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 Yodamann's Soft Parts

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Yodamann


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Yodamann's Soft Parts
« on: Aug 25, 2015, 12:26 AM »
I've got my plates underway, and while waiting for a heat gun to show up, I decided to break out the old sewing machine and get started on the soft parts. So after a few days of work, I got the neck seal going.


Flat Style


On my neck

Seems like it should be tall enough to cover my neck with my buy'ce on.

Sidi Ren


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #1 on: Aug 25, 2015, 03:32 AM »
Great job so far! Looking forward to seeing more :D

Yodamann


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #2 on: Jun 22, 2016, 11:31 PM »
I feel like I must be using some Sith magic now, because I'm resurrecting this thread!

I'm making progress on my plates, so I began to plan out how my soft parts should progress. When I wore my WIP armour last, I used a T-Shirt vest, but I know that's not kosher, so I am working off of this tutorial. I figured out the required measurements, and got the bounds for how much fabric I will need.

Today, I stopped by the fabric store on my way home from work, and here's where I ran into a bit of trouble: they didn't have duck cloth, which I've seen tossed around as the ideal. They did, however, have some normal canvas in assorted colours. I took some pictures of the fabric and the little information tag too. Would this work for the flak vest?





Also, what sort of fabric would be best for the inside of the vest, or is just the one layer of canvas sufficient? I know that the T-Shirt I used was a bit flimsy... is that a problem with the canvas?

One last thing: What paper would be the best to create the vest pattern on? I would be able to get flip chart paper pretty easily.

« Last Edit: Jun 23, 2016, 12:27 AM by Yodamann » Logged

Raestin Ke'Varek


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #3 on: Jun 24, 2016, 03:09 PM »
That canvas material will work just fine, and one layer should be plenty (unless you just want a heavier vest).  You want it strong enough to hold all your plates securely, but not so thick that you cook in it.  :P

As for the paper, the flip chart paper sounds perfect.  I didn't have any of that, and I just used sheets of plain paper taped together.  :P

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Yodamann


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #4 on: Jul 04, 2016, 08:57 PM »
I made some progress, but the vest is still... vexing.


I got the pattern made up, going by this tutorial. So far so good.


I made a quick mockup out of some scrap fabric, and this is where things started to go... poorly.


The neck hole was far too small for my big ol' noggin, so after some creative alterations, I managed to go through a second birth and get my head out.

So I guess I need a zipper up the back since my head isn't changing size. Aside from that, how's the fit? It seemed a bit tight around the pecs. Should I use the pattern stickied in this forum instead of TDH?

Yodamann


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #5 on: Jul 14, 2016, 11:02 PM »
I think I've left this long enough to not be a double post, so here's another update!

Since the first iteration of my vest was a bit tight, here and there, I went back to the drawing board card table and added some space around the chest, collar, and bottom of the vest. I then cut it out of some $3/m fabricland deal fabric and did the old testeroo. I think it went pretty well. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself:



Also, while I was in the store I thought I might pick up the real fabric, but they didn't have the same canvas that the other branch had. Instead, I was shown some twill and black denim. Are these acceptable as vest fabrics?


Denim

Denim again, but you can see it a bit better in the lower right corner.

Yodamann


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #6 on: Sep 20, 2016, 04:22 PM »
Some progress on the vest, I followed my pattern and made a final one out of canvas. No pics, since it's not quite finished. Any tips on hemming?

I also made the shoulder bell fabric bits.

Here's one inside out showing how I cut the seam allowance so that it would be smooth when right-side out, and on the right, you can see the other one lined up with my template.

Yodamann


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2017, 10:50 PM »
It's been a while, but I'm back in action!
I've been doing some work on belt pouches, trying to have something functional, since it'd be nice to have my wallet/phone accessible during troops. First of all, here's a rough idea of what I'm targeting:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/260286564/fallout-4-inspired-leather-chest-piece?ref=shop_home_active_25

Now I'd rather not spend 200 CAD +shipping, so I plan on making the pouches and rig myself.

The first order of business was figuring out a pattern. Most of the patterns I found were for non-functional Boba-style leather pouches,  so I had to make my own pattern. So I popped in ANH (this was done on the 40th anniversary) and went to town.



my first attempt at sides was not going to work, and so I took a stroll through google image results to see how other pouches got closed up. That led me to this design:



Feeling pretty good about my results, I made a full pattern and went to town.



Pattern



folded together



and the working prototype! I think it turned out rather well, though the topstitching is a little uneven. Not too bad for an evening's work though!

I'm also more than happy to hear other pouch ideas.

Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #8 on: May 28, 2017, 02:21 PM »
A lot of people just get real used military ammo pouches from Ebay.  They have them in both leather and material, and you can get them super cheap.  Search "ammo pouch" under the category "militaria".  Just a time saving thought.

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Yodamann


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #9 on: Jul 26, 2017, 05:11 PM »
Thanks for the tip! After some eBay scouring, I was able to find six of these fellas:


They smelled a bit... old, but a few rounds of febreeze, and they're smelling less old. Now I need to source some webbing and a girth belt. Then my soft parts are all done!

Yodamann


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Re: Yodamann's Soft Parts
« Reply #10 on: Oct 14, 2018, 01:19 AM »
Let's get some thread necromancy going!

So, since my last post, I picked up a girth belt from Amazon (a horse belt of some sort) https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B003VZC30G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's a good size, but it doesn't go all the way around my waist, and even if it did, there's no way to connect it to itself. Now, if I were a leather-worker, I'd probably just make a strip of leather with a few holes in it and be done. Alas, I'm no leather-worker, so I had to do some sewing.


I designed an intermediate belt that would wrap around the buckles and velcro onto itself to secure the girth belt.



There's the prototype. I got a rough measure of how much waist there was left when the belt was in position, and just ballparked out a pattern based on that.



There's the product approaching finished, I just need to pick a bit of velcro, and I'm good to go.



And more or less in place on the main girth belt

 


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