Converting TNF Aleutian 50F into a MYOG Quilt

[Erik Norseman]

Hi there!

First time attempting a MYOG project. I’ve got a 50F TNF Aleutian synthetic sleeping bag that was gifted to me and though it would be fun to try and make it into a quilt!

The bag has two zippers (don’t ask me why LOL), one 1/4 length on the left and a full length zipper on the right that extends all the way to the footbox to open up into blanket mode.

Anyone have suggestions how to begin to figure out this process? It is synthetic insulation, so I figure I could pretty easily just cut out what I don’t want and then sew the edges shut. I’m wondering if I am missing anything though or I should think about other considerations?

Thanks in advance for pointing me to resources, I’m sure someone else has done something like this before.

Here is an image of the bag: https://www.atmosphere.ca/categories/gear-by-activity/camp-hike/sleeping-bags/synthetic-sleeping-bags/product/the-north-face-aleutian-50f-10c-regular-sleeping-bag-331532552.html#

I can post some pictures with more detail of what I’m thinking of doing if that will help!

[Michael B]

Just curious what mission you are trying to accomplish? Just eager to cut something up? If so, go for it; I’d start by working on your seam ripping skills, since that will become very useful as you progress through MYOG projects. I doubt the materials in that bag will be able to be turned into something more useful than they already are, unless it just doesn’t work for you for some reason (size too big, too narrow to be a bag, etc.)

 

[Erik Norseman]

Great question, Michael.

I’ve got a few goals:

• Lighten the weight of the sleeping bag so it may actually be useful to me. Right now the bag is around 765g, which is too heavy to ever carry. I’d love to turn it into something more usable by shaving the weight down;
• I want to try sleeping with a quilt and see what it is like, but not ready to pull the trigger yet on a professional one;
• I’m eager to cut things up.

My idea is that I have this bag that I’m not using for anything, so why not try and make something of it. I have a nice -2 mummy that a synthetic overquilt would nicely complement, and I could use this quilt in summer conditions, too.

[Michael B]

Lighten the weight of the sleeping bag so it may actually be useful to me. Right now the bag is around 765g, which is too heavy to ever carry. I’d love to turn it into something more usable by shaving the weight down;

The thing is you are using pretty heavy materials in this bag, 9oz of fill with 18oz of fabric+hardware. Have you opened it up to see how much of the bag you are going to cut off to reach your goal? You mention it is too heavy – it is only 8oz heavier than my new quilt; but the key difference is that my quilt is 12oz fill, and only 7oz fabric+hardware, so I am getting a lot more warmth for my weight. Are you actually concerned about that extra 8 oz, or are you more concerned that it is not very compressible in your pack?

Keep in mind for sizing, most quilts are around 76-78″ long (unless you have a closed up footbox), 55-60″ wide at the top, tapering to around 40″ at the foot end. I’d not go much smaller than this unless you are a very small person, or are banking on the idea you are only going to use this on hot summer trips where you are likely to have it billowing open anyway.

I want to try sleeping with a quilt and see what it is like, but not ready to pull the trigger yet on a professional one;

I totally get this, and if it is a free opportunity for you to try the format, I say go for it. But discard the notion that you are going to get anything suitable/lightweight for taking out in anything other than warm summer nights.

I’m eager to cut things up.

I also totally get this. use it as a practice project, and then once you’ve made a ton of mistakes, and have figured out what YOU want in a quilt (or maybe you decide it isn’t the format for you?), then you can either go purchase a good quilt, or MYOG out of properly good materials. I prefer making my own stuff because I like having skills, I like making custom stuff for myself without the markup, and I like to make stuff for friends for gifts, or offer people stuff for a great price if I make a couple extras in the process.

You might find it better to just buy a used quilt on here (there are a lot that come up OFTEN), and if you don’t like it, you can just pass it along for sale again, sometimes for exactly what you paid for it (buy a good brand, and it will usually attract more attention for second-hand sale).

Good luck with it, I hope I am not discouraging you from doing anything; just trying to help you maintain realistic goals. Post pics, it’s always fun to participate in other peoples’ journeys.

[Link .]

. HERE is a link to some links I posted a few years ago to someone’s thread titled ANYONE ‘ALTERED’ A SLEEPING BAG INTO A QUILT ? Most of them are down but one of the links is for a synthetic and here are some videos if you do a GOOGLE SEARCH , but most people who are doing it are doing it to down bags, but you can still see how they are doing it and synthetic should be easier.( a non video GOOGLE SEARCH  and you can see a lot of links including a lot for here at BPL

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