How to Make Hiking Pants
Outdoors enthusiasts often have to buy a great deal of specialized gear for their hobbies, which can be lot of money to pay out all at once. Rather than spending excessively on every item for your hiking and camping experience, you can make some things yourself. One of the easiest ways to save money on gear is to make your own clothing, such as hiking pants, which are useful as protection from the elements. By making your own hiking pants, you can ensure that you have the best clothing protection for a reasonable price, and can tailor the style of the pants to suit your needs.
Things You'll Need
- Hiking pants pattern
- Outdoors fabric and thread
- Sewing equipment and supplies
- Buttons, zipper and other notions
- Fabric pencil
- Iron and ironing board
Instructions
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1
Determine the type of hiking pants that you need. You may want hiking pants for warm or cool weather, for damp conditions, or to be worn over other outdoor clothing, such as a wetsuit or insulating layer. No one pair of hiking paints suits every circumstance, so you may have to choose priorities. When you have determined what weather conditions you need your hiking pants to meet, choose a fabric type that is suitable for those conditions, usually nylon or a breathable waterproof fabric. Also choose an appropriate pattern, such as those linked in the Resources section.
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Choose the pattern size that best fits your body measurements. A good rule of thumb is to fit the widest part of your body first, then alter the other measurements to fit. If you plan to wear layers under your hiking pants, take your measurements with those layers on your body. When you have chosen a size, cut the pattern pieces out of the paper, so that you have a pattern for the front, back, fly, waistband and pockets.
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Place your fabric on a flat surface and pin the pattern pieces to it, following the pattern indications for placement. Cut from the fabric 2 fronts, 2 backs, a waistband, 2 fly pieces, pockets and pocket flaps. Transfer all markings directly to the wrong side of the fabric, using a fabric pencil.
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Pin the fronts to the backs at the side seams and stitch them together, following the instructions for seam allowances. Press the seam allowances open with an iron and finish them as desired, by either serging or zigzag stitching. Pin the outside pockets to the front and sides of each pant leg and top stitch in place, then press them flat. Stitch together and attach any pocket flaps to the pants.
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Stitch together the center back seam, all the way up to the bottom of the fly marking. Press and finish the seam allowances. Pin one of the fly flaps to the left side of the pants front and one side of the zipper to the right side of the pants front. Stitch both in place. Pin the right fly flap over the zipper and stitch through all the layers, then pin and stitch the other side of the zipper to the raw edge on the left. Tack down the bottoms of the fly pieces.
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Stitch together the inseam of the pants and finish the seam allowances there. Fold the waistband in half, widthwise, and press it flat, then stitch the raw edge to the top of the pants. Turn up the hem of each leg and stitch it in place. At the waistband opening, attach a button and buttonhole or two sides of a snap.
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