scout.trooper Posted September 16, 2014 Posted September 16, 2014 Hey, everyone! I've compiled a tutorial here to help you build your own flak vest. I was in the same position as you where I only needed 1 or 2 parts more to finish, one of those being the vest and not knowing where to get one (or didn't have a lot of $ to spend on one!). Anyway, thanks to help from Thing (thanks, Thing!), I was able to finish my vest and have listed my process step-by-step with pictures... trying to make the process as easy as possible. So have at it, let me know what you think, and feel free to ask me any questions about the tutorial. 26
scout.trooper Posted September 19, 2014 Author Posted September 19, 2014 Some might find it too hard to read so here is the PDF version. Had to condense the size and remove some stuff so let me know if you have any questions.Vest Tutorial.pdf Almost maxed out my 500KB! 15 3
scout.trooper Posted September 20, 2014 Author Posted September 20, 2014 Thanks, Jim! Finally got the PDF on there... had to lower the res on the document, especially some of the pics so I hope they're still clear. Just made it under the 500KB limit! If I have to post any other tutorials, I'll have to do it the ol' fashioned way 1
M.J Posted September 21, 2014 Posted September 21, 2014 Great Idea! , I did use a t-shirt as my pattern but never used it .
marktoots Posted September 21, 2014 Posted September 21, 2014 Does anyone know why I can't download the pdf? Everytime I try I get an error saying I don't have permission :-(
Wickedreamz Posted September 22, 2014 Posted September 22, 2014 Same here...I'd love to have this tutorial on PDF file. Any help would be appreciated.
Griffin-X Posted September 22, 2014 Posted September 22, 2014 Give the download another shot. I modified the permissions so you guys can get it. 1
Wickedreamz Posted September 22, 2014 Posted September 22, 2014 Give the download another shot. I modified the permissions so you guys can get it. Saved and printed, works great...thanks! 1
UT Trooper Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 Has anyone tried this yet? I will be attempting it either this week or next.
UT Trooper Posted November 3, 2014 Posted November 3, 2014 I made this over the weekend using a 2XL black shirt from Joanns. I normally wear an XL shirt comfortably so I thought one size up would do the trick. Turns out I should have gone bigger to account for the velcro. I had to add length in the back, not a huge deal though. I like the results considering I just started sewing a couple weeks ago and I spent less than $5 on this (the lady at the register scanned the wrong coupon). The sleeves end just after the shoulder bells. 2
scout.trooper Posted November 5, 2014 Author Posted November 5, 2014 Hey, Joe, looks great! I'm glad that the tutorial was helpful for you and (hopefully) easy to follow! I hope you didn't have too much trouble on re-attaching the sleeves... I think that was the hardest part to try and explain 1
UT Trooper Posted November 5, 2014 Posted November 5, 2014 Thank you for the tutorial! The sleeves weren't too much trouble, I did a straight stitch and then a heavy zig zag to finish. Those sleeves are not going anywhere! I wish the material was a bit heavier like the flight suit. The sleeves now feel strong, but the front and back of the shirt just feel light. The only concern is to not pull too hard when getting it on and off. Once it's on I have no worries of it ripping during a troop.
scout.trooper Posted November 6, 2014 Author Posted November 6, 2014 I wish the material was a bit heavier like the flight suit. The sleeves now feel strong, but the front and back of the shirt just feel light. The only concern is to not pull too hard when getting it on and off. Once it's on I have no worries of it ripping during a troop. To be honest, I just slip it over my head like a t-shirt... I don't detatch the velcro at all (I too was worried about it ripping). 1
acetheninja Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 This should be stickied, it's an amazing tutorial! 1
Bowfanny Posted April 20, 2015 Posted April 20, 2015 I'll be using a similar method to your tutorial here and just make it out of duck cloth to save myself the worry of ripping a t-shirt. An added plus is I've been sewing for six years now and can probably have this done in a jiffy but I'll have to get my armor finished first...
UT Trooper Posted June 23, 2015 Posted June 23, 2015 Now that I've been through a few troops with the vest I want to update on my findings.. The sleeves ended up being too long and too wide for 501st approval. The shoulder bells caused them to flair out. To fix this I simply took in the sleeves making the holes smaller. It's a tight squeeze getting into it, but it looks much better. If I had to do the entire vest over again I would buy a shirt that is 2 times larger than what I normally wear and buy black duck cloth. I would cut the shirt open to use as a guide and trace those shapes from the duck cloth. Sew the duck cloth together as a shirt and NOT use padding in the sleeves, maybe just double up on the duck cloth. The padding I currently have is too much and I think doubling the cloth would be just enough. Sleeve flair before: Sleeves after: Too thick:
UT Trooper Posted August 8, 2015 Posted August 8, 2015 Small update: I went ahead and tried the duck cloth method and it came out great! I don't have pics right now but I'll try to post them. I actually did use padding in the sleeves as not using it caused it to look flat. Overall it came out great and I highly recommend going this route rather than the shirt route.
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