DIY Knickers Part 2

And now for the thrilling conclusion to this two part tale. Nothing to out of the ordinary with the hemming and electronics pocket addition. We decided not to rebuild the ankle draw string because my calves are big enough that it would not get used. Other than that the pictures below tell the story.

Measure twice, cut once courtesy of CrystalSewing also a Crystal production

All hemmed up

Pocket time!

Installed!

DIY Riding Knickers!

On the whole they are super comfy to sit around the house in and my short session on the bike yesterday was just as nice. I hoping to make these a riding must have for the rest of winter and all of spring. I'll make the switch to shorts again when it starts to get hot.

Site Watch
I was just recently introduced to Velo Orange in my search for new bike parts. First they are located in Maryland so props to supporting a neighboring states small business. Second they have an amazing spread of new and old production parts and even create a lot of their own.

DIY Knickers Part 1

My standard riding wear (far right) in the fall/winter tends to be a t-shirt or two with some sort of jacket and arm warmers if needed. My lower half is usually BDU shorts with either bike shorts and leg warmers or tights and leg warmers underneath. It can occasionally leave a bit to be desired, but it gets the job done most days in Richmond.

I have been searching a pair of knickers to add to my roster for a while now. A lot of bike specific shops sell and produce them. They vary widely in quality and price, I'll put a few examples in the site watch at the bottom of this page. Today however, I got the wild hair to try and customize my own knickers. Sure I could just order some, but where is the fun. Plus my standards aren't too high for bike wear so what could go wrong.

Goals
- Custom length legs (I have a wide waist compared to my short legs)
- Velcro outer pockets
- Cell phone/Camera inner pocket (made with scrap fabric)
- Custom embroidered logo (later date, depends on price)

Parts
- BDU Trouser (Tan) - $35.00 local army surplus
- Velcro (Stripes) - $4.00 local fabric shop
- Scrap Fabric - $0.43 local fabric shop

Regular tan BDU trousers.

Leg to be hemmed later and hopefully recreate the draw string.

Buttons to be removed.

Homeless buttons!

Clean pocket.

Velcro!

Some elbow grease and love = new easy access pocket fastenings.

Friday I should have the second part of this mini project up with photos. The only issue I ran into so far was buying Velcro with a sticky backing. It is great for placement, but it gunked up the sewing machine so bad that I'm learning to hand sew the Velcro now. The inner pocket and knicker hem back to the sewing machine with ease, but more on that Friday.

DIY Knickers Part 2

Knicker Watch
Chrome Bags Knickers
MUSA Knickers
Bicycle Fixation Wool Knickers
Portland Cycle Wear Knickers