Sew your own outdoor gear By Kathleen Wilker SUPPOSE you’re competing in the Keskinada bright and early tomorrow morning, and you’re packing you’re gear tonight. You need your waterproof mitts, fleece liners, neck and ear warmers, wacky shirt, fleece vest and wind-stopper fleece. You double-check your list because bringing the right gear is essential for good times outdoors, especially in the winter. But, how do you find the perfect gear for your outdoor adventures? Derek Heffernan — an avid skier, cyclist and camper — sews his own. OOM: What motivated you to start making your own outdoor gear? Derek: My mom is an accomplished sewer with a well-equipped sewing room. While visiting her, I thought I’d try to make a simple fleece vest. So my mom created the pattern and I did the sewing. OOM: How did your vest turn out? Derek: I thought it was great. My mom noticed that the bear print didn’t match on either side of the zipper (common rookie mistake) so she ripped it out and resewed it. After that, I decided to take charge of my own projects. The vest wasn’t too
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hard so I thought, why not make a jacket? I like working with fleece because it’s very forgiving – it doesn’t move when you’re sewing and it hides the stitches. OOM: What gear have you made? Derek: All kinds: fleece mitts, vests, jackets, hats and neck warmers, waterresistant paddling pants, cycling jackets, waterproof and breathable mitts, and long- and short-sleeved wicky shirts. My most recent project was a windstopper fleece that I wear cross-country skiing. OOM: Which were your most successful projects? Derek: I recently made a bunch of wicky shirts for commuting. I needed a whack of them because I bike to work and sweat easily. I cut up an old T-shirt to make the pattern, so they fit really well. Fit is so important when you’re making your own gear. If you’re buying readymade garments, you can try them on. But patterns come in just a few sizes that may not fit you perfectly. OOM: How do you make sure your gear fits? Derek: I make a shell with cheap fabric before I start using the expensive outdoor material. I’ll use cheap fleece to test a fleece pattern or cheap nylon to test a waterproof breathable fabric (Gore-Tex®) pattern. By using fabric with similar qualities and stretch to the fabrics for final products, I can see if the pattern I’m using works. OOM: Where do you find high-tech fabric in Ottawa? Derek: I’ve been burned a few times with “water resistant fabric” from local fabric stores. It’s generally not breathable and it leaks. Real Gore-Tex is not available locally. Neither is high quality fleece, like the Polartec® Power Shield with which I like to work. So I order my fabric from two stores in Calgary: Peak Fabrics (www.peakfabrics.com) and Textile Outfitters (www.justmakeit.com). OOM: Where do you get your patterns? Derek: Textile Outfitters has great patterns made by several outdoor companies, including Storm Mountain Designs. I also order patterns from Controlled Exposure (www.peak.org/~ce). Their patterns aren’t simple, but they work.
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About three years ago, I made their waterproof breathable fabric mitts. It took me a while to figure out the thumb, because it’s 3D, but those mitts have seen a lot of action and are still going strong. OOM: Do you have any suggestions for novices who are keen to sew their own outdoor gear? Derek: Yes, definitely. If you have a friend who sews, save yourself some aggravation by getting him to look over your shoulder the first time you sew something. I’ve found really good advice in Rochelle Harper’s books, Sewing Outdoor Gear: Easy Techniques for Outerwear That Works, and Sew the New Fleece: Techniques with Synthetic Fleece and Pile. Unfortunately, the second book is out of print, but it’s worth hunting down a second-hand copy. Textile Outfitters has a bulletin board that’s a great source of information for everything from sealing waterproof breathable fabric to sewing zippers in tents. My own motto is “Think first, measure twice, cut once.” Modifying patterns is careful work. For example, if you want to take an inch off a waist, you need to take a quarter inch off each seam. Otherwise the whole pattern will shift an inch. If you’re just starting, I’d recommend using fleece (waterproof breathable fabric is expensive and more finicky), and making mitts or a vest, because the garment is smaller and the fit is more forgiving than jackets or pants. After you’ve mastered a pattern, you can add special
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