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

A Wetsuit for All Seasons

I've been getting really sick of this El Nino crap. It feels like Summer one day, then I'm back in a wetsuit. Come on Summer. Enough of this chilly nonsense.

I upgraded wetsuits (well, I got a deal online on a 4/3) this year, so I still had my old 3/2. In all honesty, it was REALLY on its' last legs, but I can't get rid of neoprene. I need to be on "TLC's Neoprene and Surfboard Hoarders."
A friend of mine asked if I could cut the legs off of her brand new Billabong 3/2. She didn't like the way the legs below the knee constricted her pop-up, and since her legs are in the water anyway- shielded from the wind. She would be comfortable without neoprene on her legs.. I was hesitant, but she liked how the suit came out, so I had to make a chopped wetsuit for myself. And I had the perfect candidate for a suit!
One tidbit my good friend told me is that she attempted to cut her own suit once. It came out horribly ragged and jagged on the edges- but at least neoprene doesn't fray, so it was still usable. Albeit hillbilly. (Sorry, D.)

Neoprene Cutting Tips Right Here!

1. Use a rotary cutter, preferably a 45 mm or larger since surf neoprene is thick. Use NEW rotary blades!
2. If you must cut with shears, use the type made for thicker fabrics (Fiskars makes an ok one, and you can get in at most craft stores). These type almost resemble the Pinking Shears Grandma used to use, without the spiky edge.
3. When you cut, don't cut all way down the shears (scissors), only about 3/4 way. Carefully reset the shears (reopen them) to the last cut, and start cutting again. Try this on a piece of paper- you'll see a difference.
4. Don't use pins with neoprene. Either use quilter's clips, staples (yes, they work!), or, if you're really good, just hold it in place.

*****

Now to the good part!
Here's the old, mercilessly pilled-on-the-inside, salt embedded neoprene. I've washed it, but it's been more comfortable, stretchy and LOOSER in the past....

I hate wetsuits. Truly.

First, I wanted to chop off the legs. I'm pretty modest, so I don't like the shorts being too short.
Using fabric weights, a straight edge, and a rotary cutter, I just cut the legs off (at a slight angle to the torso, but perpendicular to the leg length- hey, our legs don't go STRAIGHT down) with two cuts- one for each leg:

No need to sew or hem. If your seams are glued and sealed, no worries. If you have flatlocked seams (you'll see the thread begin to fray), put clear nail polish over the fraying end.

***UPDATE***

I wore this suit from January into March- I loved it. Warm, but not constricting. I think this will be done on future suits if I can get a better deal on a 3/2 than a specialty long sleeve 2/2 that has a limited season.

***

On to the next.....

Now, with the air getting warmer, I wanted a short Farmer John (Jane). Back to the old suit!

This is a little trickier- you need to try your suit on and mark with chalk where you want it trimmed up BEFORE you cut. My suit has a funky Velcro neck too in back that's annoying too I'd like to lose:

This suit doesn't have shoulder seams (more common as suits get better), so I laid the suit flat on my cutting board, measured out about 2" from the collar seam:

Measuring from the bottom of the collar seam, 2" out to the shoulder is where I'm cutting it (Notice the pattern/fabric weights. They're made from canvas and BB's!)

Other shoulder

Also note how I've lined it up on the grid- I'm going to curve OUT slightly, toward the armpit. If you don't, the fit will be Kooksville.

Both shoulders, weighted, lined up, and ready to be curve cut with the rotary cutter.

  Personally, I like a 60 mm or larger, kind of like a Pizza Cutter. I don't have all day.

You can see the faint curved chalk line out to the armpit.

Arm is surgically removed!

Here's the result- again, NO SEWING (taped and glued seams):

Me likey.

NO FRAY! NO SEW!

I still was bothered by the high, rubbery neck. Didn't need the super cold protection, just a thick wind block. I looked inside to the neck area to check it out:

Inside the suit, looking at the collar, suit front facing camera

The rubbery, friction-y part looked like it was flatlocked to the neoprene. Time for the seam ripper!!!

Ripping out the inside seam to open the rubber flap and expose the base neoprene

When that inside seam was removed, you can see the regular neoprene. I'm going to use the glue/sew line to cut away the excess. I did use my thick fabric scissors, and used the method described above. Came out well!:

Cutting away the excess rubber and neoprene with thick fabric scissors

I can breathe!!!!

So here it is finished:

Paddle perfection

*** APRIL UPDATE ***

I've been using it for a few months, and it works great, except for the scratchy pilling.

For real, don't be scared to chop up your suit. Compared to the $15 you can get for selling your nasty used it on Craigslist, you could be saving $100 on a spring suit. It's a no brainer. Like this dude:

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.