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Project Ideas
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- Make two buttonholes the width of the tape on the waistband, about 1-1/2"on either side of the CF seam and about 1-1/2" down from the edge of the fabric. The buttonholes are going to be on the outside of the 1-1/4" waistband, centered over the elastic.
- Now, cut the1" nylon webbing about 10-15" longer than the waist measurement, and fasten the ladder lock to one end securely.
- From the outside, thread the web through one of the buttonholes, all the way around the waist, and out the other buttonhole.
- Make sure your buckle is towards the center of the pants, you might thread it just to check.
- Use a bartack and secure the buckle end of the web just to the outside of the buttonhole, buckle facing the center.
- Cut the sport elastic to the desired length and bartack ends to make a circle.
- Either serge or edge stitch the elastic to the WS of the edge of the pants. Don't catch the nylonwebbing, which should be between the fabric and the elastic.
- Last but not least, fold over the elastic ( with the tape inside) and edge stitch the elastic approximately 1" from the edge.
- Options include using a heavy elastic instead of webbing
Fleece Tights: These are the best for winter
wear. You will need a unisex pattern like Stretch-and-Sew #312.
Use a stretch fleece like Polartec® 100s or 200s. When
you measure and cut, allow for the fact that spandex/fleece stretches
differently from a regular lycra. You will need to add length
so that the leg length is about the same as the finished length. A
good rule of thumb for fleece tights is to make them one size larger
and add to the length (through the thigh) If you have a serger,
wooly nylon thread will give you nice soft seams. Finish with
the waistband of your choice.
Technical Overmitts with Fleece Liners: This is a project
for experienced sewists. It is fairly detailed sewing with
narrow seam allowances and some precision moves. However,
you will be very proud of your mitts when you are done, as these
will be very similar to some you can find for $90-$120 at the store.
You will need Controlled Exposure #75, Shell Overmitts, and #45,
Fleece Gloves. Use a 3-layer Gore-tex if you can, and "Tufftek"
for the palms. For the liners, a 300 fleece or shearling works
great. For the shells, follow the overmitt pattern directions. For
the liners, use the fleece glove as a base, but make a mitten instead
by not cutting around the fingers. The mittens will mate exactly
exactly with the liners. I made myself several weights of
liners: shearling fleece for regular days, and then some really
warm liners out of Thinsulate lined with microchamois for very cold
ski days. One nifty addition to this mitten is to put on a
wrist loop, made by attaching shock cord or a nylon cord to the
inside seam. You then put the loop around your wrist when
you put the mittens on; this way you can take off you mitten to
fix your goggles or whatever, but instead of having to hold onto
them, they are securely hanging from your wrist.
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Vest & Jacket: This jacket is made of an acrylic fashion berber; I couldn't resist the Escher-like polar bears. I used a vest pattern, Green Pepper #507 as a base but you wouldn't know it with all the changes I made. First I eliminated the divided front panel and chest pocket on the vest so it was one piece, and then I lengthend the pattern to a jacket length. I copied the sleeve off of another fleece coat, and added a shock cord waist drawcord, and zippered side seam pockets, and narrowed the collar a bit! The plum vest is the same pattern base. It is made from Polartec 300. Again, I lengthened the pattern a bit, added zipper side seam pocket and a waist drawcord. The trim was put on using a "reverse zipper with trim" in the book Adventures with Polarfleece(tm) by Nancy Cornwell. |
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Cycle clothing: Cycle gear is easy and fun, especially if you have a serger. Jersey patterns to use are either Green Pepper ( men and women, #402 & 401) or Jalie unisex #2216. Fabric to use are wicking supplex/lycra blend, or any wicking knit like Capilene™. You can get really creative with using swim lycra prints for insert panels. A good shorts pattern is Stretch and Sew #312, unisex which has a nice 6 panel short and instructions for making your own chamois out of Ultrasuede and fleece. Recommended fabric choices include heavy 9 oz. lycra or lightweight wicking lycra. One suggestion is to cut the thigh elastic to fit YOUR thigh, and not to use the skinny-minny measurement that the instructions give. My gallery has photos of lots of cycle gear that I have made.
Lycra Edging for Fleece: There are a lot of ways to do this, but these two are my favorites. You will need lycra to match (or contrast) your fleece, cut into strips with a rotary cutter. Cut the strips with more stretch if you want a stretchy finish for cuffs, or cut with less stretch for a regular edge finish. A rotary cutter is the best tool for cutting these strips. A serger is also very useful for this project.
- Cut lycra strips 2" wide with a rotary cutter
- Fold the strips in half lengthwise WS together, and using a serger, sew the strips to the WS of the fleece edge. (the serger stitch makes a firm edge to fold the strips around) Use a few pins to secure if you have to.
- Fold the doubled lycra over to the right side. Again use pins if you need to, to secure. Edgestitch about 1/16" from the edge of the lycra, completely wrapping the seam and edge of the fleece.
All text and photos © 2006, unless otherwise
indicated.
Materials may not be used reproduced without explicit permission