Jacket hack

[brokenbetty]

I've been after a light reflective jacket that I can wear for pootling around on the bike but still look like an adult when I get off.

There's nothing I can find in the shops except very expensive stuff from places like Bobbins. What non-sports stuff there is looks (to me) a bit silly in the opposite direction. I don't want to look like a lycra warrior but neither do I want to look like I got dressed in a skip in Dalston. Grown up on a bike is the look I'm aiming for really

So, one trip to Oxfam, a roll of reflective tape and a lot of pricked fingers later, we have:

I split the back for extra ventilation...might add some mesh if it flaps around too much

And lights off:

total cost £5 for the jacket, about the same for the tape, and 6 hours sewing.

The stitching is very rough as I just did it quickly by hand to see if it would work - if I find the jacket as wearable as I hope I might go over that with a machine.

I'm feeling quite proud of myself

 

[Arch]

Very good indeed! That'd cost a fortune from a posh boutique cyclery... How clever!


Tip for further supplies of retro reflective tape - if you have a local pound shop, keep an eye on their cycle/motor section, as they often have hi-vis waistcoats. The waistcoats are a bit flimsey, made of a sort of thin mesh, but the reflective tape is proper stuff, and you get over a metre of it on one vest, for a quid, it just needs to be unpicked. If you're hand sewing it onto something you even have the advantage of stitch holes already in it...

 

[brokenbetty]

Very good indeed! That'd cost a fortune from a posh boutique cyclery... How clever!


Tip for further supplies of retro reflective tape - if you have a local pound shop, keep an eye on their cycle/motor section, as they often have hi-vis waistcoats. The waistcoats are a bit flimsey, made of a sort of thin mesh, but the reflective tape is proper stuff, and you get over a metre of it on one vest, for a quid, it just needs to be unpicked. If you're hand sewing it onto something you even have the advantage of stitch holes already in it...

Ooh thanks Arch. And the mesh might come in handy for hidden vents - I'm thinking splitting seams and adding mesh panels for ventilation and movement.

 

[DTD]

Funky

 

[mark barker]

Why is there never a "Like" button when you need one?

 

[E11a]

Oooh ... that's really nice.

 

[Arch]

Ooh thanks Arch. And the mesh might come in handy for hidden vents - I'm thinking splitting seams and adding mesh panels for ventilation and movement.

If you can't find a poundshop with some, let me know and I'll keep a look out, I often go in for a browse. I like an excuse to stock up on stuff like that!

If you're handy with a needle, they also often have reflective ankle bands that contain 4 red LEDs powered by a button battery, fastened with velco. But you could trim the plain black elastic and velcro bit off, and sew the vinyl reflective bit on to a jacket as a...

I dunno what the right technical term is, I want to call it a placket, the strip of cloth that goes across the top of a vent, with a button at each end.

 

[fimm]

That is very clever, I like it.

 

[quassleberry]

I've got some hi viz, reflective jackets for my dogs which would provide mesh, reflective tape etc from a pound type shop which would do as a last resort.

 

[johnr]

Do you do them in men's sizes?

 

[Mark_Robson]

Very inventive

 

[joolsybools]

Ace!

 

[Chris S]

I was a teenager during the punk era so I'm quite happy to wear anything dayglo!

 

[betty swollocks]

That looks really funky: congrats!!

 

[Arch]

For an even more incognito reflective effect, piping would be the way to go - although you have to insert piping into a seam, so either you're making from scratch, or you've got a lot of unpicking to do. I suspect that only my Mum still does piping anymore - especially the stuff where the cord is wrapped in bias binding hand cut from the same material as the item....

And you need a one sided foot on your machine.