DIY padded shorts using D3O

[DressmakingMomma]

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.

[Query]

I don't know much about sewing.

I did once buy a pair of bicycle shorts. They are padded in the rear. But they look very weird.

[Loops]

This is a brilliant tutorial!  Thanks for taking the time to do this.  How'd they work out?

[luvmydoggie]

Hi I just wanted to thank you for posting the excellent tutorial.  Genius idea to cut the pada into pieces to make them flexible.  Please report back on how your dd liked it.  I sewed a pair of shorts with pockets similar to yours for my dd to put akton pads in - they work but the pads are too heavy.  I heard d3o is light. 

Do the d30 pads have any smell?  The akton pad (I bought a sheet of 18"x18") still has some odor no matter how much I aired out.

[DressmakingMomma]

Still not sure how well the padded shorts work cause dd WON'T wear them!!

She asked me to sew her some pads, but now has decided she is going to reserve wearing them for when she 'thinks' she might fall and even though I find this illogical, I can't convince her otherwise. Oh well, maybe she'll change her mind after another nasty hit to the hip. She's worried they look funny, but we did see another girl wearing pads at the rink yesterday so maybe she'll pull them on today. We'll see. . .

Luvmydoggie - They are very light, and I didn't notice a smell but I don't have a very sensitive sense of smell.

[Loops]

Resurrecting this.... did DD ever wear them?  How did this work out?

[DressmakingMomma]

She never did wear them. Recently, I was in a skate shop that carried se_ku protech and their padded shorts have much thinner padding that would be far less noticeable then what I made and also probably more comfortable to wear. Too bad se-ku is sooooo expensive. I'm not sure if the se-ku would protect as well from a really nasty fall, but they would definitely soften the blow to a hip or tailbone. I'm thinking about trying to make something that she can stuff in her skating pants just when working on the axel and remove for the rest of her practice time.

[Loops]

That's a bummer.  I posted in another thread that I had a nasty blow to my tailbone 2 months ago and am now looking at protective shorts.  What's your feeling on the d30?  I can actually get a small sheet over here that looks like what Se-Ku used.  They sell in in the UK to soften the kickback on rifles (for bird hunting).  The pre-made stuff with d30 is out of sight expensive, and tbh I'm just not sure that gel will cut it if I go straight down on my coccyx again.

[beginner skater]

Hi Loops,
I bought some d30 knee guards from the motorcycle dept of Amazon, as they were cheap cf skating d30. They're not too bulky, but when I thump them on a table, to simulate knees slamming in to ice, they dont soften the blow enough, compared with the Akton gel pads I bought from a medical supplier, which are what skatesafe pads are made of. The technology of d30 seems  to be that impact causes the molecules to lock, and it did go from flexible to hard, but my hand hurt. I've got skate safe knee pads, and those are the ones I wear, although of course I havent fallen since I started wearing them every skate