Make Your Own Armour

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rmstrttn
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Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:56 pm

I had originally been thinking to make a set of armoured jeans, but jeans are too hot when hot and too cold at all other times. So, I decided to create something more universal: armoured long "underwear" that can be worn with any pants. You could just buy some long underwear and armour them, but thermals would be too warm. These ought to be comfortable enough to wear except during the hottest days.

I'm not a great tailor by any stretch of imagination. My finishing is terrible and my seams are ugly, but even these don't look horrible. Suffice to say, this is not a hugely difficult project.

What you need:

A sewing machine.
Fabric (knit fabrics will stretch, woven fabrics will not).
Thread.
Scissors.
Some kind of knee pads.
Dense foam to pad other areas (I haven't gotten this far in the process yet, but will add them eventually).

I bought a set of kids hockey pads at a used sports equipment store ($10):

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...and then I "cut" them in half...well, removed the correct stitches to split them apart:

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I had some woven, lightweight jersey material lying around. I bought it a few months ago really cheap ($3 a metre). As mentioned above, it's woven and won't stretch, so I had to make certain I got the size pretty close. Better too loose than too tight.

I grabbed an old pair of sweats that are way too big for me and measured them up. Normally I would add 1" to these measurements, but I guessed that once stitched that these outer dimensions would end up being the correct size.

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My "pattern" was nothing more than measuring straight lines and marking them with every few inches with a black marker.

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Cut my first piece and then used it as my pattern to make three more. Don't forget to flip the pattern and make two pieces that are "mirror images" to the first two (especially important if the fabric is vastly different on each side - mine was only slightly). The one minor mistake I made was that the waist of the "back" pieces should be an inch or so taller than the front pieces since your butt is round and your front is relatively flat. However, it still ended up working and does have the benefit of not appearing above the waist of my jeans.

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I'm not very good with the scissors. A fabric cutting wheel and a ruler would yield better results, but I don't have a big enough protective cutting surface for that. The result is that my pieces were fairly dissimilar, but since everything's stitched inside-out anyway, it really doesn't matter.

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Layer the two sets together and stitch along the edges I've marked:

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Stitch away! I just went for it, but the better recommendation is to use a large stitch or stitch small areas first just in case you need to pull everything apart.

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Once you have the two legs stitched, it's time to stitch them together...remember not to stitch the back and the front together: this is where your rear and the jewels go!

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Basic stitching done!

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Turn them right-side-out and try them on:

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Amazingly, I ended up with a perfect fit on the first try. However, I completely butchered my first attempt at an elastic waistband, so I'm not including that! I did hem the legs and the waist.

Next step: creating "pockets" to slide the pads into. I put on the pants, sat down, put the pads on my knees and marked where the bottom of the pad ended with a black dot.

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Then I cut pieces of fabric that were quite a bit larger than the spread-out pads (2" all around). With a knit material, the excess would be less since knits stretch.

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I hemmed the pieces all around and then stitched them to each leg - stitch the sides and bottom only since the top stays open.

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I added velcro strips to keep the pockets closed:

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Once again I was just winging it and I guess my measurements were pretty good; the pads fit perfectly:

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For the time being, this is exactly what I wanted. I'll add some other foam padding later and post any updates.

They work perfectly. They add the perfect amount of thermal insulation to the jeans. I don't feel cold when I ride and I can sit here on the couch and not be too warm. My knees are well protected and eventually I'll pad up some other sensitive areas...maybe I'll even add some heavy-denier nylon scrub pads too.
"Often life asks much of you, and you either honour life by answering with all your heart, or you cower your way into your grave."
- Master Orquell (The Godslayer Chronicles)

1993 Yamaha XJ600SE Seca II

Mark

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