Anyone into Sewing?

old5tenwrote:

a bit ot, but it would be cool if someone made sun hoodies that have a nice breathable section in the armpit region and maybe a bit more opportunity for ventilation in the head area while wearing a helmet.  i've found the current generation of sun hoodies (own patagucci, tnf, columbia, or, and a couple of others) rather hot...

The Black Diamond Alpenglow Pro has ventilation in the pits, but none in the hood.

I always appreciate the pit vents, because I'm a sweaty person. Just today I liked not having ventilation in the hood in the morning when it was a bit chilly, but would have really appreciated them later in the day when it was warm.

I think ventilation in the hood at the top where the helmet goes would be ideal, since it would vent the heat that builds up inside the helmet, but doesn't expose any skin to direct wind, because your helmet is there to block the wind. Also, I don't have hair on my head to stop any wind :D

mountainhickwrote:

Next question is about fabrics. I have been out of sewing for close to 30 years, and have not kept up on fabrics at all. I want to make sun hoodies, but NOT ANYTHING LIKE the nasty stretchy things that are marketed as such.!!! Not a knit, but a light weight hard weave with a bit of stretch. Maybe sort of between a poly/cotton button down shirt and patagonia houdini type fabric, but very breathable and cool on the skin. Any recommendations?

Check out Patagonia's Airshed fabric - I think that's what you're looking for.  Unfortunately, they don't make the classic Airshed pullover, but have other variants with the Airshed fabric in the body.  It is extremely light and versatile.  Breaks the wind.  Cooler than a Patagonia sun hoody. Also super comfy next to skin and mosquito proof.  I don't know where they source it or if there is any way to buy that exact fabric, but it might get you on the path.  I bought a prototype Hooded Airshed on Ebay - happy to share photos or take measurements for you if you get that far.

I could put this in the classifieds but i figure there might be more interest here. I have this Juki ddl-555 machine that I’ve had for 20 years or more but don’t really use it much anymore so i thought see if anyone is looking for a strong sewing machine. I am in the Teton area. Asking $400 for this beast.

I love this thread so much.

Has anyone cloned / made a metolius shortshop or organic blubber pad? They seem fairly straightforward, but I'd appreciate any thoughts or lessons-learned, or where you've had luck sourcing foam. Thanks! 

Seigi Kwrote:

Has anyone cloned / made a metolius shortshop or organic blubber pad? They seem fairly straightforward, but I'd appreciate any thoughts or lessons-learned, or where you've had luck sourcing foam. Thanks! 

I bought a full sheet of 1 inch 2.2LB polyethylene and was able to make 1 blubber and 2 slider pads with 600d polyester on sale from Rockywoods. The actual sewing was straight forward but takes a little patience to figure out where to put the straps and such

https://www.thefoamfactory.com/closedcellfoam/polyethylene.html#2-2-density

Some more info from the foam pros: https://www.thefoamfactory.com/blog/index.php/climb-higher-with-confidence-using-bouldering-crash-pads

Sarah Walkerwrote:

I bought a full sheet of 1 inch 2.2LB polyethylene and was able to make 1 blubber and 2 slider pads with 600d polyester on sale from Rockywoods. The actual sewing was straight forward but takes a little patience to figure out where to put the straps and such

https://www.thefoamfactory.com/closedcellfoam/polyethylene.html#2-2-density

Some more info from the foam pros: https://www.thefoamfactory.com/blog/index.php/climb-higher-with-confidence-using-bouldering-crash-pads

This is great - thanks so much! 

Why the long face?  Because nobody has posted on the sewing thread for over 1 month!  Hopefully it's because you're all busy climbing!  

Here's the one-and-only Will Sew For Bolts horse halter made from retired rope.  See all our creations at Will Sew For Bolts on FB and IG.  Help us turn old rope into new bolts.

I just made my sister a pair of rain chaps. Not only did I make them so skinny that she might struggle to pull them over her ARMS but I failed to complete the task before she left for her Tour de Mont Blanc. Nonetheless I had a good time on my first project in decades (not an exaggeration), and I’m fired up to try again, hopefully in time for her next adventure. Id include a photo but they’re chaps (how interesting can that be) and black so very hard to make a decent image. 

I made another chest harness, this one specifically for LRS with my El Mudo.  It also works for TRS, of course.  on the back is an adjustable tether that goes to the waist belt to keep the front attachment point consistent.

Looking to get my first sewing machine and am struggling to narrow down what features I should be looking for. Would like to eventually work with Gore-Tex fabric and maybe some UHMWPE for custom packs, but basic knit/woven fabrics will be the starting point. Are there any one-size-fits-all machines that can handle these different fabrics and won’t completely break the bank?

Quick chalk bucket. Pretty fun to make, challenged myself to use no square or ruler which was interesting. Added magnets under the pink webbing, which maybe will prevent me from spilling chalk? 

Anyone have recommendations for a good jogger pattern? Specifically ones that you’ve ended up enjoying climbing in.

Ryan Cwrote:

Looking to get my first sewing machine and am struggling to narrow down what features I should be looking for. Would like to eventually work with Gore-Tex fabric and maybe some UHMWPE for custom packs, but basic knit/woven fabrics will be the starting point. Are there any one-size-fits-all machines that can handle these different fabrics and won’t completely break the bank?

Lightweight and stretchy fabrics tend to work well on machines made more for general home use. Make sure it has at a minimum zig-zag stitching if maintaining some semblance of stretch is important to you.

Thick fabrics, multiple layers of webbing, etc... tend to work better on more industrial walking foot machines. These machines don't tend to handle lightweight and stretchy fabrics very well. They do especially poorly if the plate on the machine that the needle dips down into has a wide opening, like to provide space for zig-zag stitching, in this case the opening can tend to allow the lightweight fabric to get pulled down into the machine at worst, or bunch up really badly.

You can often get by with heavier fabrics and webbing on a smaller home machine by hand cranking the wheel, just being careful to not deflect the needle much at all when doing so, or it will break.

Short answer: a singer heavy duty.

Leather tooled coozie i made recently. Sort of climbing related… kinda.

Desert Rock Sportswrote:

Short answer: a singer heavy duty.

second this. i have one. it good.

Here are some recent projects from Will Sew For Bolts.  The white/red tray is our largest basket yet based on the extremely-stiff, static, work rope.

If anyone here is interested in selling or custom making one of their 20-30L alpine/multi pitch bags for me, I'd love to chat!

After lurking on this thread for a long time I finally had the courage to try a couple of repairs. I replaced the bottom of my backpack using just a regular at-home sewing machine, with some hand cranking in a couple of thicker spots. Learned a lot. The stiff plastic spine of the bag was sewn into the bag so I couldn't turn it inside out and had to do a lot of seam ripping to get the spine detached. After replacing the bottom, it became clear that the seams that I ripped did more than just attach the spine to the fabric... they attached the hip belts and the top of the shoulder straps!! So I had to hand sew those back on. Lesson learned- will do a lot more thinking and inspecting before I just start seam ripping willy nilly next time. The hand sewing is holding up great so far.

Also did a tune-up on my crack gloves. Replaced the thumb loops as well as the wrist strap - some excess strap from an old backpack turned out to be the perfect width! Also tried to repair the place where the strap feeds through like in this video, but that hasn't held up super great so far, but it is chugging along.

Caroline Yearwoodwrote:Also tried to repair the place where the strap feeds through like in this video, but that hasn't held up super great so far, but it is chugging along.

I’ve gotten the strap slot on my crack gloves to hold up pretty well by gluing fabric to the outside of the glove and then stitching around the slot with heavy thread. The stitching seems to lower the friction of the strap through the slot by quite a bit, which seems to help a lot with the wear and tear.

It’s not clear in the photo, but I glued patches to both sides here.

James McFwrote:

I’ve gotten the strap slot on my crack gloves to hold up pretty well by gluing fabric to the outside of the glove and then stitching around the slot with heavy thread. The stitching seems to lower the friction of the strap through the slot by quite a bit, which seems to help a lot with the wear and tear.

It’s not clear in the photo, but I glued patches to both sides here.

That looks super sturdy - what kind of glue did you use?