Home made gear

DAA

DAA

Well-Known Member
Location
West Bountiful, UT
Okay, not home made gear. But home made repair and my first time ever using a sewing machine.

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The zipper went bad on my Sitka coat (again). Actually, every zipper on every piece of Sitka gear I've owned has gone bad. They use really lightweight plastic waterproof fancy zippers that have all failed me eventually. In the past, they have replaced the items, so, all good. This time, they wanted $340 to replace the zipper!

So... Cindy asked for a sewing machine like five years ago and hasn't ever touched it. So I unboxed it, read the manual, spent a few hours with a youtube tutorial and went for it. Heavy duty YKK #10 for $8 from Amazon - that weighs over half of the rest of the coat - but ought to last. And $5 for a seam ripper and spool of thread from Walmart. Up close, it's not pretty, looks like Ray Charles sewed it with his feet. But it's on there solid and totally functional and I'm pleased with my booger stitch repair job.

- DAA
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
DAA said:
Okay, not home made gear. But home made repair and my first time ever using a sewing machine.

View attachment 169519

The zipper went bad on my Sitka coat (again). Actually, every zipper on every piece of Sitka gear I've owned has gone bad. They use really lightweight plastic waterproof fancy zippers that have all failed me eventually. In the past, they have replaced the items, so, all good. This time, they wanted $340 to replace the zipper!

So... Cindy asked for a sewing machine like five years ago and hasn't ever touched it. So I unboxed it, read the manual, spent a few hours with a youtube tutorial and went for it. Heavy duty YKK #10 for $8 from Amazon - that weighs over half of the rest of the coat - but ought to last. And $5 for a seam ripper and spool of thread from Walmart. Up close, it's not pretty, looks like Ray Charles sewed it with his feet. But it's on there solid and totally functional and I'm pleased with my booger stitch repair job.

- DAA
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One thing that has motivated me to learn most of the things I know how to do is the ridiculous price of shitty quality on some items. Even I can often do better work for free than some business can do for $$$. Professional homeowner stuff right there.
 
benjy

benjy

Rarely wrenches
Supporting Member
Location
Moab
We made some sleeping bags in 2018 for backpacking. Since then we added one more to our fam, and our girls outgrew their bags. So… here we go again!

Our first bags the idea was to use shock cord to attach the bag to the pad so you could spin around in your bag. That concept didn’t really work for us, so this time I’m making a sleeve for the pad that the bag is sewn to, and with a zipper on the side. Sewing baffles is the worst part. Half of a baffle down, 8 more to go.

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Kevin B.

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Vehicular limbo
benjy said:
We made some sleeping bags in 2018 for backpacking. Since then we added one more to our fam, and our girls outgrew their bags. So… here we go again!

Our first bags the idea was to use shock cord to attach the bag to the pad so you could spin around in your bag. That concept didn’t really work for us, so this time I’m making a sleeve for the pad that the bag is sewn to, and with a zipper on the side. Sewing baffles is the worst part. Half of a baffle down, 8 more to go.

View attachment 173787

View attachment 173788
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I guess you're already invested, but did you consider a quilt instead of a bag? I made a quilt a couple years ago out of a lightweight ripstop and Climashield Apex, it's still going strong. I toss and turn all night, the freedom of movement with a quilt is great for that.
 
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