MYOG Hammock

[simonm]

Hi all,

This weekend I made up a hammock for my brother and thought I would post some photo's and give some hints to those who want an easy to do project. Making a hammock is probably one of the easiest in my opinion.

Fabric: I had some ripstop nylon I purchased from Spotlight a few months ago, before I started Tier Gear . I think it is somewhere around the 1.9oz mark.
Thread: Guttermans Sew All
Hammock suspension: I chose to go with tree straps and whoopie slings attached via a Marlin Spike Hitch. The rope for the whoopie sling is 3mm UHMWPE (Dyneema) rope made by Whittam Ropes in Melbourne and is equivalent to the more popular Amsteel Blue made in the USA, though Amsteel has a higher load rating.

There are a number of ways to make a hammock, but I have chosen what I think is probably one of the easiest but that also looks aesthetically pleasing, in my eyes any way.

The fabric comes in a width of approximately 150cm. I cut the length to just a tad over 3metres .

The long edges I sewed a rolled hem of about 10mm in width - single stitched. This time I took much more care to measure and pin the hem. In the past I have just folded and sewn as I went and whilst this worked, and was quicker, the results were not as good.

Rolled hem - long side

Rolled hem - long side.jpg (226.96 KiB) Viewed 34882 times

Once the sides are both hemmed, it's time to do the ends, obviously. I choose to create an end channel through which I pass my suspension, in this case I ran the whoopie sling, fixed loop, through the channel. It's the first time I have run the whoopie sling directly through the channel but for my brother I thought it was the simplest method.

To create the end channel I first rolled over about 20mm of the fabric to create a rolled hem, and pinned that.

Rolled hem - end channel pinned

Rolled hem - end channel pinned.jpg (164.81 KiB) Viewed 34882 times

I then folded over enough fabric to create an end channel of approximately 50mm. The end channel was pinned and then triple stitched.

End channel pinned

End channel pinned.jpg (150.7 KiB) Viewed 34882 times

First line of stitching end channel

Sewing end channel.jpg (167.56 KiB) Viewed 34882 times

End channel third row of stitching

End channel - third row of stitching.jpg (227.54 KiB) Viewed 34882 times

Now that is pretty much it. Once you have decided on your suspension just hook it up. As I said I decided to run the whoopie sling directly through the channel and use a larks head to secure it. Job done.

[simonm]

Ready to thread fixed loop of whoopie sling through end channel

Ready to thread fixed loop of whoopie sling through end channel.jpg (226.73 KiB) Viewed 34881 times

Whoopie through end channel

Whoopie through end channel.jpg (250.66 KiB) Viewed 34881 times

Whoopie larks head attachment

Whoopie larks head attachment.jpg (217.16 KiB) Viewed 34881 times

Kicking back - product testing

Kicking back - product testing.jpg (217.37 KiB) Viewed 34881 times

[Travis22]

Great work Simon.

Fantastic work, id love to be able to do my own stitching etc...

Travis.

[simonm]

Great work Simon.

Fantastic work, id love to be able to do my own stitching etc...

Travis.

Thanks Travis,

Even simple projects like making a hammock can seem daunting at first, but it really is quite simple. I only started sewing about 4 months ago and my first hammock the stitching was everywhere, but it still worked.

[Travis22]

Wow, you've only been sewing for 4 months - thats impressive. Stitching looks great.

Id love to get into the Canvas side of it, so many little pouches and covers id love to be able to made using Quality Bradmill etc. canvas if i had the time and money.

Travis.

[simonm]

Travis,

You can pick up sewing machines quite cheap, mine cost $20 (a 1950's Singer). Time is something I can't help you with.

[perfectlydark]

Thatloolks fantastic! Would love to be able to do that myself aswell but alas im very clumsy even with explicit instructions

[simonm]

Just to show another fabric choice this is another hammock I made a month or two back. This one, with my daughter hidden in there, is made from Polyester Shot Crinkle Taffeta.

Crinkle Taffeta hammock

[andrewa]

Nice hammock, Simon.......though I was expecting a variant of the Hennessy asymmetrical Jungle hammock that was made out of 0.34 Oz Cuben.......maybe I need to lower my expectations!!!

If you've only been sewing for 4 months, what you've made here is fantastic. Sewing is not that difficult to master, but I think the important thing to get your head around is to make sure you sew it perfectly the first time, coz unpicking it, and renewing it is a real pain in the *&%$#!, and dealing with a poorly sewn item is the same.

The long winded story about this is that back in the early 80's when I first started sewing, I wanted to make a special shirt for a party for a best mate who was going to the UK for a year. The shirt was going to be randomly panelled red/blue/white fabrics. I spent the evening prior to party making it, and was very proud of my efforts, but, and here's the big "but" which was actually the most useful thing that has ever happened in my sewing career.....I showed my mother, who was a good sewer, and she told me that some of the seams were poorly put together, and made me unpick a few and resew them.....at 2 am in the morning, needing to go to Uni by 9am, and a party the next night, I make very few sewing mistakes now!

Simon, I'm impressed by the regularity and alignment of your stitching.

And for those buying sewing machines, you really only need one that goes forwards and backwards, and maybe perhaps an overlooked, but probably not.

Andrew A

[simonm]

Mmm a Cuben hammock - could be a money maker that one .

I am surprised you are still sewing after that experience Andrew.

So here is my story for you. In certain things I can be a perfectionist, in others don't care. Even as a young boy maybe 6 or 7, I refused to play soccer until I could kick equally well with my left and right foot. At the time I am pretty sure I was the only 6/7 year old in the soccer comp who did not have a dominant foot. I think that obsessiveness has carried over to my sewing .

[andrewa]

Simon, you and I both know each other's ( yes, I went back to chuck in an apostrophe) professions from PMs.

I think that if you are making gear that you want to equate to stuff you can buy commercially, you need a degree of obsession with respect to detail. If you are only after function, then forget the detail.

I make my stuff to what I see as "commercial standards", but I also make stuff realising that I can fix it if it fails. The latter is a really lovely point to be at. You can either fix it, or redesign it to your standards. No stress here. Something fails, it's your issue. Deal with it.

From what I know, I think you and I are probably cruising OK, just!

A

[simonm]

Andrew - one of the things that spurred me on to make my own gear (and work on my own car), was the less than ideal service or finish of some of the products I bought. More and more I was saying to myself that I could make that, make the same mistakes, and at least I would have no-one else to blame but myself. Plus, like you say, easy to fix when you have made it yourself.

[Skid]

Nice thread, thanks for sharing!
Just sharing one feature that is on my hammock that I find handy....
I have a small draw string carry bag that my hammock and rope just fits into; this bag is sewn onto the edge of the hammock (in the mid point between the two ends).
This serves two functions...
1. I cannot misplace the carry bag
2. the carry bag becomes a handy pocket on the hammock for keys/glasses/sunblock/whatever

[simonm]

@Skid - I have seen hammocks with those bags attached. Some hammocks also have a ridgeline and have a ridgeline organiser hanging from there - though the hammock doesn't get folded up in it obviously.

I have built made another hammock since this one and attached the suspension a little differently. So many options .

Climashield kids top quilts that can double as an underquilt are next .

[simonm]

Added a ridgeline organiser on the weekend to my wife's hammock.

[perfectlydark]

Thats really well made! Your tempting me to try my hand at a hammock. I have some ideas (still waiting for mine to arrive so I can inspect and look for potential improvement options) and no sewing skills but would love to get into it

[simonm]

Thats really well made! Your tempting me to try my hand at a hammock. I have some ideas (still waiting for mine to arrive so I can inspect and look for potential improvement options) and no sewing skills but would love to get into it

I have found now that I have started making some hammocks I am now looking to branch out into other gear. It is addictive. Hammocks are an easy starter as the lines are straight and the cost of materials is pretty cheap.

[Picaro]

Is that a prussicked ridge line, Simon ?

[simonm]

Is that a prussicked ridge line, Simon ?

Hey mate,

I made up a temporary UCR adjustable ridgeline to determine the correct length for a fixed ridgeline, which turned out pretty close enough to the magical 83%. The UCR wouldn't hold so I added a tautline hitch to compensate. The UCR saves a lot of rope when compared to a whoopie for the ridgeline.

[simonm]

I made up another organiser this time for a friend. I played around with a new way of doing it using grosgrain edges. It weighs slightly more (10grams more than the first version though it is slightly bigger). Instead of mitten hooks I used the grosgrain at the top to form loops, through which I will run some prussik loops from the ridgeline.

One piece of noseeum mesh with sewn grosgrain on bottom

Folded over ready for sewing

Sew grosgrain edges around entire organiser.

Dimensions: 43cm x 22cm. Weight: 19grams

[simonm]

Organiser attached to ridgeline with Zing-It via prussiks.

I think this works much better than version 1.

[Picaro]

Yeah, giving it a bit of structure looks to be the go.

[simonm]

Yeah, giving it a bit of structure looks to be the go.

Yep and the mitten hooks were a bit redundant really.

[Picaro]

If I could be excused for making a suggestion….

Theres an Aussie guy who is selling Dutchware, if you get a ridgeline 'biner you can run your organiser on some grosgrain loops. Easier to slide it further down when you want to make Z's.
I have the guys web address somewhere…tell him I sent you and he may give you a discount !

[simonm]

Yeah I have heard of that guy - top bloke they reckon .

I am all for suggestions - I don't think I am getting the biner idea though - where do you attach it - grosgrain loop to ridgeline???? The problem with the organisers is they often slide down to the lowest point, that's why I used prussiks. Please explain?

[Picaro]

The binder is used simply to be able to detach the ridgeline. So you can unclip and slide the organiser on. Your ridge line should not be saggy when you're on board so it wouldn't slide by itself. I guess it depends on how high you elevate your foot end to adjust the lay.

By the way, I'm starting to think of you as a prospect for any little jobs I want done ! Easier than buying a "thread injector " of my own !

[simonm]

Yeah cool happy to look at any small jobs - I love a good excuse to inject some thread.

I think that's the problem I hang my foot end slightly higher so without the prussic it slides.

[simonm]

Made another hammock today for a mate, and one thing I did differently which I will probably continue to do is I added some grosgrain ribbon to the inside of the end channel for some reinforcement. Not my idea but one I like.

[Bluegum Mic]

Looks great simon. You should sell some of the organisers on the website.
Once I get a moment to myself (perhaps in 2017 I'm going to make one of these
http://www.blackgoatgear.com/2011/04/my ... n.html?m=1
I'll be interested to see what the taffeta fabric your getting in is like.

[ofuros]

Nice goodies & nice workmanship, simon.