So, I have a couple of 45* F LaFuma synthetic sleeping bags (extreme 600 i think...) lying around, unused for the past few years and was thinking of converting them to insulated pants. So my question to you MYOG experts out there... Could I just climb in, spread my legs and draw the seams, cut it/add elastic to waist/ankles and sew it up?
Just looking for a crude, cheap method to making some synthetic pants for sitting around camp in the PNW (my girlfriend runs very cold so it would be really good for her).

Thanks in advance for your help!

Sure

You could just sew through fabric and insulation. Then cut off the excess about 1/4 inch from seam. Then turn inside out and sew over the raw edge and seam so it's hidden - French Seam http://thru-hiker.com/projects/french_seams.php

Or, you could take the pattern for my article about supplex pants and make it 3 inches wider (or pi * loft of sleeping bag). I've done that. Might fit a little better. Like you don't want it too tight around your rear and this might be better.

Hey Jerry, thanks for the tip! I'll definitely check your article out. Probably would be better to not have it so tight around my butt.

"Probably would be better to not have it so tight around my butt."

I wasn't talking about you, but just my experience with me : )

> Could I just climb in, spread my legs and draw the seams,
A trifle crude, and likely to give a very poor fit around the backside when you bend over. Using a pattern would be much better.
Otherwise ... sure.

Cheers

and check out Roger's article about making Supplex pants - slightly different than mine - but I don't recommend his choice of fabric color : ) or would that be colour?

Read through both articles and thank you guys so much for your help! It'll be a fun project for me to do in the coming weeks.

So I'm planning to make a couple pairs of these, one for me and one for my girlfriend. They're mostly going to be used for sitting around camp in <30* F. I'm good down to the low 30's with only my midweight smartwool merino tights and REI sahara hiking pants. However, my girlfriend gets colder much sooner.
We usually don't stay in anything much colder than the 20's.

Instead of full length puffy pants, do you think they'd be just as effective being calf length? Since this would save a lot of bulk and weight, but still cover the femoral arteries/thighs.

Not much more bulky or heavy to go a little longer, down to your ankles.

Sometimes my feet get cold. If the insulated part goes down farther then the blood to the feet won't have lost as much heat.

On the other hand, I like vests using that logic.

If your GF gets cold, probably better to have longer pants.

The more I thought about this, the less convinced I was that you would get enough width out of a sleeping bag. The bit around the crotch region in a pattern is rather large; getting two of them side by side on a SB could be tricky.

You would probably need to cut the insulation back a bit inside the shell fabric, then sew the inner and outer shell layers separately. Otherwise you might not get the full layer through your machine.

Cheers

Thanks for all the tips and insight. I'm going to try to get started on it this weekend. The old bags I have are quite roomy so I should be able to get enough material. I'll definitely have to see if I can run everything through the machine or cut back the fabric as you've mentioned, Roger. And I'll make the full length version foot my girlfriend, Jerry.

Thanks! I'll make a myog project post once I get things started.

You could always buy fabric and insulation - you'll probably end up with better product. 0.7 oz Nobul from titaniumgoat.com, 2.5 oz Apex. Maybe after you get hooked with the sleeping bag : )

Yeah, totally Jerry. I'm planning on making a quilt during spring break (last one before I graduate UW! Yay!). Planning on using 5oz apex and either M90/pertex orM50 depending on my budget at the time. I checked yesterday and tigoat was out of all their fabric :(

Gonna make the quilt for down to 30* and lower wearing my Stoic Hadron Anorak. I'm a warm sleeper but don't think the 2.5 apex Will be warm enough for my occasional trips down to the low 20s. Gonna try to make it have a removable hood section to drape over my head for colder trips... Or would just the anorak's hood be enough?

But yeah, it'll be good to recycle my lafuma 45 bags since they've been sitting in the closet for a couple years. I have a 30* rated LaFuma bag I'm using now that uses Thermolite micro 150g/m2 ... It lofts only like, .5-.75" single layer but I was comfortable in it down to 28 wearing midweight wool base layers and a thin grid fleece hoody. So, maybe the 2.5 might work, but 5oz would be safer bet I think.

Edited by LunchANDYnner on 02/20/2013 10:46:41 MST.

I made a sleeping bag. 5 oz Apex on the top (torso) half. 2.5 oz on the bottom (leg) half. I wear a 4 oz vest.

I thought this would be good down to 20 F, but I've found 30 F is more realistic.

How well does the apex compress? I've looked around but can't find any numbers/pictures on compressed size.

Same as other synthetic - not as good as down.

I don't really see a lot of difference between Apex, Primaloft, and non-Apex Climashield.

And if you compress it a lot it will lose loft, so I try not to compress it a lot.

Maybe 8 inch diameter, 16 inch long roll for loosly compressed and half that volume for more tightly compressed.

Cool! Good to know. Space in my pack is usually not a concern so I should be fine with the packed size. I should also mention my GF and I always use a double wall tent ( big Agnes Jack Rabbit SL 2, like the Copper Spur but not ultralight) so I know the tent will help retain some heat.

Edit: I like how I turned this into an all in one thread, in keeping with the recycling theme.

Edited by LunchANDYnner on 02/20/2013 14:23:59 MST.

New thread started with the actual project!