I thought I would put together a quickie tutorial on how I made DD's padded shorts in case anybody else is thinking of making some. We looked at the shorts in the pro shop for around $60, but they seemed bulky and too big for her. She wanted something that would protect her but not be too noticeable under her skating pants. I found a very expensive (almost $200) version online using D3O pads and thought I would attempt to make something similar. Ebay had a set of replacement pads for motocross jackets that I ordered to for $40 which included a set of shoulder pads and elbow pads.
1. Cutting up the pads. After the pads arrived in the mail, we stuck them in DD's skating pants and she didn't like how stiff they were so I cut them up into pieces in a criss-crossy sort of way, hoping they would still protect her but become flexible.
2. Sewing the pads. I sandwiched the pieces between two squares of spandex and used the zipper foot on my sewing machine to stitch the pieces in place. Using a zipper foot allows you to get really close to the edge of the pad and the spandex can be stretched over each piece so they fit tightly together. It helped to use oversized squares of fabric and then trim them to size rather then start with fabric in the shape of the pad. I did that once, ran out of room, had to cut the pads out and start over with larger squares. What we ended up with was thick but surprisingly flexible pads. I left the pad meant for her tailbone in one piece thinking it would offer better protection, but may end up cutting it as well if it is too stiff to skate in.
3. Making a pattern. There is a really cool trick using pants you already have to make a pattern. You can google for a good set of instructions, but it basically involves turning one leg inside-out and tucking the right side-out leg into the inside-out leg. This method lets you use your skating pants as a pattern so that the padded shorts fit perfectly under your pants. Trace the pads onto white computer paper to make the pad pocket patterns. The shorts are sewn out of a thin swimsuit lining fabric with lots of stretch and the pad pockets are made with two layers of miliskin spandex.
- Pin pockets after checking placement. Fold down the top layer of the two pocket layers along the top of the edge of the pocket and stitch it to the shorts so that the bottom layer is stitched down but the top layer is open for inserting the pads. Then stitch along the sides of both layers. You could probably just stitch one layer of spandex onto the shorts and leave the top edge open, but I wanted the extra layer of spandex to sort of hide the lumpy texture of the pads.
4. Sew together the shorts, back and front seams first, and then the inseams. If you haven't made pants before, there are tutorials online for spandex bike shorts that you can follow. All of the stitching on the shorts needs to be either a zig-zag or stretch stitch (if your machine has one) so that the seams will stretch with the fabric. You have to add the tailbone pad pocket after the shorts are sewn together in the same way you added the hip pad pockets. I did the waistband last by folding over the top edge and stitching it down. The legs are left unhemmed so they would be less noticeable under pants.
Here is the final product! DD is going to test them out on the ice today, hopefully they are comfortable, protective and discreet.
Topic: DIY padded shorts using D3O (Read 10390 times)