I Transmigrated Into A Fantasy World To Farm And Build Houses!-Chapter 85: Making a Down Comforter

Without specialized deodorizing chemicals, Eric had no desire for the blanket he slept under every day to reek of chicken feathers. That would no longer be a source of warmth, but an instrument of torture.

After much thought, he still used the large cast-iron wok to boil a full pot of water. Scalding the feathers several times should help eliminate the smell.

Occasionally, boiling water would splash on him. It still stung, but it was much better than when he was fully human. The scalding drops didn’t even raise blisters on his skin.

Max, however, was even more formidable. He plunged his entire hand directly into the boiling water to wash the feathers, and when he pulled it out, it wasn’t even red. No wonder even magic couldn’t penetrate him; that defensive layer was incredibly strong.

Once the first batch of chicken feathers was clean, Eric spread them out in the sun to dry. The sky was clear and windless today, so there was no need to dry them indoors; they would dry much faster outside.

The small downy feathers were mostly white, with only a slight yellowish tint at the tips. After being washed, they looked exceptionally soft.

Eric took out a piece of cotton cloth that he had been reluctant to use and spread it wide on the plank bed.

The children, after waking up, had rushed outside to play, not forgetting to follow their noses and drink all the spiny beast honey water. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

It was a good time, with no one to disturb him, so he could focus on his work.

Making a down comforter required the seams to be very thick and tight, which was a real challenge for his skills. He had rarely ever sewn clothes before.

The Thomas tribe used to use bone needles, but he found them too crude and had saved fish bones to make needles instead. But since the Dwarves arrived, he no longer had to worry about this; iron needles were much better.

He didn’t have any proper spools of thread in his house; all the thread he used was unraveled from linen cloth. Eric wasn’t a meticulous person, and when Hailun’s merchant caravan was here, it hadn’t occurred to him to trade for a few spools of thread to keep in reserve.

For now, he had to continue unraveling fibers from linen cloth. Fortunately, he had traded for a good amount last time, and there was also linen cloth left by the original owner’s mother, which was enough for his needs.

He knew that making a cotton quilt required fluffing the cotton, which meant beating it into loose layers and spreading it evenly to make the quilt insert.

Down feathers probably couldn’t be done that way. He had to try his best to spread the dried, small downy feathers evenly over the surface of the cloth, making it as flat as possible.

The feathers became even lighter after drying. They fluffed up on the pre-cut cotton cloth, making it quite difficult to flatten them.

Given the size of the wild chickens here, the feathers from nearly ten chickens were barely enough to make one thick comforter. Eric placed another layer of cotton cloth over the spread-out feathers.

He sat on the bed threading the needle, and Max sat down to help.

Their sewing skills were about on par with each other. They worked for a long time, but the stitches were still crooked.

It took a long while to sew the comforter shut. They stitched a vertical line every so often down the middle to prevent the feathers from shifting.

Each of them took a side, slowly sewing towards the middle. However, Eric was making a double-sized comforter, which made it even easier for the seams to go askew. After sewing for a while, they nearly bumped heads, only to look back and see that their two lines of stitching had completely veered into each other.

"I didn’t expect you to know how to sew, Max. You’re really good," Eric praised sincerely. Truly a man who could do anything!

He looked up with a bright smile, meeting Max’s gaze. His eyes were crystal clear, sparkling with mirth. In that instant, it seemed as if the sunlight itself was captivated within their depths.

Max was stunned for a moment before finding his voice again.

"The cloth bags we use for carrying things often tear, so we all have to mend them ourselves," he said, his voice a little hoarse.

Eric suddenly understood. He had been wondering why Snow Wolf people, who rarely wore linen clothes and slept under animal hides, would have a warrior like Max who knew needlework.

The crudely made quilt insert was finally finished. Based on its size, Eric made a duvet cover. In the future, if it got dirty, he would only need to wash the cover, not the insert. Given their sewing skills, it would be a miracle if the feathers didn’t leak out.

The duvet cover only needed the edges sewn shut, which was much simpler than the insert. Eric finished it himself in a flash.

Every time he immersed himself in work, he would lose track of time. It wasn’t until his stomach rumbled that he realized the sun was already setting in the west; it was late afternoon.

Just making one comforter had taken up almost the entire day. In this world of pure manual labor, time really flew by.

Thinking that he had made Max go hungry along with him, Eric felt a pang of guilt.

But there was still a lot of barbecue sauce left from yesterday, and the animal meat they had brought back hadn’t been eaten yet, so he took some out to make a late lunch.

After sleeping on the heated plank bed in Eric’s house, the children of the tribe went home and clamored for their parents to build one exactly like it. It was so warm and comfortable; they didn’t want their own shabby straw nests anymore!

They even used their fluffy paws to describe how beautiful Eric’s glass windows were, and how pulling the linen curtains gave the room a great "sense of security."

The phrase "sense of security" was also something Eric had taught them, and these kids were quick to pick things up and use them.

Although the Snow Wolf people didn’t have this word before, they understood its meaning as soon as they heard it. They subconsciously looked back at the animal hides covering their own doorways, things that a strong gust of wind could blow open, and fell into thought.

"And Leo’s house has a cellar, it’s so big! He said that food stored in there won’t freeze in the winter, it’s amazing!"

Little Dinh told his parents in an admiring tone. In truth, he wanted to talk more about how fun the cellar was, but at his young age, he already knew what would be most persuasive to his parents.

"Leo’s house even has an outhouse, so he won’t be afraid of his butt freezing when he goes to the bathroom anymore."

Leo’s house... Lately, in Snow Wolf families with young children, sentences starting with this phrase had become a constant refrain. They heard it so much their ears were about to fall off, and they couldn’t help but feel curious enough to visit Eric’s house for a tour.

For the past few days, Eric had been constantly receiving visits from tribe members. He found it rather strange. Moreover, everyone who came in would look all around, their gazes gradually turning to envy.

When they left, they didn’t forget to pat Eric on the shoulder, praising him with a tone of both joy and admiration that made him feel a little embarrassed.

He had anticipated that the tribe members would eventually consider building new houses, but he hadn’t expected their interest to be sparked so soon. But this was a good thing, no matter the reason.