Quilt Fabric

[ndbwhunter]

The fabric that I bought to make my quilt turned out to be a little narrower than I expected. I'm making a synthetic long/wide and need good fabric with a width of at least 59-60". Most of the good quilt fabric on ripstop by the roll and thru-hiker is only 58", and I would like the finished width to be 58". Do you DIY guys know of any other sources for good fabric?

 

[gobbler1662]

take a look at quest outfitter

 

[flyinsquirel]

Dutchware has some really light Argon that is 58" usuable. I made a square down quilt out of it and I would purchase it again if in the market for a very light downproof fabric. It has a very good 'hand' as they say and I have had zero down leakage. Should be perfect for a synthetic quilt as well.
http://www.dutchwaregear.com/argon-67.html

Nobul 2 is also 58" useable. I used this on my first quilt I made with primaloft, no complaints other than a lack of color selection. It's not quite 100% downproof though from what I've read.
http://titaniumgoat.com/Fabric.html

Good luck.

 

[5MilesBack]

Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics sells 60" width breathable ripstop material. I was looking at the same thing for a synthetic quilt with Climashield Apex insulation. They sell that too.

 

[ndbwhunter]

The only issue with using regular ripstop is that it's not treated with DWR. I'll check out some of their other stuff though. I always forget about quest and OWF. Thanks

 

[bhylton]

Bearpaw Wilderness Designs has 1.1 oz ripstop with light DWR in 60in wide. http://www.bearpawwd.com/fabrics_misc/fabrics_misc.php#rip1

 

[BeWitty]

How are the edges finished on these DIY quilts? Sewn inside out? Maybe there is another older thread that explains that already?

Thanks

 

[ndbwhunter]

The sides are sewn inside out. Once it's flipped right side out, the ends are sewn and rolled up to create the drawcord channel.

 

[BeWitty]

Do you guys think the 1.1 oz ripstop is the ideal material for both sides of the quilt? I was planning on going with the Apex insulation. This is my first attempt and my mom will be giving me a hand with the sewing so any extra advice and/or photos of the process would be appreciated! I am going to order through quest outfitter.

Thanks

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I had a custom made underquilt/woobie made to serve multiple duties. For materials we selected the following:

Outer Shell: is composed of Duro Epsilon in a MultiCam pattern licensed to Duro by Crye:

http://multicamfabric.com/shop-fabrics/epsilon

It is extremely strong and light weight. It resists tears and abrasions better than anything I've ever seen. When UPS tossed two five yard rolls over the gate here at the prairie bungalow, they spent the afternoon in the front yard with my dog (who has a side job customizing hiking shoes and slippers). The packaging was ripped to shreds and about a yard was pulled from the end of the roll. The only damage I found was a 3/4" long tear at the very end of the roll. I patched it with adhesive patching material and its on Underwoobie #1 right now.

Finished Weight - 1.55 oz/yd² approximately
Fiber Content - 100% nylon
Construction - 164/118 (warp/fill) approximately
Elemendorf Tear - 5/5 (warp/fill) lbs, minimum
Air Permeability - 2 ft³/ft²/min

It is a waterproof breathable fabric. Legally, I cannot advertise the water resistant finish on the Epsilon as I am not a licensee, but if you go to the link above you will see that Duro says it is treated with a Nanosphere finish. Information on Nanosphere is here:

http://www.schoeller-textiles.com/en/technologies/nanosphere.html

I absolutely love this stuff. I won't make an Underwoobie with anything else as an outer shell.

Insulation: Apex Climashield, a continuous filament synthetic insulation, in the weight/thickness of your choice.

http://climashield.com/durable-warmth

Inner shell: Usually composed of a waterproof breathable fabric of the customer's choice. This is a generic fabric that is available from several suppliers, the quality from each of the same. The most common choice for underquilts is a Ripstop fabric that has been treated with a "durable water resistant" (DWR) finish. Most of these fabrics weigh 1.1-1.6 oz/yd before the finish is applied and the resulting weight is generally 1.9 oz/yd.

This is the final product:







We looked at alternatives. There is another product available for use as an inner shell that is superior to DWR both in weight and performance that more recently came on the market: Argon CS-90

http://dutchwaregear.com/argon-cs90-ripstop-fabric-orange.html

Color selection is limited, and the price shown is an introductory price that is sure to go up. I have several yards in my possession now, and have used its predecessor, Argon, in the past. It is extremely soft and lightweight, almost translucent. It is half the weight of 1.9 DWR and 25% less than 1.1 unfinished Ripstop. The principal difference between the Argon I have used in the past and CS-90 is that the new fabric has a Ripstop grid for added strength and durability. Its principal drawback is that the fabric width is 58 "usable" inches, which means that an additional 2-4 " of fabric at the sides would be required to make a standard 60" wide Underwoobie that would work with other Underwoobies. It would be cost prohibitive to use CS-90 as the side fabric so another fabric of similar color, probably 1.9 DWR would be used and there would be a noticeable difference.

If I could get it in 60 "usable" inches, I'd throw rocks at any other fabric out there and use only Argon CS-90 as an inner shell. It’s that good.

Another option would be to use Epsilon as an inner and outer shell. It is as soft as the unfinished material, and a good deal stronger, but cost is high and it has similar issues regarding condensation as DWR, but on a vastly lesser scale. Hope this helps.

 

[BeWitty]

Thanks for all the great information.