Pimp My Boardshorts: No More Velcro! (Part I)

Finally, it's become warm enough to be able to wear boardshorts around here. For me, I love to wear men's boardshorts since the women's versions are too short for me. Plus, men's boardies come in all sorts of crazy prints, so the crazier, the better for me. The fabric they've come out with now is absolutely incredible- it feels like wearing pajamas.

My fricken favorite pair right now is these Quiksilver Editions I picked up from the local outlet store. The downside is, it had all sorts of stiff Velcro in the fly and on the side pocket. Blech. I hate Velcro on boardshorts- it snags in the wash and it pokes me in the stomach when I'm paddling. So, I decided to give these shorts a bit of a makeover.

Upon closer inspection, you can see what I can't stand: Velcro in the crotch!

Aargh!!! Velcro!

I used a seam ripper to remove the Velcro- the majority was pretty easy, until I got to the very bottom where the fly came together. 

Almost all the Velcro out, except at the very bottom

I could have just cut straight across he bottom and left the rest of the Velcro encased in the stitching in the fly. Instead, I removed the anchor stitching on the front of the fly and took out ALL of the Velcro:

The anchor stitching on the bottom of the front of the fly.

I'm removing the stitches.

Tough job, but worth it.

Next, I tackled the Velcro on the pocket:

You can even see where the inner pocket is snagged on the Velcro!

For shame!

I had a thought at this point- for those who are new to seam rippers, here's a few tips:

When I start to remove the Velcro, I start on the Velcro side and use the sharp point to find the stitch to break it. Be careful not to stab the fabric:

I'm starting on the outside track of stitching first.

Once that stitch is broken, you should be able to start to separate the Velcro from the fabric. At this point, I took my seam ripper (with the ball tip side down) into the seam and moved the ripper forward along the seam between the Velcro and the fabric:

With the ball tip down in the seam,

this prevents any snags in the fabric

RIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPP!!!!!!!! Supa quick!

All that nice fluid fabric is finally free to move!

Ok- now, yeah, the Velcro issue is solved, but, the fly is open.

Yikes.

On some of my other fancy boardshorts, there's a nice solution I've found to take care of that, and I already have the materials here to recycle. Stay tuned for Part II!

Don't get me wrong....there's always great uses for Velcro.

On the bucket list

Deluxe Beach Cover Up DIY

Even though I've made a simple one of these beach cover-ups before, I wanted something a bit more substantial. I also wanted one that was a bit wider for getting into and out of my wetsuits easier. Wider. Yikes. I also wanted to put a hood on this one in case the wind is howling in the parking lot when I get out.
So, I procured a couple of big beach towels from the local outlet store. Outlet stores are the best for good towels- they're as cheap as Walmart, but last longer since they're made for a department store. Just don't get picky about what color/print/etc. For the hood, I went to the clearance bin and found a single hand towel with a funky fiesta print.

My beach towels are approximately 32" wide by 66" long

For this project, instead of sewing down each long side (which is over 5 feet long, remember), I'm going to make the side seams the short edges of the towel. 32 inches will be plenty long enough to cover me, but not so long that it will be difficult to change with.
First thing, I cut off any tags on the towel- I don't want to take the chance and sew over the extra bulk.

Nautica doesn't make these cover ups!

Next, I pinned (technically clipped) one of the long sides together with the LOOPY SIDE OF EACH TOWEL FACING OUT, and the groomed, soft sides together,. This seems a little weird, but the loopy side is the most absorbent. The other long side will be the bottom opening of the cover up when we turn it inside out. I pinned/clipped all the way across, but the middle 12 inches I marked off on each side with a yellow butterfly pin to tell me not to sew this part. This section will be the head opening:

The no sew zone. Gotta get my big head in there somehow.

For my project, my middle twelve inch opening for my head started about 27 inches from the outer edge.

Download it, rent it, whatever

On a side note- if you are getting into sewing for surfing, I recommend going to your library and picking up Sandra Betzina's More Fabric Savvy. It is a great reference for unusual fabrics, and since we're not at a freakin' quilting bee here, it's VERY useful.
Also, please note that in the sewing pics below I was using a walking foot. A lot of people shy away from these, and I don't know why. It takes about two seconds more to install than a regular presser foot, and, BOOM! huge difference in the feed of stuff like terrycloth, knits, neoprene, and other non-quilting-craft-cotton. Which leaves the fun stuff to sew. Try one!
Back to the good part....


So I used the finished edge on the towels as a seam guide. DO NOT try to sew or even fit this bulk of both finished edges under your machine! The needle WILL break, and you may do serious damage to the delicate machinery, or put an eye out, like Santa told you. I used a Heavy Universal needle (at least 90/14 or above) and set the machine for a straight stitch at 3.0 in length.

Sewing along the finished edge of the towel

Remember to not sew all the way across, or you wont leave a head opening! Also, don't try to sew the far edges together by machine. Either hand sew them together, or leave them as is, like I did:

Don't sew through that gnarly bulk! NOT worth it!

You don't have to do this part, but I wanted those seam allowances sewn down. I went back and put a simple wide, long, zig-zag stitch down each allowance, stopping at my mark for my "headhole". Remember, sew the part that's towel, NOT the finished edge (the finished edge is light blue here):

Opening the seam allowance and stitching down each edge until you get to the head opening

Zig-zag down each side- as long as your thread matches, it won't really show.

When I did get to the head opening, I split off one side and turned a seam over that matched the allowance I had been sewing before the split:

Starting the split

After doing the other side.

Neckline "Inside Out" with the seam allowances stitched down to minimize bulk.

Neckline turned right side out, finished.

Here, you can decide if you want to sew down each short side, leaving the top fold open down at least 12 inches for "sleeves". Originally, I left mine open on the sides, but I liked it better sewn up the sides.
At this point, I was ready to add my hood. Of course, you will have wanted to have measured your hand towel to make sure this works. For me, the hand towel I bought eased just fine around the 12" diameter neck. Here is the hand towel with the pink finished edge on just the short sides, the long sides had no additional bound edge:

 I folded the towel in half, the two pink bound edges together (loopy side OUT), pinning/clipping the top edge together. This top edge is what I'm going to sew, which will be the TOP of the hood:

Getting ready to sew the top edge by using clips instead of pins

I'm using the finished narrow edge as a seam guide when sewing.

Once that seam is finished, I pinned/clipped the bottom edge of the hand towel to the neckline of the big towel cover up. Make sure your seam will be on the INSIDE of the cover up once the hood is attached. Make sure you pin/clip A LOT, and SEW SLOWLY. It's not a race. It's probably flat out there, that's why you're reading this. No rush. Use a long stitch, and go back over it to secure:

The bottom of the hood took up almost the entire neckline. Perfect!

Sewing right inside the finished edge. Slowly.

Again, I don't try to sew over the thick ends- leave them open, and save your machine. If the bound ends have enough of an opening, thread a LONG shoestring through them and you can pull the hood a little bit closed (not too much, depending on how thick the binding is). That's it! Enjoy the pics!

Hood applied to the neckline, then turned right side out.

Front Side Finished

Back Side Finished

With a hood, it's easier to hang up to dry.

If Star Wars was in an "Alternate Lifestyle" Universe, this is the Obi Wan special. 

NOT a man bun, thank you very much.

Painting my Surfboard

Montana Paint Pens

So in my last project, I put some traction on the tail that stays on permanently, but doesn't get in the way. Now, since I can't leave well enough alone, I wanted to paint this surfboard since I haven't painted one in a while.
This time, I used fine point Montana paint pens, since they were up at Michaels', and they have the 40% off one item coupon. Not kidding you, I got a lot of my markers one at a time over a couple of weeks so I could use the coupon. Paint markers are pricey. I've "heard" Poscas are the best, but they do not take sealant very well if you need to preserve your item (which you do). I used to use Painters' Paint Pens- they sell them at craft stores and WalMart- but ever since Elmer's Glue bought them, they're pretty awful.
Some people will recommend sandpapering the area of the surfboard you want to paint, for it to "stick better", but I think that's a quick way to ruin a good paint pen nib, and gives you no way to undo errors cleanly. I just make sure the board is clean, wax, water, and chemical free!

I had a few aquatic photos of seadragons I wanted to try and paint for inspiration. First, I sketched out the main body and the head in pencil so I could get an idea of the overall proportion I wanted.

Pencil Sketch on the board

Next, I started filling in with color. These are pump-style markers, so you have to press the nib down to get them to feed more paint, so I keep a scrap of paper nearby to start a new feed of paint.

Scrap paper to pump out more paint

These markers are pretty decent, I did need to go back over the main fields about 3 times to get the really bright colors. To shadow and highlight, I found it was fun to bring Pointillism back! Paint pens are perfect for this, and blending colors is neat-o. Just remember to let the paint completely dry before moving on to the next layer, and DON'T lay it on thick- it should go on kind of marker-"like".

Adding dots for highlights and shadow

My collection of big markers

Technically, when these markers dry, they're waterproof. And yes, if you kept a light coat of wax on this (if the painting's on the deck), and kept it from getting scratched, it MAY not chip off for a while. But it will. And that can be a good thing, especially if you're concerned about resale.
If you want to lock your creation down, and protect it from sun, sand, and wax comb scrapes, I recommend sealing it- no matter what side you painted.
This is where is gets tricky. A lot of people claim that paint pens bleed badly when you put sealant on them. I think this typically happens when the paint is put on too thickly, or the painter didn't leave enough time between sealant coats to let it dry.
To set up for this, I took the surfboard out to the garage with the door open, fan on, with my FILTER MASK and SAFETY GOGGLES ready to don when getting ready to spray (HINT). I taped off the board with Frogtape (painters' tape) and butchers' paper to prevent any other areas from getting sprayed.

Frogtape and Paper to section off area

I used a "2 in 1" Rustoleum "Ultra Cover" spray, but I still used 2 light, even coats. I had no problem with running or bleed with the Montana markers.

Here it is completed:

Gee, I hope I like the board. It's all mine now, like a tattoo on the butt.

Invisible Surfboard Traction DIY

As much as I've loved my Starr super wide tail shortboard, I've decided to return back to a true funshape style, still a Starr 6'10" (hey, at my age, that counts as a shortboard). So, I traded it in at my favorite surf shop-TOTAL PLUG ALERT-Core Surf!

Every time I get a shortboard, I put this spray traction on the tail, since I tend to use my toes to pop

Monster Paint

up-a bad habit on a shortboard. But, I don't want to take the chance that my toes slip and I get hurt. By just putting it on the end tail, it won't rub me raw sitting on it. I just don't like traction pads in general anymore, since I like to pop up on the absolute end of the board, and the raised traction kind of throws me off. Many people also use this on their longboards on the nose area so they don't have to wax that part every time, which is also very smart. The stuff I used is called "Monster Paint". I was given a can of it about 3 years ago, and there's still a lot left, and I've sprayed a lot of boards. I haven't had to reapply it, since I typically wax over these areas anyway for extra insurance. Monster Paint is about the only brand of spray on surfboard traction I found out there, it's pretty hard to find except on Amazon (or if you get one as a gift! Yay!).

For this project, PLEASE use safety glasses and a filter mask. Tarps and painters' tape are also needed.
I set up where I wanted the traction to go, making sure I taped off the rails and even the leash plug, to avoid getting those areas roughed.

My safety equipment on my new board

The area is taped off, with tarps laid down underneath,

as well as over the deck of the board I did not want sprayed.

You don't need much of this stuff at all- make sure you do some test sprays on your tarp (mask and goggles on in a well ventilated area!!!) to clear out any gumminess. Shake the can WELL! I do a VERY light ghost pass to cover the area, then wait 15 minutes. I repeat the feather light pass again, and that's it. It will be plenty covered, trust me!

The Spirit of OutKast compels me to shake it

like a Polaroid picture

You can really see the sheen from the spray

Area with the tread/area without tread

This brand requires a full 24 hours to handle traffic, but states that it still continues to cure for a few days. You can see how if you had an expensive wood or fabric inlay board, this stuff could come in quite handy, as it doesn't cover the artwork.
I have another project for this board on deck....at the other end!

I made a brand new leash string for my

rough and ready buddy!