Hammock Underblanket Tutorial – Part 1

This two part hammock underblanket tutorial will show you how to turn a cheap, second hand sleeping bag into a cosy blanket to keep you warm when sleeping in a hammock.

Part two is here.

I sleep in a hammock when we’re out in the woods and generally I have 2 sheepskins underneath me. These are lovely and snug but when they slip in the night I wake up with cold patches on my back and its a pain to get warm & get back to sleep again.

So I wanted an underblanket but refused to spend £50+ to buy one. I dug out an old polyester filled sleeping bag that was in the back of a wardrobe. You could certainly use a down filled bag for this, and I will add in extra thoughts along the way in case that’s what you intend. My blanket will never win a beauty contest,

but it is a cheap and practical solution to a good nights kip.

Polyester filled sleeping bag – free
2 toggles taxed from my old farm waterproof – free
8 metres of nylon cord – 32p
2 wooden beads – free
Old belt off a dress – free

Firstly I unpicked the sleeping bag zip. I’m gonna keep hold of this because I like the idea of fixing it to a thin fleece blanket to make a loose, stretchy lightweight summer sleeping bag.

Luckily Jonny has a posh Snugpack underblanket which I could take reference from. I laid it out on top of mine to get an idea of size etc.

I marked the centre of the sides and measured a 4″ gap that I wanted to keep open to allow the cord to come up through so I can regulate the temperature inside the hammock (See ‘Thermostat’ below!)

I then marked the ends of the bag into 4 & drew a curved line in tailors chalk (use felt pan or anything to mark this line) from the first 1/4 to the centre of the side to join the two.

This was then pinned (inside of the chalk line) and the corners cut off.

NOTE; if you are using a down bag it’s gonna start to get messy at this point. Push as many of the feathers inside of the chalk line & stitch with a basic running stitch to hold them in place. If you treasure peace at home do not do this inside the house.

Which left me with this…

If you imagine lying in your hammock, you need to be able to change the temperature either way.

 

This is a pic of the ‘Snugpack Thermostat’ – it’s in the centre of the side (remember, where we marked a 4″ section), kinda where you hands rest when you’re in the hammock. You pull the cord through the toggle to raise the blanket closer to you to get warmer or release it to lower the blanket away from the hammock to cool down.

 

So, to copy that on our bag I need to leave that side part open whilst hemming it in to keep it tidy.

 

 

Pin a hem on each side & stitch.

Do that on both side of the blanket.

Next you need to sew the red & blue pieces of fabric together. Starting from the thermostat area turn the cut edges of fabric inside, pin in place & sew them together diagonally down to each corner. Leave a 2″ gap when you get to the corner to pass the ends of the cord through.

Hammock Underblanket Tutorial – Part 2