It seemed as if it would be oh so simple.
Posted: Sat May 08, 2021 5:33 pm
I had a Golite 800 fill bag which had served me well for over 10 years. The lofting was still excellent, but the stitched holes had stretched and every time you got in or out there was a cloud of down.
I'd seen on ebay a seller blueskylavender (James)made and sold quilt shells that you just needed to add your own filling.
So take the down out of old bag, tosh it in the quilt cover and sew the end up. Job done. Easy.
Before the quilt arrived my daughter and I took apart the old bag. There must have been around 30 compartments filled with down. It took well over an hour. If you've ever wondered why decent sleeping bags are expensive, it is certainly in part due to the complex construction.
Our afternoon's work had yielded 370 grams of 800 fill down. My wife was not so impressed as there was down all over the kitchen and beyond.
James informed me that for the shell I'd ordered I'd need 5-700 grams of down. A wanted advert on here was placed, and Sean kindly offered a pied elephant to be hacked up.
I think I'd been traumatised by getting the down out of the old bag and into a bin bag. The slightest waft of air and the down is away. Trying to grab a handful is like trying to pick up water in a sock. I couldn't face tidying up the mess.
A proper wet day today and I decided to finish the project. I waited until my wife headed out to the shop before starting. The pied elephant I'd got from Sean was also well made and it took a good while to get the down out of it.
There are 10 baffles in the quilt, and I did my best to fill them equally. The ones on either side had limited access as the elastic cord toggles were already sewn in place.
Once filled to my satisfaction I pinned the top and sewed it up without problems.
There's about 570 grams of filling so it should be warm.
I'd seen on ebay a seller blueskylavender (James)made and sold quilt shells that you just needed to add your own filling.
So take the down out of old bag, tosh it in the quilt cover and sew the end up. Job done. Easy.
Before the quilt arrived my daughter and I took apart the old bag. There must have been around 30 compartments filled with down. It took well over an hour. If you've ever wondered why decent sleeping bags are expensive, it is certainly in part due to the complex construction.
Our afternoon's work had yielded 370 grams of 800 fill down. My wife was not so impressed as there was down all over the kitchen and beyond.
James informed me that for the shell I'd ordered I'd need 5-700 grams of down. A wanted advert on here was placed, and Sean kindly offered a pied elephant to be hacked up.
I think I'd been traumatised by getting the down out of the old bag and into a bin bag. The slightest waft of air and the down is away. Trying to grab a handful is like trying to pick up water in a sock. I couldn't face tidying up the mess.
A proper wet day today and I decided to finish the project. I waited until my wife headed out to the shop before starting. The pied elephant I'd got from Sean was also well made and it took a good while to get the down out of it.
There are 10 baffles in the quilt, and I did my best to fill them equally. The ones on either side had limited access as the elastic cord toggles were already sewn in place.
Once filled to my satisfaction I pinned the top and sewed it up without problems.
There's about 570 grams of filling so it should be warm.
I originally bought the pied elephant with the idea of recycling the down into a quilt. I then looked at YouTube videos of people sealing themselves in their bathrooms with the door taped shut, to get the down out without getting it all over the house and had a change of mind 
