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Fieldcraft Getting ready to start a ghillie suit

J

josh1233

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 25, 2014
39
0
PA
Hey guys first post. I'm getting ready to start a new ghillie suit. It's been about 10+ years since I built one. The shoe goo got brittle under the canvas on the old one. I'm going to use MCCUU's for the base. I was thinking about using the desert marpat's. My thinking is that it is easier to darken up with veg than to lightnen up. Any thoughts on using desert or woodland mccuu's?

Was also thinking of using 1000 denier cordura instead of canvas. Sewing it on with #138 or #207 bonded nylon thread via big ass sewing machine instead of using shoe goo. Anyone have any recommendations, or experiance with how well that might hold up. I'd like to find some type of glue that will stick to the cordura and base layer before sewing.

Any tips on the above would be appriciated.
 
I would only reinforce the sweing seems with shoe gue on the whole layer of canvas, because it will get uncomfortable under knees and elbos. Are you gunna use jute or burlap for the body of the guille monster? I perfer light jute with almost as many veg ties, gutted 550 cord to tie vegetation onto the suit with, about 6 to 9 inches long and burnt at the end.
 
mostly jute, with some pieces of burlap, but not overdone. Lots of ties for vegetation with 550 cord. I'm going to do side zippers on this one to keep the chest flat and more comfortable.
 
I used e-6000 on my knots when I made mine and used nylon thread. I didn't rely on the glue to actually hold anything on, but instead used it as a reinforcement.
 
From my reseach, I too have determined that the E6000 won't stick to cordura. Looking into other adhesives that will work. Just don't want to rely soley on the stitching. I'll post pix as I get going. Decided to go with woodland MARPAT. I wear medium MCCUU's, and the large is way big enough to go over me in mediums. Found a top, but still searching around for large pants. took all the pockets off the blouse and shortened the sleeves to where I need them. Getting ready to sew in a rear back vent and maybe armpit vents, depending on how far up I decide to take the side zippers. Just waiting for the material to get here so I can get started on the top at least. After that I can start on the side zippers panels and netting.
 
I think i am doing one on each side. I want to wrap the cordura skid and netting on back around to the inside on each side, where I can, and sew it down with binding tape. Since I'm doing all that, I'll have most of the side seams out anyway, so it isn't any more work adding a second zipper.
 
In my 2nd to last build (a button up), I had a bladder pouch sewn in along my side of my firing hand. It just made life easier. I never kept it more than half full, because I was afraid of bursting, but I never had issues. Something to think about.
 
I finally got started on the blouse. I have the netting sewed in. I reinforced the edges with milspec grosgrain on both the inside and outside. I also have one of the zippers in and the front sewed up. I'll post pics of that when I get a chance to sew in the other zipper.

ghillie-1.jpg
ghillie-2.jpg

Any thoughts on putting zippers on bottom of pant legs? Thought it would be nice to get them on without taking off boots.
 
josh1233 said:
I finally got started on the blouse. I have the netting sewed in. I reinforced the edges with milspec grosgrain on both the inside and outside. I also have one of the zippers in and the front sewed up. I'll post pics of that when I get a chance to sew in the other zipper.

Any thoughts on putting zippers on bottom of pant legs? Thought it would be nice to get them on without taking off boots.
Click to expand...

Where did you get the grosgrain? I just started a new suit. I'm using 10" zips on the inside of the legs, with tucked snaps at the bottom, 16" zip on the left side of the top.
 
Good job on the netting. A word of caution on the zippers on the legs. I have heard others complain about mud and gunk clogging up zippers on the bottom of the legs and making them a holy pain in the ass to get working. Maybe buttons instead?
 
I got the grosgrain from rockywoods.com Maybe I'll do snaps on the legs. Afraid buttons will get caught on things and rip off when crawling. i have flat black milspec line 20 and one way snaps. either one would work with some re-inforcment sewn down to keep them from ripping out.

Still on the fence about using the cordura. I have enough cordura (in marpat pattern) and canvas (light OD green) to make the skids. Without being able to glue the cordura I think it might wear more than canvas that would be glued and sewn down. Was looking around and read somewhere that a company called tactical concealment makes a cordura that you can glue with shoe goo or E6000. They don't show it on their website, however. Guess I'll give them a call and ask about it.
 
Did a little more today. Here is the blouse with the zippers in. I re-inforced the top of the zipper, by doubling up the grosgrain. I also added tabs at the bottom of each zipper for something firm to grab onto when pulling.
ghillie-10.jpg
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ghillie-9.jpg
 
Also, got started on the boonie. Took out the top piece of fabric and sewed in mesh. I also, removed most of the brim at the front of the boonie. helps keep shadows of the face. I haven't noticed too many people doing this for some reason. I then re-sewed the band back on.

ghillie-5.jpg
ghillie-6.jpg
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ghillie-8.jpg
 
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Last pics of the day. decided to go the cordura route. Started piecing together the front skid. It is made up of 3 pieces, so that I can get up past the head opening. so far only the 2 top pieces for the collar are sewn together. It is highter up the shoulder than it will be when finished.
ghillie-11.jpg
ghillie-12.jpg
 
Snaps come later. I'm using a few different machines. To tack everything, and sewing cloth I'm using an old singer. For final assembly and sewing anything heavy (up to 3/4" thick) I'm using an Adler lockstitch machine.

Hey Genin, your not too far from me. I'm outside of Altoona.
 
josh1233 said:
Snaps come later. I'm using a few different machines. To tack everything, and sewing cloth I'm using an old singer. For final assembly and sewing anything heavy (up to 3/4" thick) I'm using an Adler lockstitch machine.
Click to expand...

WTF? Now I'm really jealous. How much money do you have in sewing machines? Are you a haberdasher in your free time?
 
Man you must of excelled in home ec while at the same time horrifying them.

I appreciate your talent.
 
Damn josh that is some fine sewing work. Pro-level. Do you do it for a living?

PA is where it's at! Are you going to use your ghillie for any hunting, or just for practicing fieldcraft?
 
Looks great Wilwith. Looks like you found some grosgrain. I like the strips you put it. Better for attaching netting or paracord.

No, I'm not a haberdasher (my grandfather was an English tailor though, worked for Henry Poole and Co before WWII). I come from the leather end. The Adler is my light weight leather sewing machine. The big machine is a Randall Union Lockstitch.

Biggest problem with sewing the cordura is to get the stitches to lay flat. I had a hard time finding a needle small enough for the Adler to sew this thin of material. Wierd thing is the canvas sews fine. Must be because the cordura is hard on the surface.

Sometimes I get to go out and have fun with some special ops guys who are customers. Was told to dig out my ghillie for spring, but it was in sad shape, so I'm building another one.
 
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Got the front skid done last night. Site won't let me upload any more photos LOL Says I'm over my quota. So here are some links if you want to look.

decided to put some padding on the chest. Just used that rubberized shelf liner. Also, helped with pulling stitches down below surface for better thread wear. I sewed it down to the blouse before sewing the skid down. As you can see I sandwiched the pad between the blouse and some 5/8" grosgrain ribbon with a zigzag stitch.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/695x600q90/203/0o19.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/845/e1gn.jpg

Then I sewed down the skid and added the webbing and snaps at the bottom of each side. Sewing all this down is much easier with dual zippers than it would have been with just one on one side.


https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/547/q9sz.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/836/oeyt.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/611x600q90/856/54q6.jpg

Next up are the sleeves.
 
What an education this is. I thought a ghillie suit was just taking strips of burlap and attaching them to a cammie top. I didnt realize they were this involved.
 
wilwith, I've broken a few needles as well. The Adler (model 205-374), being a machine to sew leather up to 3/4" thick, uses 794 series needles, which are about 3" long. I'm using a #110 needle for #90 thread, so the needle is very thin. The machines they use to sew awnings would work better since the needle is much shorter. Plus they have regular presser feet. Mine is a walking foot, walking needle machine. It has 2 separate feet that work independently from each other. I can get a double foot for it, but didn't feel like spending $120.00 on a presser foot I'm only going to use once.
Here is a pic of the machine and a close up of the feet.
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/62/d86i.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/576x768q90/836/99a6.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/837x768q90/844/9i8w.jpg

I realized this morning, that I forgot I wanted to sew a soft plastic pocket to insert a dope card on the outside of the pocket I sewed on the sleeve yesterday. Oh well, I'm not ripping the sleeve apart. Maybe I'll sew it on by hand.

Also wilwith, go get yourself some basting spray that washes out. It is in the quilting section of Jo Ann's or you can order it on amazon. Makes this sooooo much easier. It is a spray glue that allows you to tack everything together (no pins) and is repositionable. Comes out when you wash the item (must use detergent). it has saved me a buttload of time. It is going to make positioning the webbing so much easier. I've used 3 cans already!! Although 1/2 can was due to a buddy talking me into sewing some pockets, name tapes, and elbow pads on a few blouses after he saw what I was doing. He's home for a week then going back to the desert.

Where are you getting your garnish from? Are you getting pre-dyed or dyeing it yourself?
 
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OP, I am jealous. You could buy a very nice rifle for less than that Adler costs. :) I had a chance to pick up an Adler Twin Needle from an estate sale once for $1,000, but I just didn't have the money in place at the time.

I'm half way through with my webbing, I just used a baste stitch for tacking it. I have to go to Jo Ann's tonight to get more needles, so I will try the basting spray. I'm also going to pick up some of that padding you're using.
 
You can get that padding at walley world. I'm going to do the legs of the pants with removable pads. I have some closed cell foam I got from McMaster Carr for something else that will work really well for the knees. When I get a chance I'll take a pic of my big sewing machine for ya.

You could buy a nice rifle for what it cost, but the rifle wouldn't have made the amount of $ I've gotten out of that machine.
 
Been busy and haven't had a lot of time to work on this for a while. Finished the pant the other day. I'll post some pics of the finished pants when I get time. In the meanwhile here are some pics of them almost finished. I decided to make them so that they have removable padding. Also, vented the back of the knees. Wish I would have waited a few days, as I got a heavier mesh in the mail, but I'm not ripping these apart now!! It's hard to tell in the pics, but I also reinforced the crotch area. Both front and back across the side seams. Then, front to back on the inside. All with cordura. Also added loops for suspenders, and made a pair of them as well.

I decided the other day I wanted a few things a little different on the top. So, I am in the process of making a new one.:eek:

The paracord is all bartacked to the pants. (white you see is marking pencil lines). After all the bartacking was done, I put a drop of superglue on both the front and back of each bartack so that it won't fray. Makes the thread kind of like plastic.


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Hey man, thanks for the posts. I have a school coming up and I need to start working on mine and knock out the top and the hat at least. I appreciate the knowledge.
 
Finally finished this thing a few weeks ago. I have since, thinned out the jute to about half of what is pictured and trimmed the length of the strands. Decided to do a hood instead of the boonie.
ghillie-1.jpgghillie-2.jpgghillie-3.jpgghillie-4.jpgghillie-5.jpg
 
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Very nice. Not sure how much time goes into one of these and therefore the overall cost, but making these bases might be a semi-lucrative side business!
 
I'm not sure EchoBrovo, maybe 50/50. I sewed everything but the cordura on with a regular sewing machine. For the cordura skids I used a heavy duty machine with thread that would be too heavy to run through a portable machine. You might run into trouble where you are trying to sew multiple layers together. The presser foot on a regular machine might not even be able to raise high enough.

Exo, send your check to Liberty Tree Tactical. They make what looks like a nice ghillie :) I have no interest in doing this again for quite a while. LOL
 
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