Bushwalk Australia

I'd been thinking about the ideal shirt for my bushwalking/fly fishing adventures for some time. I wanted a shirt that was reasonably water resistant, for those on and off showery days when it's a nuisance putting on a raincoat; one that was as light as possible; one that dried quickly, and one that had pockets to suit my fly boxes.

Having unsuccessfully tried to treat my Columbia polyester fishing shirts with water repellent agents, I remembered a rarely used Black Diamond Winter Bivy Bag in my cupboard, which was made out of "Epic" fabric, which is made from woven siliconised fibers, rather than using a breathable membrane. AND the bivy bag was greeny/black! Perfect! I realise that some of you may cringe to hear of a perfectly good bit of outdoor gear being hacked up, but I just couldn't find any similar fabric elsewhere, and a shirt made out of this fabric was going to be more useful for me than a bivy bag ( I'll make another bivy bag out of something else)

I Took the pattern off a Columbia fishing shirt, omitting the mesh vents on the back/shoulders of the original (as those pesky NZ sandflies always bite through the mesh, and I have always had to sew up those seams to keep them out), and enlarged the front pockets to fit my fly boxes properly, and added a zip chest pocket.

Shirt is 170g (compared to a polyester Columbia fishing shirt at about 300g) and is waterproof and breathable! It will be interesting to see how this waterproofing lasts with sweat etc, but it can easily be washed

By the way, the fabric in 1 bivy bag is enough for a long sleeved shirt, plus about 70x40cm spare!

Andrew A

Now that is impressive.

That's one epic MYOG!

Obviously a tailor in a previous life. That's very nice work. Would you be prepared to make my walking pants if I send you the pattern and material? I'm having a lot of difficulty actually getting going with that . . .

I used to make all my shirts when I was a cash strapped medical student...

I'm amazed at how few people sew these days, or even own sewing machines.

NNW, the best way to start is to cut some fabric. Once that commitment is made, you have no option to turn back!

A

Yeah, that's the bit I've baulked at so far. I'm not even sure how to do it: does one pin the pattern to the fabric and just cut through, or is there some way of transferring it without destruction?
Sewing is the easy bit - it's the proper preparation I have trouble with.

You had shirts? We only had Ts.

Luxury. When I were a lad . . .

NNW, pin pattern to fabric. Draw around pattern with marking pen. Cut. Pin together carefully (really important for curved seams, as they often need "adjusting" with the shorter side of the curve being stretched to match the longer side). Sew - whilst realising that the instructions that come with a pattern are incredibly complex! Have fun

A

Andrew if you need any more EPIC we have some here, more than I need for my pants and anorack
Some UL in canary yellow and some stronger stuff in olive green
Cecile also has some in bright Hot Pink digital camouflage that we picked up in the States year before last but that's premium and not for sale

I'm sorry, but 'Hot Pink' and 'camouflage' has to be the ultimate oxymoron.

Well you know the Yanks, Google Southern wedding dresses and you see lots of hot pink Real Tree
And actually as hunting pattern and colour it works very well as almost all mammals are unable to see it except as a dull brown

Thx for offer. It's rather interesting fabric (in concept). Not sure that I'd be brave enough to test the hot pink on a wilderness trout! I thought that the "orange blaze" camo that the Yanks use was so you could blend in with the setting sun!
A