Joining Apex?

[Opogobalus]

I’m thinking of making a quilt as a first MYOG project. I’m doing it with a friend who is a good seamster (but also making her first quilt), so I’m not *that* worried about adding complexity.

As I get colder feet, I’m considering going up a grade of insulation in the foothalf (and I always have my jacket with me if i need an upper half boost).

How do folks go about joining sheets of Apex? MLD for example have a warmer footbox on their FKT quilt, and Nunatak often do different insulation weights in different sections of their synthetic jackets.

[Opogobalus]

Can’t edit, but the other motivation is that it also works out quite a bit cheaper, as apex offcuts and end-of-roll lengths seem to be sold at about 30-40% cheaper than retail.

 

As a side note, does anyone have some sources of suitable outer material on the cheap, as well? There’s a cheap uncoated tafetta fabric on Ali which apparently works for an inner, but isn’t really windproof enough for an outer + would like a dwr fabric. Membrane 10 is quite price on the continent.

[James Marco]

You really don’t need to join the sheets together. If you are worried about it, a few dabs of contact cement will do it.

[Opogobalus]

Would you just sew it along each edge of the apex, so there’s a seam in the middle of the quilt?

[James Marco]

Well, a butt joint would need to be sewn. I believe you can get away with 3′ just supporting the edges. If you have an 18″ piece, then, yes, a center seam would be necessary to “support the edges.”

 

[Edward John M]

Joining or layering?

Climasheild recommenced using a layer of scrim between layers but a few small and loose tacking stitches should work to stop the fill from moving in combination with the edge stabilisation. I personally like the idea of thicker insulation in the foot area and sometimes offcuts or roll ends will be the perfect size at a good discount

[Jerry Adams]

I would sew all around the perimeter of every piece of Apex

So, where you double up the two pieces of Apex, I’d sew along the edge of that second piece.  That would be sewing through 4 layers – inner fabric, the big piece of Apex, the edge of the small piece of Apex, the outer fabric.  And, of course, sew all around the perimeter of the quilt – inner fabric, big piece of Apex, small piece of Apex where it is, and outer fabric.

You encountered the you can’t edit first post of a thread bug : )

I’ve switched to using down for quilts.  Warmer for the weight.  Compresses better in pack if that’s useful.  Lasts forever – doesn’t lose loft over time.  It does take maybe twice as much time to make though.

[Opogobalus]

Joining or layering?

Climasheild recommenced using a layer of scrim between layers but a few small and loose tacking stitches should work to stop the fill from moving in combination with the edge stabilisation. I personally like the idea of thicker insulation in the foot area and sometimes offcuts or roll ends will be the perfect size at a good discount

Joining, not layering :) it seems generally cheaper to just buy the heavier insulation to begin with, rather than layering lighter insulation.

 

Indeed, ends are good. I’ve seen 1.6-1.8m ends occasionally, which seems a good way to do a short quilt (eg for a smaller person, or underquilt) or clothing on the cheap. More common is 0.6-1.5m ends. But it’s often 30% cheaper.

[Opogobalus]

I would sew all around the perimeter of every piece of Apex

sorry, I mean joining two different grades of apex length ways, for a more insulated footbox! If the forum let you edit the OP I’d be able to clarify that better..

 

i hear you re: down. I used to use it (in manufactured products) for the reasons you state. But I live in a very wet part of the world, and since switching to apex I’ve been consistently warmer. No cold spots is nice too. Better prices. And I have growing concerns about the use of animal products in manufacturing, the paradox of “ethical down.” Of course, the extra weight, bulk and most importantly, the significantly shorter lifespan (the environmental concern is bigger than the financial one here) is  difficult to ratify. No winning.

[Greg Pehrson]

I haven’t joined two different thicknesses of Apex, but I have joined pieces of continuous filament insulation together in a quilt to minimize waste, just by hand stitching a basting stitch in one direction, then reversing and doing it in the other direction for reinforcing strength, so the end result looks like a line of Xs across the seam. Just make sure to tie the thread to itself when you start and end (double or triple overhand knot)–you can’t just knot the end of the thread because it will pull through the insulation. A basting stitch allows you to pull the insulation pieces together tightly as you go (and tighten up at the end before knotting), and should work with different thicknesses as well.

[Opogobalus]

Thanks! Seems like hand stitching is a good way to go. I suppose if it feels liable to slip around I could do a small section of stitching in the middle of quilt where the layers meet. If it’s just a couple of 1inch sections I don’t imagine it’d make a significant difference to warmth..

[Edward John M]

Layering is the way to go if you can get offcuts cheap tho. So 100GSM for the main body but an extra layer at the feet, or even much warmer using what you can get cheap. I got a half yard of 250GSM for $8 which I added to an existing order. Still sitting there waiting for me to get organised

[Opogobalus]

That’s true. Just so happens that the offcuts available at the moment are 133, 167 and 200gsm :) My friend is going to make either a 167/200 or all 200gsm quilt for all-round use, I’m doing a 133 quilt for summer.

I didn’t realise you could buy 250gsm retail, i thought the max it went up to was 200gsm and thicker insulations were sewn together anyway.

[Edward John M]

Maybe that’s why I got it cheap, but I probably made an arithmetical mistake when converting 10 ounce to metric. What I bought was 10 ounce per square yard stuff

[Opogobalus]

Actually 10oz/yd2 is 340g/m2.

The European suppliers of apex seem to only go up to 200gsm. But the weights seem different in different markets. In the states is seems to go 2.5oz/yd2 (85gsm) then 3.6oz/yd2 (122gsm) then 5oz/yd2 (170gsm). In europe, it goes up in increments of 33gsm – 67, 100, 133, 167, 200.

Unsure why – presumably as a distributor they can order custom weights from Climashield.

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