Sewing week, what to make: bivvy bag, anorak..?

[gunnix]

Hey,

next week on the school there's sewing week and I was planning to make a bivvy bag or sleeping bag cover. Other people here will make it out of quite tight woven cotton. That seems good idea to me too because it's strong and can tolerate some sparks from the fire, but I just wonder if the cotton won't take up moisture from the air like I'm used to cotton doing more then other materials? Also obviously it won't be waterproof like gtx bivvy bags, but I use a tarp for that matter.

Is there any other material people have made sleeping bag covers out of?
Is cotton the normal thing to make it out of when using "natural" materials?

Another thing is that I might make an anorak out of cotton, which is almost as tight woven as ventile but not that much, so it's cheaper but almost as good.. I've never used ventile or any other cotton coats.. I'm actually having the same question as above, and that is if it won't suck up the moisture and will be hard to dry like cotton jeans..? How is ventile in this respect?

Anyone got some nice patterns?

Another thing I think of is getting a woolen shirt like a swanndri instead of having an anorak for wearing in snow and rain. Or maybe just a norwegian woolen jumper impregnated with lanolin (if it doesn't have it anymore). My girl is making some woolen socks out of faroese wool which still got lanolin in it, maybe I could ask her very politely to do a jumper or shirt as well But would you think a woolen outer layer would work well against snow, wind and rain? Or is it better with a ventile type cotton anorak?

What did people wear 200 years ago as out layer outdoor in sweden winter?

I'd also like to make leather moccasins, anyone know a good supply for leather in sweden?

 

[spamel]

Wool is an insulator, but I find the wind whistles right through it. Scott wore woolen clothing when he tried to reach the South Pole, but they also used a cotton outer shell to stop the wind.

You can make a bivvie bag of sorts from canvas and waterproof it, it wouldn't need to be the heavy duty stuff, but it would be strong. You can waterproof cotton, Eric knows how but I can't remember how to do it although he did tell me once before.

200 years ago, I would imagine fur would have been worn in Sweden. It is the best stuff for the enviornment, even to this day the man made stuff can't do the job of polar bear and caribou furs. You don't see the inuit cutting about in North Face gear!

 

[h2o]

Use Tx 10 Cotton Proof For Cotton

 

[Chris G]

Or Nikwax.

 

[big_swede]

Here we go again...

Leather in sweden: www.slojddetaljer.se Have a look at www.kero.se for some traditional sameshoes, similar to moccs.

Yes, cotton have to impregnated to be used in a bivvy-bag. The optiimal way is to first shrink the h3ll out of the cotton (almost boiling it) then to use the stuff that you put on oilskins. This leaves a greasy feeling. You could also use greenland wax. Tx 10 as someone mentioned isn't good enough for this kind of job.

Felted wool (vadmal in swedish) was used a lot. The sammis use a lot of woolen outer clothes, but I think that the cotton anorak (which is what a lot of inuits used fduring summers) is better suited. Wool gets clogged up with snow and is horrible to wear in rain. Vadmal (again, felted wool) is only slightly better. When you stitch together the anorak be certain to use this kind of stitches (no idea what's it called in english)

When a cotton anorak get's wet it is hard to dry. Don't get wet is a general rule. But if you've shrunk it and it is impregnated, it won't absorb so much water, and hence, it will take less time. Remember that it is easy to freeze out the moisture during winter. Also, a frozen anorak is still windproof, only a bit stiffer. Ventile doesn't take so long to dry either, since it doesn't absorb so much water. For a winter garment, the cotton anorak is perfect. I use mine every winter. Spend time on the design of the hood, try to get a stiff arch to protect the face, a fur rim is a good idea. You could find patterns in older sewing magazines (like burda). Norrøna still makes cotton winter garments, have a look at the arktis fjellnikkers, they are perfect winter pants. Also their anorak is nice, but this year they've changed it a lot, and I like the older better (which I have).

The swanndri type shirt isn't a substitute for a windproof anorak. It is hopeless to brush away the snow all the time, and they are seldom windproof. But as a midlayer or a outer layer in wind still and less snowy conditions, they are ok. A good place for buying vadmal here. They have it in green.