Getting Creative

Last evening, with 60 hours remaining before we set out (on foot) for Scotland, and having finally got all my gear out and had a practice pack, I decided that I’d quite like a new stuff-sack to go with the new quilt (the quilt being bulkier than my down bag and thus it’s a squeeze to get it in my usual stuff sack). Not having time left to source one, I went and dragged some fabric out of the cupboard and got creative.

A while later, I had produced this – a square-bottomed stuff sack, weighing 21g:

I stuffed the larger half of the quilt in to check it for size…

…and decided that it was a bit too long and thin.

So, I measured, marked and cut some more fabric and returned to the sewing machine. A while later, I had a mis-matched pair, both weighing in at 21g, but one being shorter and fatter than the other.

As it goes, the second one is a bit too short and fat, but I haven’t been moved to make an inbetweenie.

Continuing the stuff sack theme, this morning I returned to the sewing machine with the ‘kitchen’ bag, which got gnawed by a rodent on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2012. If I continue to use it in its holey state then the spoons are bound to fall out unnoticed sometime, and that would not be a happy scenario.

The bag was duly patched (perfectly functionally so), yet I then decided to replace it instead. An old silnylon stuff sack was canibalised for the fabric and, for this one, I simply duplicated the design of the old one:

Old one (patched and inside out) on the left; new one on the right

I’ve not sewed a round bottom into a stuff sack before. It probably gets easier with practice, but I found that three hands were useful to get it into position. I’m rather pleased with the result (even if I did get one accidental pleat underneath, thanks to a small mis-sizing of the base).

With time having been frittered away making a bag that wasn’t strictly necessary, I finally turned my attention to the final sewing chore, which really did need doing. With our switch to a quilt, I thought it would be wise to make a couple of insulated hats. The problem is that I don’t have a pattern and I’ve never made one before, so it deserved a little bit of thought (not a lot, mind, what with time marching on!).

My old Paramo Velez (with detachable hood) provided a rough pattern and a couple of hours later Mick and I were both looking truly ridiculous modelling this exceptionally warm head-gear:

The second one (the one I’m wearing) was a better design than the first. If I was to make a third (which I’m not planning on!) then it would be even better. As it goes, they may not be works of art, but they are functional.

I think I ought to go and put the sewing machine away now, before I decide to make something else!