Hi,
Anyone made their own light weight down jacket? If so were these from a pattern and would you care to share the link/details?

Cheers

Hi Mark,

I've seen a lot of information shared here on jackets, vests, etc. Have you tried searching the MYOG forum for "down jacket" yet?

You can get a good quality kit here:

http://thru-hiker.com/materials/index.php

Good materials, good instructions. The down jacket is the "Whitney Jacket" on the list of products. I made one and I am very happy with it.

Hi, Mark-
I seem to remember a comment from you on my MYOG baffled down vest article... that's about the best I can do as far as details for such a project. I didn't really have a pattern per se, just sort of worked one out using some existing garments as a starting point. I did end up with a pattern of sorts traced onto and cut out of plastic sheeting, but I don't have a way of digitizing or otherwise translating that information.

If you do work up your own, know that the pattern will shrink significantly in girth and length once you add down--so if it looks too big once you cut it out, don't sweat it.

I've made the one from Thru-Hiker and would definitely recommend it. I've made things from my own patterns before and they never turn out as well as something that came with a pattern and instructions. In fact, the jacket turned out well enough that it doesn't look homemade and I wear it around town as a winter coat.

Is the construction of the Thru-Hiker kit sewn-thru or baffled?

The baffles are sewn through. My experience has been that unless the loft of the jacket is really high there isn't much point in having true baffles. There certainly wouldn't with the Whitney. I gave some advice to a guy on the forum once about making one. Here's what I wrote for anyone interested:

Mine is a an extra large and I used the athletic cut. They are really quite a bit smaller than you'd expect. I normally take a large but the extra large is still a bit smaller than I'd like. I shouldn't have used the athletic cut. It'd be a lot easier to layer if it wasn't A couple ideas from my experience: get the overfill and put any left over down in the arms in the centre three baffles. All the down tends to shift from the inside of the elbow to the outside when you move your arms and they get really cold. Also, I wish I had sewn the toggles for the drawcord in place. The instructions don't call for it, but you can get toggles that you can run a ribbon or webbing through, then you can adjust each side of the drawcord single handed.

I've made the jacket from thru-hiker's kit too, but baffled instead of sewn through. It required some thinking on how to assemble and fill it, but everything went well. It also used a bit more down, but I wanted a jacket for real cold.

The sizing seems good to me (I used the wider cut). The only problem is the really wide and relatively low collar. I wish I had measured it before I cut the fabrics, I'd modify it to fit better. As it is, it works well when layered over other cold-weather clothes, but when put just over some light layer, it doesn't seal the neck at all. If you decide to make the kit (I think it's cheaper than buying the materials separately), measure the pattern and check how it works for you.

I made the thru-hiker jacket as my second MYOG project. I modified the design to be very minimal. It came out great, I ordered it with the overfill option and found a hood pattern linked in a MYOG thread on this forum. I also made it a pullover with a half zip, eliminated the pockets and pull strings. It has 5.9 oz of down and weights 10 or 11 oz with a stuff sack. The pattern is very easy to follow, I would recommend it to anyone with a lot of patience and a little bit of sewing skills.

Here is a pic of a down pullover I made starting with the pattern from Kinsman pullover. I made some mods to the sleeves and collar, and adjustments to convert it from a synthetic non baffled jacket to a down sewn thru jacket. For me the fit is the better than than any commercial down jacket I have tried on.



more details.... LytW8_M50_Down_Pullover

I realize you are looking for a pattern and this isn't a pattern I can share, because it was based off a thru-hiker pattern. But I would highly recommend thru-hiker kits.

An alternative way would be to obtain a pattern for a wind shirt. Something like this one....

windshirt_pattern

and simply add the features you need, i.e. a full zip. Then make 2 layers identical layrs for each piece and sew them together, stuff with down, and add some sewn thru baffles. A little thought will need to happen as you assemble but this is all I did to make the pullover.

A down jacket is a bit complicated so if you think you need more instructions than what I have offered then I would recommend you consider a kit from thru-hiker. I really think the instructions may be more valuable than the pattern.

Jamie

Edited by jshortt on 09/10/2011 05:53:15 MDT.