Hello all, this is my first time posting. I would like to know if any of you have attempted to make your own liner and if so what can you offer as advice and did any of you use a pattern?

I was thinking about using Windpro fleece (attempting to extend the range of my 15 degree bag), I know that silk is another good choice, but any other suggestions for warmth? Thanks.

Silk is far warmer for the weight and bulk than fleece. I've made 6 silk liners in the past 2 weeks and I love them. I use 5mm silk from thai silks. it is 36" wide, which turns out to be perfect. For a pattern, I used 4.25 yards (80" or so), french seamed the sides, roll hemmed the top, and then did the stuff sack treatment to the bottom (sew and cutoff triangles, then french seamed, as seen on the stuff sack article on this site). 2.5 oz total, much lighter than any other silk liner on the market. I would say it adds 6-7*. Cocoon says their silk liners add 9.7*, but are thicker. Silk also feels great, and is cheap (at least 5mm is).

I have been to www.taisilks.com and really don't understand what is meant by a 5mm fabric specification, or what type of fabric it would be found within.

Can you say a little more about the fabric? I apparently don't understand silk nomenclature at all.

Jim,
You need to look under the listing for Habotai Silk and the 5mm is product number 21F.

Thanks,

It looks like a very affordable project too. Will give it a try.

I got some 4.5 mm habotai silk from thaisilks.com and they were pretty good to deal with. Total weight of my liner is 2 1/4 ounces (60 grams!). A liner I had made out of a queen size sheet was 440 grams for comparison, and while the heavier cotton/poly would be warmer, and probably keep more sweat & dirt off my bag, that's a huge weight savings, so I'll survive. I ordered 5 yards because I'm over 6' and I wanted the liner to go above my head (the back part at least). I just laid one of my bags down on top of the silk and used a sharpie to sketch the pattern onto the silk with a 3" margin around the bag for good measure, then folded the silk in half lengthwise so the patterned piece was on the bottom, then sketched the pattern onto the top piece. To sew I just aligned the two marks the whole way, leaving about 20" on one side for a slit to help get in and out of it, and and it's 3" wider at the slit to help keep that area covered, so they're like flaps basically. It's not beautiful as a finished piece, especially with the sharpie pattern, but it's functional, and that's all I care about. Maybe I can jazz it up with some sharpie art?
A note about the 4.5mm thickness - it's fairly sheer, meaning you can see through it. That's what concerns me in terms of keeping sweat off of my bag. Dirt will definitely be taken care of. It's white as well, and I don't think it will be white for too long :P

Edited by mroy79 on 01/24/2007 21:27:41 MST.