four edges. The below photo shows what I was left with.



    10) You can see the puckered mess in the middle of the mould. This is caused by the 3D shape. However, in order to create a template for measuring my material, I will somehow need to flatten this mould up again. I decided to do this by making three cuts toward the centre at each end. Do keep in mind that the 3D shape isn’t exactly symmetrical, as my weight isn’t evenly distributed in the hammock either. This will cause the template to look all sorts of shapes when flattened.



    11) Now that the template is ready, I can place it onto my actual material (Downproof Pertex 40g/sq.m). It’s obviously very important with this irregular shape to clearly mark the hammock-touching side of the template, as well as the head / foot ends.



    12) I used a black marker to mark out the template for the upper layer of fabric (The layer touching the hammock), making sure I left about ½ an inch of seam allowance for the 6 V-shaped cuts and 1 inch of seam allowance around the sides and end of the template.



    13) First I sewed the V-cuts back together to recreate my 3D shape. I did each seam in two stages. First I simply sewed it good side against good side,



    14) ...and then, on the inside (where the down is to be) I folded this seam over and sewed it through both seam and outer layer. I did this to ensure the holes of the original seam wouldn’t stretch out under tension, allowing down to escape and also to ensure the seam wouldn’t rip through the ragged edges of the cloth.



    15) Here is the end result, correct way up. To help me orient the underquilt onto the hammock when it’s finished, I decided to sew a square piece of contrasting nylon onto this layer at the head-end. Again, the pucker of the 3D shape is clearly visible.



    16) At this point, things became more complicated. I had used the freely available calculator to help me figure out how much down I would need, what sizes the baffles would have to be, etc… But from here, I’d be on my own. I decided to make 10 baffles to help with ease of calculating. Based on measuring the just finished layer in the, top-, middle-, and bottom- end, I was able to use the calculator to give me three different baffle widths (For top, middle and bottom ends respectively) It also gave me the size the baffles ought to be for the larger bottom layer of the quilt for the three respective measures. This in turn allowed me to calculate the rough size I would need for the bottom layer. I am not smart enough to figure out precisely where and how to scale the V-cuts, so I used the template to draw the outline as before, but including the increased width, and then re-lay the template, first somewhat to the left, then somewhat to the right to draw the left and right V-cuts. With other words, the V-cuts were exactly the same, but they were spaced a bit farther apart. To be extra sure, I had placed the drawing in the centre of the cloth, and left all excess cloth on, so I would have room for error.



    17) I sewed the V-cuts together exactly as in the previous layer and placed it to the side. I then went back to the original layer and laid out the baffle lines. I used marking tape, as you can see. In order to follow the shape as close as I could, I measured and marked the bottom, middle and top end first. I then stretched the cloth between one end and middle corresponding marks to get a flat and direct line from point to point, and taped it carefully. I found that the lines stayed straight from end to end, which was encouraging and that the baffles gently widened toward the middle, as expected.



    18) I did the same for the lower layer. Only this time, I measured and taped the central baffles first to ensure that the 3D depression would match the top-layer as closely as possible. After determining the baffles at the centre, I moved from side-to-side with the other 8, using the differential measurements. I was pleased to find that my outer baffles roughly ended up where I expected in relation to the line I had drawn earlier using the template and that the V-cuts ended up in the same baffle...



    19) I then cut the baffles from mesh using a technique someone on the forum kindly described.



    20) And sewed the mesh in place, starting with the upper layer. I decided to give the mesh a fold before sewing it down to provide an extra bit of resilience.



    21) I then attached the mesh baffles to the lower layer too. I found this to be much more fiddly and frustrating… The photo below shows the finished job. I then measured and cut the bottom layer to the final measurements. The outer baffle material requirements would be differential width + height of baffle + 1” seam allowance.
    I also cut the ends to baffle height + seam allowance



    22) I clipped the edges together, starting roughly in the centre of each edge. I sewed these edges together in the same manner as I clipped them. (Which cost 1/3 of seam allowance). I then rolled the edge over twice and stitched the seam again (Using the remaining 2/3rd of seam allowance), hiding the frayed cloth edge and giving me a strong 6-layer-thick seam for attaching the suspension from later.



    23) A quick look at the end, showing the 10 baffles. You can also see the V-cuts going off in all sorts of weird directions, but that is due to the irregular shape that this underquilt really has.



    24) By folding the material inside out and sewing the cloth together in the corner as pictured below



    25) And cutting off the excess before folding the inside back in and sewing the seam as before:



    26) You can create a box-like look at the edge of the quilt as the image below shows.



    27) After I “boxed” all four corners in this manner, I closed off one end of the quilt, leaving only the head-end open for pushing the down into. I had come up with all sorts of handy ways (Didn’t have access to anything that blows) and settled on using an old 5L bottle to weigh out the down for each baffle, before unscrewing the top and inserting the neck of the bottle into the baffle.



    28) But in the end, the easiest way was simply to use my hands to gently stuff the down manually into the baffles. I had very few escaped feathers altogether.



    29) I did my best to fill all the baffles evenly. When I thought I was there, I spread the down evenly throughout the quilt and let it sit for a day. After the rest, I gently shook all the down to one end, taking care not to force it down in any one baffle. I then placed a bit of tape to mark where I though the down ended to better visualise how much down to add where.



    30) I filled up the baffles, did some more shaking, some more filling, some checking through the cloth in strong sun-light, etc, and when I was finally happy, I closed the end off, much like I did the other edges.



    31) Then it was time to install the tabs through which I was planning to run my shock-cord. I ended up with 3 at each end and 5 at each side.



    32) The photo below shows the shock cord installed up close. It’s a bit like around the edge of a life-belt or RHIB boat. There’s one cord-lock which will be reachable from inside the hammock, allowing me to tighten or loosen the quilt to help regulate temperature on warmer nights.



    33) Using clips and pins I went on ahead and reinstalled the underquilt onto the hammock. A final chance for adjustments and getting it exactly where wanted.



    34) To install the hooks, I undid a bit of the existing Hennessy grosgrain / edging and slit my hook underneath…



    35) …and sew things back into place with a 100 back-and-forth rows of stiches. Did I mention the hooks I used are just that little over the top? Well, they’re all I had available. I figured I could always hang other things off them in the future…



    36) and the underquilt back in place… Success! In fairness, strictly to keep the underquilt in place, I could have omitted a number of hooks from each side, mainly at the lower left (When lying on your back in the hammock) and upper right. You can see in the photo below that the shock-cord nearly follows a straight line there. Still, it helps prevent accidents (Like sitting on UQ only.). If ever doing this again, I may just consider hooks from above the tie-out on the left and from and below the tie-out on the right as well as both top and bottom end only.



    37) A view from the back



    38) And a volunteer to show the loaded hammock. My partner is lighter than me, but neither of us were able to find air-pockets between hammock and quilt when either of us occupied it, and we both felt our skin temperature rising wherever the hammock was touched when lying in it.



    39) The image below shows the stuffed underquilt in comparison to the roll-mat I’d been using before. It provides twice the cover as the roll-mat did, yet is only half its volume. It weighs about 600 Grams / 21 Ounces / 1.3 Pounds, including hooks and stuff-sack. That’s quite heavy perhaps, but I did design it to go down to -10C / 5F, and probably ended up stuffing a bit more down in then intended.



    The only problem is that it’s summer now, so though I have every intention of using it over the next months, I’ll not know its lower limits for many many moons to come... Perhaps, if I remember, I'll post an update.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Anthonio; 05-20-2018 at 08:20.

  2. #2
    ObdewlaX's Avatar
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    Wow... that's quite a project! I'd say at 21 oz., you're right in the ballpark as most other under quilts in the temp range target.

    Good job!

  3. #3
    New Member
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    Holy buckets! Nice works!

  4. #4
    Senior Member rmcrow2's Avatar
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    Impressive

    Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    psyculman's Avatar
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    Finally! Someone puts hook fasteners along the sides of their hammock to attach a under quilt. Brilliant.

    Explaining your project, and the progressive pictures must have taken almost as much time as making it. Your post will be viewed by many hammock DIY people for a long time. Thank you for your contribution to the community.
    Since I retired, some times I stay awake all day, some times all night.

  6. #6
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    psyculman, are you able to see all the photos? I only see the finished product but would love to see them all.

  7. #7
    LowTech's Avatar
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    On Tapatalk and able to see them all.

  8. #8
    Senior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by 8675309 View Post
    psyculman, are you able to see all the photos? I only see the finished product but would love to see them all.
    I thought I was the only one ?

  9. #9
    Senior Member WV's Avatar
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    Also can't see photos.

  10. #10
    Senior Member rmcrow2's Avatar
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    I can see them on PC and App.

    You may have an internet connection slow enough it is timing out before finishing loading all the pictures.

    On pc try hitting refresh or shift+f5. On a phone pulling the screen down should refresh.

    First thought, might help. The project is worth looking at.



    Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

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