Fabric suggestions

[pvtmorriscsa]

Howdy all,
I have already purchased the majority of the patterns, and fabrics that I will need for my clothing system. On another post I had the "wool" removed from my eyes, and the inherent flaws with poly/cotton gear exposed.
I guess my question is, what fabric should I use to make the following?
Wide Brimmed hat.
Kilt, or knee length cargo shorts.
Long sleeved shirt. (something to go over my base layers)
Any information would be great. As I will be heading to SC for a sewing bee with my mother in a couple of weeks.

[hungryhowie]

Howdy all,
I have already purchased the majority of the patterns, and fabrics that I will need for my clothing system. On another post I had the "wool" removed from my eyes, and the inherent flaws with poly/cotton gear exposed.
I guess my question is, what fabric should I use to make the following?
Wide Brimmed hat.
Kilt, or knee length cargo shorts.
Long sleeved shirt. (something to go over my base layers)
Any information would be great. As I will be heading to SC for a sewing bee with my mother in a couple of weeks.

Have you visited Thru-hiker.com? AYCE is very knowledgable about these types of things, and even sells fabric and a few patterns of his own that are reportedly very well done.

As far as the hat, you can really go with anything you want to. I don't like hats while hiking, they're too hot and restrictive for me. But if I were going to make one, I'd probably base it off of the Columbia wide-brimmed desert hats...very nice stuff. You may be able to find some solarweave to sew it out of, I think this is a supplex-like nylon with SPF properties built in. Thru-hiker also sells a material called Timtex, which is a stiffener for brims...something that may help you out on your project.

Don't I remember seeing 100 wt fleece top in your clothing list? I can't imagine why you'd want another top besides your wicking t-shirt and this. You'll be carrying a rain jacket, the 100wt fleece, and your hiking shirt, surely you can make due without an additional layer (for summer anyway).

If you plan to be out into Autumn and Winter, I'd check out AYCE's Kennebec Pullover- an insulated pullover that costs about $50 and weighs about 10-12oz and is pretty toasty.

In your previous post you mentioned using rainwear made out of 1.9oz nylon. I'd advise you to go with 1.1oz. Why? 1.1oz is really quite a bit lighter than 1.9oz. It also has the benefit of being silicone impregnated, which means that it is coated with silicone (which is hydrophobic -- meaning it will not absorb water) as opposed to urethane (which is hydrophillic -- meaning that it will absorb water and become quite a bit heavier -- coatings will also wear off after a while while the silicone impregnation is permanent). You can find 1.1oz silnylon for about $5/yd, and AYCE (man...what a plug for thru-hiker, eh?) even sells patterns (liberty ridge series) for an anorak and rain pants. Out of 1.1oz, you could make waterproof rainwear that weighed as little as 5-6oz for the SET!

If you haven't done much (or any) sewing before, start with something small. Use the 1.1oz silnylon and re-make any stuff sacks that you were planning on taking with this stuff. If you also make your packcover/ liner out of this as well, you could slash more than 1 pound from your packweight, and all while becoming accustomed to sewing outdoor gear.

Next you could move into making some waterproof or fleece mittens, and then on to the apparel...the more you sew, the better you'll get.

Of course, the second I post this, you'll post saying that you designed and built the first Clip Flashlight tent for SD....sigh...

Happy sewing!

-Howie

[pvtmorriscsa]

Well I am not all that as far as tailoring goes. But I have done a far bit of sewing. I have handsewn three shirts, and one jacket. That was before I discovered the joys of the sewing machine. So I will be making all of my clothing, and wet weather gear. Actually my mother will be helping me, but she original planned to do the first ten or so days of my thru hike with me. Sadly she will not, but has instead become my support team. Oh, did I mention that my mother is also an accomplished seamstress, I bought her a couple of books, and she is champing at the bit for me to come down so we can bust my gear out. Than again I did promise her I would bring the embroidery machine that I picked up cheap when I come to visit, which could be the reason for her excitement. I am excited as well as I will be doing extensive “field” testing both in the wilderness, and the urban environment.

Now you might have a good point about needing a shirt. I can cope with that, but

I still need to come up with some kind of material to make my shorts, or kilt out of. I have seen this supplex stuff mentioned. I would want something that is going to be durable. In case you could not tell from my clothing list, I plan a lot of redundancy into my gear. So I tend to want fabrics that are going to be tough, yet comfortable to wear as well.

Most of my patterns I am basing on Green Pepper patterns, with modifications of my own. Except for my big a**ed hat. I designed that from scratch. Alas and Alack, I will have to make another. Oh well. The first one turned out pretty good, I reckon the second one will be better. I designed it with a wide brim, and an adjustable headband, so I could loosen it up and wear it over my balaclava if need be. The brim has Velcro on it so you can “stick” it up to the crown. When the brim is up the hat looks like an old style tricorn. When down, the brim measures out to 3.5 inches from the crown of the hat.

Thanks for the information, I am going to go and check out that site.

[Shoe Leather Express]

http://www.owfinc.com/ ;)