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*** The official and awesome DIY thread ***

zissou

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Nicely done! I'm gearing up to make my first stab at trousers, any tips?
Thank you! Trousers can be rather challenging especially in terms of fit. I recommend making at least a couple full versions without pockets just to dial in the fit. Taking some relevant body measurements can also be helpful when adjusting a pattern for the first time. I think it took four tries for me to get a pair of jeans to fit well. If you want to make jeans and are looking for supplies, Pacific Blue Denims is you place for selvage denim and Citron Jeans on Etsy is your place for hardware.
 

emptym

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Wow, my little DIY projects are nothing compared with the shirts and pants posted the last several months. But to keep the thread alive, here's some small things I did last summer.

First, a new heel for a 12 yr old pair of Goodhew socks that I love, taken from my daughter's sock that she outgrew several years ago and whose mate we lost back then:
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Then a pair of Hudson Ipanema's that I modified. I bought the for a long trip to the Philippines last summer. The site then showed them as unlined, but they came lined with fabric and fusing. I removed the lining using scissors to cut and pliers to pull.
IMG_2287.jpeg


That made them breezy and comfortable during my stay, but they stretched out and my heels would slip out. Heel pads didn't help much, so when I got home, I opened up the back, cut out a wedge, and stitched them up. Now they fit and feel great.
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I also switched out the vinyl footbed for a leather one and glued a 1x2" piece of skived calfskin at the front to prevent my toes from eventually rubbing through. With those mods, they made for an ideal tropical shoe imo.
 

NateLeather

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Hi all, new to the forum. I've got little style sense.
I long ago needed a good wallet in leather, so made my own. Now I do it for fun. I guess this is some shameless promotion but I do belts, wallets and other things. Will put up pictures and ask for advice and see if anyone likes these things. I always do my stuff by hand. Full grain leather. Belts are usually veg tan or latigo (sorta like bridle) -- thick and sturdy -- but simple. Not dress belts. Jeans type.
Wallets - I do different types - but notably not the usual bill folds with card slots - more minimalist.
 

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emptym

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Over the past couple years, I've been working on some jeans I thrifted ~1990 and used really frequently in high school and college. They were so worn that they tore across the thigh when I was putting them on in 1995. I repaired that area and a couple other small holes, but they've mostly been retired the past ~25 years. Inspired by @Takai and @flowcharts I've stepped up my efforts and reinforced the most worn areas and will probably start wearing them again. Some pics:

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emptym

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^Wow, no, I hadn't even heard of such a thing! From a few mins googling, it looks like that would help, particularly the longer needle. I just used a regular one, about 1.25" with a regular thimble and regular thread, doubled up. I also didn't use any patches, just the thread to reinforce things. Hope it lasts. I'd probably add a patches if/when these fail.
 

double00

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^Wow, no, I hadn't even heard of such a thing! From a few mins googling, it looks like that would help, particularly the longer needle. I just used a regular one, about 1.25" with a regular thimble and regular thread, doubled up. I also didn't use any patches, just the thread to reinforce things. Hope it lasts. I'd probably add a patches if/when these fail.

yeah sashiko . i've never tried it , it uses a distinct yarn too . a plied cotton as I recall .

the whole idea as I understand it is to arrange the fabric around the thread so the needle does like a running stitch thing but really what happens is the fabric gets piled up and ran through in an artful way with that needle .

and then it gets sort of smoothed out but you still end up losing 2d dimension over the fabric , that's why boro is so 3d dimensional . but when you do that kind of patch on jeans etc it does take up real estate in terms of like your thigh dimension lol .

it's a good project ! you are obviously very patient diligent and thorough and have a feel for yarn , consider learning to hand knit . I recommend continental style .
 

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