Flak Vest Tutorial. Draft your own pattern.
- Thread starter Darth Mule
- Start date
stormtrooperguy
Sr Hunter
when sewing vinyl you also may need a different foot for the machine. them metal ones tend to get stuck. they sell plastic feet meant for this sort of thing.
LadySewforus
Active Hunter
You can purchase what is called a walking foot for about $20 if you need to. They do sell as stormtrooperguy mentioned a "teflon" foot. It is meant to be non-stick.
You can sprinkle baby powder on the vinyl where you plan to sew, but keep the dust down. You do not want that to get up into your machine. But a light layer can help to make the vinyl more slick. There is one more tip. There is something called "Sewer's Aid"
It is like a liquid silicon that you dab onto the vinyl and it will help the needle and thread move smoothly and the material move smootly under the foot.
You can find it at a sewing store, in the notions department.
I have had no problems with staining at all, but you may want to try it on a scrap to make sure.
You should also try a "leather" needle, which is stronger and sharper than your average sewing needle.
Good Luck and have fun!
You can sprinkle baby powder on the vinyl where you plan to sew, but keep the dust down. You do not want that to get up into your machine. But a light layer can help to make the vinyl more slick. There is one more tip. There is something called "Sewer's Aid"
It is like a liquid silicon that you dab onto the vinyl and it will help the needle and thread move smoothly and the material move smootly under the foot.
You can find it at a sewing store, in the notions department.
I have had no problems with staining at all, but you may want to try it on a scrap to make sure.
You should also try a "leather" needle, which is stronger and sharper than your average sewing needle.
Good Luck and have fun!
Gaanyc Tor
New Hunter
Awesome, thanks for all your help guys (and gals), Im going to begin sewing today!
with my mothers help of course, gotta love her even tho she thinks im crazy lol.
with my mothers help of course, gotta love her even tho she thinks im crazy lol.
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Gaanyc Tor
New Hunter
This pattern is amazing, i had a bit of confusion with the picture featuring point DD and the lack of instruction for point DD, but i soon realized my error
Keep up the good work!:cheers
Keep up the good work!:cheers
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Gaanyc Tor
New Hunter
well i have my flak vest sewn together for the most part... well as most as its willing to go... i double checked all my measurements and everything, but when i try to put it on, theres a 4" gap in the back and it wont close all the way... also there is no room for the dart along the sides... the arm holes are very small too... very confusing.. is there another pattern that can be used for making the flak vest? :s
Peregrinus
Active Hunter
Necro-ing this to ask a question, DM. Everything for my vest pattern has gone flawlessly, except for two things.
1. N is closer to CD than P, by my measurements. This interferes with drawing the front armhole curve. Advice?
2. You left DD out of your instructions. I see it on your attached pic, though. What should I be doing here?
Thanks in advance, and thanks again for posting this in the first place.
--Jonah
1. N is closer to CD than P, by my measurements. This interferes with drawing the front armhole curve. Advice?
2. You left DD out of your instructions. I see it on your attached pic, though. What should I be doing here?
Thanks in advance, and thanks again for posting this in the first place.
--Jonah
Darth Mule
Active Hunter
Necro-ing this to ask a question, DM. Everything for my vest pattern has gone flawlessly, except for two things.
1. N is closer to CD than P, by my measurements. This interferes with drawing the front armhole curve. Advice?
2. You left DD out of your instructions. I see it on your attached pic, though. What should I be doing here?
Thanks in advance, and thanks again for posting this in the first place.
--Jonah
Wow! A thread from the bowels of the TDH. Sorry I haven't checked this in years.
One day I will have to update this thread. I have a better pattern block in my head, I just have to transfer it to paper. I put this one together in the early days of my training. Since then I have become a an official patternmaker and tailor in the professional sense and then stopped doing that to try my hand at costume design. So this is a bit dated.
That being said. It is still a decent tutorial. I just need to clean things up bit.
Gaanyc:
Firstly, I hope you mocked this up first. That is to say, sewed it together in a cheap fabric to make sure you got it the way you want.
Despite what you've said about double checking your measurements, you did something wrong. The size of the armhole is dependent on 3 measurements:
1) Shoulder length (AA to CC, N to K) - The length from the side of your neck to the tip of your shoulder (basically where the shoulder seam in a t-shirt sits)
2) Chest and back width (G to BB, P to H) - Measuring from where your chest/back meets where your arm attaches to your body (not underneath), from one side to another.
3) Half your torso length - the bit where it tells you to divide in 1/4, then in another 1/4.. Fairly straight forward.
I think you missed something on one of these. That's what it sounds like.
Perigrinus:
Sounds like you might have done one of the same. Possibly too long a shoulder measurement.
In regard to the 'DD' questions. I think I eliminated DD from my instructions because it was unnecessary and I just combined it with CC. The image is stock and I didn't alter it, thus it still being present.
Peregrinus
Active Hunter
I think I can work with that. I'm going to be redoing my measurements tomorrow. Looking forward to your updated template/tutorial. 
I'm going to be going through a fiber-arts program here in another year or so, myself. As it is, I know just enough about pattern-making to be dangerous, but I'm pretty good at modding them to suit.
--Jonah
I'm going to be going through a fiber-arts program here in another year or so, myself. As it is, I know just enough about pattern-making to be dangerous, but I'm pretty good at modding them to suit. --Jonah
ADeviantMuse
New Hunter
Catal: Since I'm planning on using this tutorial soon myself, I did a quick Google search. The results made it appear that I had entered a '½' symbol into the search bar, so I'm assuming he meant 3.5 inches.
ADeviantMuse
New Hunter
The width you need will be double of your chest measurement, and the length will be a bit more than the A-B measurement. Be sure to round up when purchasing your fabric; it's always better to have too much than too little.
"Step 3: Front Neck and Shoulder
3 ½ inches to the left, and ½ inch up from C, mark K."
what does the ½ mean? I've seen it in a few places and I don't understand what it is. Thanks guys.
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NVM, just saw DeviantMuse answered it. thanks again!
3 ½ inches to the left, and ½ inch up from C, mark K."
what does the ½ mean? I've seen it in a few places and I don't understand what it is. Thanks guys.
- - - Updated - - -
NVM, just saw DeviantMuse answered it. thanks again!
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MercOfSteel
New Hunter
Has anyone used real leather for their flak vest? I found a place that'll sell me a side of soft leather for $25/7-10 sqft.
