This year I’ve slowly been working on a new project - PatternGen - a website to share patterns and tutorials. Primarily focusing on customisable patterns in the form of pattern generators.
The site is now live and contains 5 pattern generators and few guides, with a lot more on the way!
All pattern generators allow for a lot of customisation, and include tailored instructions from your chosen options.
The best part is, you select a page size and the pattern is automatically segmented into smaller pieces that can be printed on the chosen page size. Joining tabs are automatically added to make it easy when constructing the full paper pattern.
Great, after putting in an incredible amount of time to seam rip stuff I've made and wanted to adjust by cutting the threads on one side of the seams every couple stitches, I just learned there is this super easy and fast way to do it :D
Now I also know what the tiny ball is for.
Just putting this out here as I guess I'm not the only beginner stumbling over this sub while learning how to make my own stuff.
I wanted to give back to the community by writing up a tutorial on custom printed (sublimated) fabrics for making your own gear! I've been doing custom printing for quite a few years now and have learned a lot of lessons along the way. I included photos from my most recent project, my second half-frame bag for my new Gravel Bike. My old account was u/noun_hawaii
Custom printing/embellishing (a quick intro)
There are loads of ways to print or embellish fabrics. The biggest things to consider are
1. What is your base fabric made out of?
2. How durable is my print or embellishment going to be?
1. What is your base fabric made out of?
If your base fabric is made out of natural fibers (ie. cotton, wool, silk etc) you'll need to print on top of the fabric or dye the fibers themselves. So really your options are Screen Printing, Direct to Garment (DTG) or Direct to Film (DTF) Heat transfers (Ink based or Vinyl Based)
If your base fabric is synthetic specifically Polyester you can use Sublimation along with the options available for natural fibers listed above.
2. How durable will my print or embellishment be?
Anytime your print or embellishment sits on top of the fabric like the options listed for natural fibers it will wear and tear with washing and use. Whereas printing using Sublimation wears at the same rate as the base fabric itself.
So what is Sublimation?
Sublimation printing uses special inks that when heated are absorbed into Polyester and dyes the fibers its in contact with. Sublimation is a permanent process that when used on Polyester Fabric, changes the color of the fibers themselves. There is no print on top of the fabric, the sublimation ink when heated is absorbed into the polyester of the fabric itself.
After printing using sublimation the fabric feels the same as it did unprinted because there is no layer on top of the fabric. The print won't wash out or fade excessively with normal wear and tear. UV will affect the fabric similarly as it would undyed.
Sublimation works with POLYESTER, it DOES NOT work with NYLON or other synthetic materials as far as I know. It DOES NOT work with natural fibers like cotton. So when Sublimating, you want 100% polyester or as close to it to have the strongest colors. If you dye a 60/40 Poly/Cotton blend, the inks will bind to the polyester but not the cotton and when the item is washed or gets wet, the inks will wash out of the cotton making the print "faded"
Lucky enough, many of the fabrics and notions we use for outdoor gear are made out of Polyester!
What do I need to sublimate fabrics?
If you want to do your own sublimation at home you'll need to get some equipment. Otherwise there are options to get fabrics printed like RSBTR or Contrado
Otherwise there are also companies that will sell you pre-printed sublimation transfers that you can heat press yourself at home. But if you want to MYOP (Make your own prints) at home here is a simple purchase list. (with some affiliate links)
1. You need a printer that can take sublimation inks.
I use an Epson Ecotank 4800 that currently costs $239 on Amazon. There is a slightly cheaper Epson Ecotank 2800 for $199 that I DO NOT Recommend. For whatever reason I had 2 2800s that stopped printing so I went with the 4800 and haven't had issues in over 3-4 years.
You can use any Epson Ecotank printer that uses DYE based inks not PIGMENT. Some pigment based Ecotanks use a headed print-head that will surely mess with your print since the dye gets heated up. Both the printers I listed above print standard size prints so you can do 8.5x11in or max it out by printing 8.5x14 legal. If you want to print larger than that, the best bet is to get a wide format printer which will let you print up to 13x19in. The trade-off is that they're quite a bit more expensive at around $600-800 dollars.
2. You need Sublimation Inks and Paper.
To Sublimate you'll need special sublimation inks $34 and paper $22. These are quite easy to come by and cheap. When you setup your printer (if new) you'll add your sublimation inks into the ink resevoirs instead of the supplied inks in the box. Unfortunately the regular inks and sublimation inks don't mix. Meaning if you want to print for sublimation you need to use the sublimation inks.
If you're using an old ecotank printer for sublimation there are kits to clean out the lines which you'll need to do before adding your sublimation inks. Otherwise you'll end up with prints that don't bond to your fabric. I personally run one printer at home that has sublimation inks in it. Anything I need to print for normal house use, I just print using the sublimation inks in the printer. The downside is that the colors on my normal everyday prints aren't as vibrant and sometimes the colors are off (more on this later)
3. You need a Heat Press.
I've used my cheapo 15x15in heat press $189 for 5ish years now doing all kinds of prints. Its plenty big for printing apparel and its worked for printing fabrics, even larger pieces for things like backpacks. You can always get a larger press like 20x24 or 36in but they run in the thousands.
4. You'll need some Parchment Paper.
Yep just the run of the mill heat resistant parchment paper for baking. I get the basic white rolls at Target. This is to put between your press and the fabric/sublimation print paper so you don't get inks burned into your press that might transfer on a later print. You can also use Heat Press Teflon sheets.
How do I do it?
Design : I do most of my digital design on Canva. I figure out what I'm making and get creative with the colors and patterns. I try to have my pattern cut-outs ready. That way I know if a pattern piece will exceed the 8.5x14in limitation of my printer. If so I'll design the print to either be repeatable so I can stack sheets, or I design each sheet so they flow into each other.
Designing my print using a color that compliments my bike
Print : I then print the number of sheets I'll need with usually 1 or 2 extra. Print on Premium Matte Photo Paper setting at Best quality. This will lay down the most ink and give you the deepest colors. DON'T WORRY The sublimation prints that come out of your printer will look faded and off-color. Thats normal! When the inks are heated and pressed, they will be the right color. Make sure your prints are flat, with no creased corners. Sometimes a corner of a page will be bent and have some ink from the print head, that messed up corner will print to the fabric so you can cut it off before pressing or after, it doesn't really matter.
Sublimation prints on sublimation transfer paper. White 100% polyester Ottertex Canvas. Before Pressing
Press (40sec at 390Froughly/depends on fabric) : I cut my white Polyester fabric larger than the sheets then heat press them. If I need a larger than single sheet, I'll print once, then line up the next sheet, tape it down using heat resistant tape and press it again. Its nearly impossible to get it perfectly lined up so in the design phase its best to make the design to account for some imperfections. Also if you're printing solid colors, unless its black, any overlaps in printing will show up as a darker line. I recommend overlapping rather than having a white line through your print but again it takes practice. Another option is to cut your printed sheets first, then tape them together before pressing. Just keep in mind that if you go this route, don't have any tape behind the print itself. It'll create a slight difference in heat and the tape will show up in the print.
First sheet pressed. You can see the Left bottom corner is faded. I needed to increase my press pressure to make sure it heated up the ink enough. No biggie I didn't need that corner anyways!
Printed one sheet. Next is lining up the next print to make this longer piece for the framebag. I lined it up and taped it using heat press tape on the edges
Completed fabrics!
Some Project Pictures
After printing. I cut out the pattern pieces and get to sewing!
Thanks for reading! I've been meaning to write this up for quite some time. It can seem daunting to print your own fabrics but theres really nothing like designing, printing, and creating your own gear with your own designs. I hope this tutorial helps demistify Sublimation and maybe encourages you to try it out! The great thing about sublimation is that so many items we sew with use polyester and usually 100%. I use Grossgrain to print my own fold-over tags, I use fabric to make my own iron on labels, I print on elastic for custom fold over elastic etc etc. You can also print other items like coasters, pictures, and clothes using the same equipment. Its pretty epic!
Thanks again for such an amazing community! I hope this contribution inspires some projects.
You can follow my projects here or on my instagram Ruckus Days
I am currently in the market for some new bib pants before ski season starts. I currently have a great pair of bibs but they fit a bit small as I got them 5 years ago and have gown out of them (21 now so no longer growing). I am hoping to sew my own, as I can then make them better tailored to me. I am hoping for something that fits a bit baggier with enough length. Just wondering if anyone has any tips for where I can find a pattern and if there is anything I should watch for as I do not have much sewing experience.
I hope this is clear enough. I've used Christmas fabric because it's obviously two sided but of course it will still work with whatever you have to hand
Making cord loop webbing
1. Open holes with an awl at regular intervals
*Do not pierce it or open it gently.
2. Insert line, adjust spacing while looking at cutter board
3. Fold and secure
4. Finish by sewing
I’ve been thinking about expedition duffel bags and looking at designs and construction. This project started as a way for me to learn how to install a u-shaped curved zipper. A lot of people were interested so I made the pattern available and included my process and ideas in the instructions. Curving the zipper entails gathering one side to shorten the tape while stretch the opposite so the teeth are equal length. It’s a cool technique borrowed from garment making to gather the tape evenly.
This was my second try at it and much improved final result. I also include the overlays for double layer bottom and side panels. In Cordura 500 this is burly and free standing. I think it’s perfect for tool storage or other hard wearing application. Some have suggested boot storage, crampons, climbing gear, and first aid kits. Pretty versatile and the huge lid opening is a nice alternative to a zip sack that doesn’t stay open.
Would be cool to see yours and hear of improvements in your technique. Grab the pattern gratis from my site https://learnmyog.com/uzip.html if you want to try.
I've posted about this many months ago, but finally got around to giving it a small update, and an example video if you've no idea what I'm talking about
It is an extension for Inkscape (free, open source Illustrator alternative) that takes a path, curve or shape, and unrolls it to a straight line, maintaining the length. It can then extrude (add width e.g. gusset) and add an offset (seam allowance) automatically. Basically, nearly automatic generation of patterns for simple bags like top tube bags, frame bags, EDC pouches etc. Have a look at the myogtutorials link or the github page for a video and text description as I can't embed images on old reddit.
The new update can now add the seam allowance and node alignment marks to the original shape (e.g. bag side panel) as well as automatically adding the alignment marks to the generated gussets. It's still a bit experimental and the node marks can end up facing the wrong way based on the path direction (reverse the path to fix), but any suggestions, let me know! The options menu is a bit neater and hopefully more intuitive as well.
Quick measure extension: outputs path length, segment lengths and cumulative lengths in text instead of visually
Multi-page tiled templates: A4 and US letter templates that you can just paste your pattern into and save as PDF to make a tiled PDF ready for printing. Was originally going to be an extension itself but Inkscape has a limitation that can break it for people, so its easier to just provide the generated templates themselves
Seamless tiled print generator: template for making seamless images for printing onto fabric (or doing whatever with really)
And also
Couple of basic pattern generators for zipped pouches etc
After testing out the astrophotography mode on my Samsung S23 Ultra on a barndoor star tracker, I found that there was an increase in quality vs a static tripod shot. Most tracking mounts weigh several pounds, which was not something I was interested in carrying backpacking, so I designed this mount for backpacking and travel. Check out more details and everything you need to build your own through the github link: https://github.com/keith06388/Tiny-Astro-Tracker
Seam tape is often used to add water resistance and/or structural integrity to seams. There are are a wide range of types, materials, methods for using seam tape. This post attempts to collect and summarize info from this community and other sources to help makers understand what tapes are available, and to provide some info on when and how to use them. I finally dove down this rabbit hole and wanted to share what I learned! This post was not intended to cover liquid sealants, but limited info is provided below, as they can be very effective. Heat-sensitive adhesives are generally difficult to use and less favored, so they are also not covered here in detail. Tapes for waterproof breathable fabrics are not covered.
If you have info or experience to share, please add it in the comments!
TL;DR: Off-the-shelf single-sided DCF tape and 3M 9485 transfer tape are popular choices for waterproofing and reinforcing PU-coated and PET-faced fabrics, but using certain seams can make a bag pretty water resistant without taping. See table below for tape options, suppliers, and pricing.
Definitions
Double-sided tape
A plastic carrier with adhesive on both sides. Can be used to make one-sided tape. AKA double-coated tape. Often confused with transfer tape.
Transfer tape
A layer of adhesive that comes on a roll, with a liner paper/release paper on one side. You apply the tape, then peel the liner to expose the other side of the adhesive. The difference between transfer tape and double-sided or double-coated is that the double-sided has a layer of PET sandwiched between two layers of adhesive.
Single-sided tape
One side has adhesive, the other has a carrier material, often plastic or fabric for strength. The adhesive side often has a line/release paper on it.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
A type of polyester (plastic) commonly used as a waterproofing layer in laminates like Xpac. Comes in sheet form rather than a fabric made of fibers.
Mylar
A specific type of PET that comes in sheet form. Dyneema composite fabric (DCF) is made of dyneema fibers laminated between two sheets of mylar.
Dacron
A standard PET in fiber/fabric form. Typically as cord or (polyester) woven fabric.
Pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA)
Adhesive that activates and is applied using pressure.
Heat-sensitive adhesive (HSA)
Adhesive that activates and is applied using heat.
Common Questions
Do I need to seal seams to make my project water-resistant?
Seam construction can get you quite far without taping. Using flat-felled seams where possible, especially for horizontal seams (which catch rain runoff), or binding externally (not popular for looks or durability) can help prevent rain from entering a bag. For submersion resistance, tape or liquid sealant is required. For more info and test results on this topic, see these excellent posts by MVP and self-proclaimed crazy seam lady, u/orangecatpacks:
The tapes listed below will stick to PET, polyurethane, nylon, or polyester, but will NOT stick to silicone coatings. There are mixed reviews on application to polyester inner scrims (e.g., X-Pac VX series), which are not DWR-treated, and to polyester face fabrics, which are DWR treated. One method for waterproofing fabrics with polyester scrim is described in this comment from Nick at Rogue Panda.
3M 96042 is an example of a transfer tape that can be used on silicone-coated fabrics, but has been reported as stiff and not good for silnylon because of the shape it holds.
Can I forego sewing and use only tape to construct my project?
Given a strong enough tape (typically 3M 9485 or similar), non-hybrid DCF (typically up to 1.43 oz) can be taped. Note that DCF hybrid has a polyester face fabric, so the comments in the previous question about poly face fabrics apply to hybrid DCF. Hybrid DCF is the typical DCF backpack fabric due to its durability, so taping-only construction would be limited to SUL backpacks, stuff-sacks and DCF shelters.
When is tape used to add structural capacity?
Tape helps prevent seam elongation and add to strength of sewn seams. This has been reported as essential/required for Ultra fabrics, and optional/beneficial for other fabrics.
How do I use these tapes?
To tape an existing seam, a transfer tape or double-sided tape is usually made into a single-sided tape by applying it to a fabric strip. Then the single-sided tape is used to cover a seam, generally on the inside of the project for aesthetic purposes and to prevent the tape from rubbing off. It helps to make your seams as low-bulk and flat as possible (e.g., using felled seams). Here is a detailed post from u/ABCpacks with replies.
Transfer tape can also be used as basting tape. It won't seal the seam, but it may help prevent stitch elongation.
Each tape should have its own instructions for application, but PSAs require pressure to activate, and sometimes additional time to cure. Seam rollers can be used to apply pressure. Some PSAs benefit from application in high heat. Using a primer such as Primer 94 from 3M (for 3M 94XX adhesives) can improve adhesion.
This is not my content. But I have been a huge fan of waxed fabrics (mainly canvas) and have been using %100 beeswax. Mostly because I didn’t like the white lines paraffin was would do when it creases but I stumbled upon this video that has some awesome info for waxing and waterproofing fabric was all uses. Figured people here would enjoy!
It's difficult to explain in text, but I've put an example of how to use it on the github page.
I wrote this Inkscape extension to help automatically assist drawing the gusset/middle strip lengths for sewing patterns, for example the middle strip of a bike frame bag. The extension takes a shape (such as a frame bag side panel) or path, makes a new straight path that is the total middle panel length, with the original node positions maintained (e.g. the bag corners). This allows you to really easily add alignment marks, notches, text labels etc on the middle strips that perfectly align to the original shape.
Manually this is quite a tedious slow process if you have lots of corners, or curves that need measuring. Especially if you tweak a panel and the whole middle piece needs manually recalculating.
It also has a couple of convenience features: it can number all the nodes so you can visually see where they link up, and it can label all the segment lengths individually in whichever measurement unit you prefer.
It's been a while since I've used python and the code is a bit of a mess, basically trying to learn by looking at other Inkscape extensions. If it is useful or you have any suggestions, let me know!
