DIY Down pillow?

**Vincethebutcher** · 09-27-2013, 19:31

This may be a silly idea, and please let me know if it is. But I'm in the midst of putting together material for a DIY down UQ. So what I've done is purchased a couple down coats and blankets from thirft stores around town and am "harvesting" the down from them. Very messy, but luckily i live alone so its just me that has to be covered in feathers.

Does it make sense to make myself a down pillow? I like using a pillow to elevate my head just slightly while sleeping also the added warmth. I have an old coleman synthetic pillow that ive been using for years. I'm thinking for making something along the line of 10"x12" or 15" but am debating on the fill. Does 3-4oz sound reasonable? Will it still be able to compact? I'm figuring I have paid close to $1 an ounce for down if not cheaper, so expense is not an issue.

Any ideas?

**raiffnuke** · 09-27-2013, 19:35

The amount of down should be determined by the size of the pillow. I have made a few in the past. I used 1 oz for a really small pillow, so for a reasonable sized hammock pillow 3 oz or so should be plenty.

**Vincethebutcher** · 09-27-2013, 23:05

thanks, ill give it shot

**Acer** · 09-27-2013, 23:13

I took a down pillow that I got from Black Rock Gear,,and really thought it sucked as it only had a oz of down in it for the money,,so I added 3 more ozs of down,,and now have the pillow I need for my head especially sleeping on my side so much in the RR bridge hammock..works like a charm..down compresses when you lay on it,,so if you want a solid down pillow,,be sure to add down till you have it the way you want it. Mine now has 4 ozs of down,,and weighs, 6 oz total but don't mind at all packing it..and it is warm in the winter for sure.

**iRokk** · 09-27-2013, 23:17

Oooh a down pillow sounds lovely. I wouldn't mind a snoring bear. Less messy

**Mouseskowitz** · 09-28-2013, 21:13

I would like to know how this works for you. I'm thinking of doing the same thing.

**Vincethebutcher** · 09-29-2013, 00:33

Almost done "harvesting" down. I first did a down vest, looked like it was from the 80s mabye early 90s, i got 4.5oz of what im thinking is 650 mabye 600 fill power. I did get my hands on a First Down jacket definitely a deep winter jacket, i have one sleeve to go

so far i have 455g of down awesome quality too, i called around and it seems First Down uses minimum 800 fill I'm anticipating 20oz from the one jacket.

I still have 2 blankets and another vest to harvest. I think I will use the lower quality down for the pillow and save the 800fp for a under quilt. I just order 6 yards of 1.1 ripstop from DIY Gear Supply so i will start mapping out that project soon.

What I'm thinking to do for this pillow is a small tester for making a under quilt. 4 baffles running width wise, no-see-um netting, and a nylon that is closer to 4.5oz/yard that i picked up from S.R. Harris (local outlet). I still need to map it out, but 10"x15" is what I am leaning towards. Ill post some pictures as i get going on it.

**Vincethebutcher** · 09-30-2013, 03:51

Alright so, it took me about 3 hours. I really gotta stop starting projects at midnight. But it turned out pretty good, nice and comfortable. So i went with the 10"x15" for final size, with hem allowance i cut out 12"x17". I finished with 4 baffles going length wise. I used 4.7oz of down i got from a vest, I think its probably closer to 500-550 fill power, but cant be sure. I used a nylon that weighs 4.5oz/yard so total fabric weight ended up at 24g along with 5g of no-see-um for the baffles. For a final weight of 166g or 5.8oz.

I dont know what others are using or if this is heavier than what it could be. But my old coleman synthetic pillow weighs 186g, so really I am saving weight, also more comfortable. Sewing the baffles wasn't as hard as i anticipated, i meant to take a picture of it but i forgot until that part was sewed.

Stuffing the down was another fun adventure. So I've seen some things or people using vacuum cleaner attachments, but i realized my vacuum doesn't have one. So i went with a toilet paper dowel. I had my down in a garbage bag so i just did it all in the garbage bag also using an extender to a racket set. Worked fairly well if you don't mind a little down flying around, I still haven't vacuumed after harvesting the down.

All in all i probably made this project more difficult than needed to be. But this is just practice for the UQ project next.

Hope this helps someone. Definitely good practice for UQ essentially the same process just much smaller scale.

**nuttysquirrel** · 09-30-2013, 04:10

looks great! why did you chose baffles instead of just filling the shell with no baffles?

**Vincethebutcher** · 09-30-2013, 22:04

Originally Posted by nuttysquirrel

looks great! why did you chose baffles instead of just filling the shell with no baffles?

More just for practice on making an underquilt. I figured it would be good to try out a doing baffles on a small project for getting to far invested in a project that may be to difficult for me. I definitely feel better about the idea of doing an UQ, i wish i would have tried doing a differential cut. But i figure i should be able to handle it when the time comes.