RE: Home made Ghillie Suits
I can tell you how to make one. It really isn;t too hard. Worst part is the sewing.
Get the following Materials:
1 set old BDU's (at least 1 size larger than you might normally wear
Heavy Military tent canvas material. Get enough to cover the front of your pants and the front of your shirt. ( this is assuming that you build one like we do in the military. Built to spend time on your belly)
2 X heavy Canvas Needles
1 x Roll of heavy duty nylon thread, or fishing line. 40-50 lb test
1 x hammock at least 1.5 to 2 inch squares
2-3 tubes of Shoe Goo
Camo material. Stipped Jute (old sand bag material stripped), rolled Jute. comes in 2 in ch wide rolls, and maybe 100 feet long. Twine rope, hemp rope. What ever. The Jute works the best.
1) make a pattern for your canvas to match the front of your shirt and pants. Be sure to turn your Shirt inside out. That way, you still keep your pockets. Just like having inside your coat pockets.
2) do the same with the pants. Don't worry about turning inside out for your pants. Make the pattern go from just below your belt loops, all the way to the bottom.
3) now, you can either hand sew the canvas onto the BDUs, or find a shoe repair store ( they have industrial sewiing machines for the canvas) and get the canvas at least double stitched to the uniforms.
4) when you get this done, now take your shoe goo, and anywhere there is thread, that you have sew, or had sewn, cover with shoe goo. Also make sure tha tyou shoe goo over the edge of all the canvas to the Unifor material. This does 2 things. 1) helps waterprof the sewing, and 2) helps prevent the canvas from snagging on things as you crawl around the woods.
5) now take your hammock and make a pattern for this to cover your back and back of your legs. make the top long enough so that you can bring about 4 -6 inches up over each shoulder. Cut it long enough so that is hangs about 6-8 inches below the bottom of your shirt. you will want to sew every 1.5 - 2 inches, or at least every other knot right to your uniform around the outside edges. then on the back, you will want to do the same about every other knot in the hammock, to secure it to your shirt.
6) for the pants, start the netting in the back, right at the top edge of the pocket, and go all the way to the bottom in the back. Sew the same as above
7) starting at the BOTTOM, take your pre stripped Jute, 10-15 strands, and about 18-24 inches long, and begin tying it to the net material. at least on every not in the net, and in every square. this ensures that you get a nice thick shaggy coat.
you can add in hemp rope, and twine as well since this will add texture to the suit.
8) take several semi short pieces of twine, or 550 cord and tie in 10-15 random places around your top to use in the field to add natural vegetation to your suit.
9) to make a hat, use a boony hat, add net like before, and jute material as well.
you can find the material that you need online, or contact a Ranger Joes (rangerjoes.com) just do a search. you can find the jute and buy it bulk.
Hope that this helps