Making Cycling Jerseys
 

My wife and I are just getting back into cycling (actually closer to bike riding right now) for 2 reasons. First because we like to ride and second because we both need more exercise. We fit in this group (Clydesdales/Athenas) for now.

We have been looking at all the pretty colored jerseys for cyclists. Most of the jerseys we have found so far are made for men with a smaller waist than chest (which I don’t have yet) or for very slender women (which my wife isn’t now).

So, we are working on making our own that fit us. We bought the only cycling jersey pattern we could find and are modifying it to fit me. We developed a pattern for my wife from a paddling jersey she has.

The patterns are almost done. Now for material. We have seen Spandex/Lycra advertised as being good for cycling jerseys.

Questions: Has anyone else made their own jerseys/patterns? What material did you use? Are we going to run into some problems with Spandex/Lycra? Where can we get “Coolmax” by the yard (which is what we believe many ready made jerseys are made of)? Can we make hot weather jerseys out of cotton?

Thank you!

Check out Seattle Fabrics' selection of Lycra/Spandex. There is a whole bunch of different styles, including wicking materials.

I checked out the website. They have some inetresting fabrics available. I am going to check out the "wicking lycra" but I think ordering samples first is a good idea.

I also found this website:

http://www.questoutfitters.com/wicking_fabrics.htm

No you can't! Or you could, but the only way it'll really be comfortable is if you wet yourself down with cold water every 15 mins during a heat wave. Or if you don't sweat. Your mileage may vary, but I find cotton really uncomfortable to exercise in, pretty much no matter the weather. Makes good "A/C" when I get home, tough, to douse myself with ice water in a cotton tee shirt.

I would love to see the finish product. I'm an Athena and I am finding it almost impossible to find a shirt/jersey that will fit me. Keep us informed :)

There are places that sell cycling apparel for those who are not the skinny racer type. When I was ~185lbs at 5'8" I was able to wear women's 2xl jerseys comfortably from velowear.com. There are also other places that accommodate those of even larger size, such as www.aerotechdesigns.com. I think www.teamestrogen.com has larger women's cycling gear as well. I do agree that the stuff you see in stores are not for anyone overweight.

COOLMAX is a trademark for a whole family of modified polyesters that have superior wicking properties compared to regular polyester. There are a number of other similar fabrics around. There's not a whole lot of real, trademarked, COOLMAX on the retail yard goods market, but there are plenty of wicking fabrics available. Pick one with the stretch properties you want. I wouldn't use cotton.

Look at this
 

http://www.thegreenpepper.com/

http://www.thegreenpepper.com/downloads/GPwebcat_09.pdf


STRETCH FABRICS SAMPLES–$8.00 ppd. Includes F32-F40 & Sale Fabric colors.
FOUR-WAY STRETCH LYCRA—TRICOT KNIT Best choice for use with Green Pepper Lycra Patterns.
Uses: Bicycling wear, swim suits, aerobic wear, tights, racing suits, etc. 50-70 yd rolls—10% off bolt/yd.
F32 Nylon/Lycra 80% Nylon/20% Lycra. Shiny finish, densely knit, snag resistant.
★USE FOR STRETCH BINDING.★
5-6 oz/sq yd. Black, navy, red, royal 58-60" $2.50 $14.50 $11.99
F40P Cotton/Poly/Lycra 44% Cotton/44% Polyester/10% Lycra. Soft and absorbent.
10-11 oz/sq yd. Black 60" $1.50 $15.25 $11.42
50 yd rolls—10% off bolt/yd.
SAMPLES–$4.00 ppd. Includes F76 - F78 & Sale Fabric.
Uses: Jackets, pants, vests, pullovers, gloves, hats, slippers, socks, blankets, or linings for outerwear.
NO. DESCRIPTION COLORS/FEATURES WIDTH SAMPLES RETAIL/yd 15 YDBOLT/yd
PolarTec®—100% Polyester double-faced fleece, same fleece used in better outerwear products. High warmth to weight
ratio, breathable, wicking, absorbs little water, dries very quickly.
F76B PolarTec® 200 Medium weight—the most popular choice.
7.8 oz/sq yd. Black, forest, navy, red 58-60" $2.50 $14.75 $11.98
F78M PolarTec® Micro Fleece Great for cozy lightweight garments. A deliciously soft alternative to 200 weight fleece.
6 oz/sq yd. Black, forest, red 58-60" $1.50 $9.98 $7.98
FOUR-WAY STRETCH FLEECE with LYCRA Size up if using with Green Pepper Lycra Patterns.
Uses: Insulated racing suits, bike wear, tights, warm-ups, ski pants, etc. 40-50 yd rolls——10% off bolt/yd.
F37S PolarTec® Power Stretch Smooth, durable outer face, with cozy fleece velour inside. 94% Polyester/4% Lycra.
7 oz/sq yd. Black 56" $1.50 $14.98 N/A
F38S PolarTec® 200S Double faced 4-way stretch fleece. 94% Polyester/4% Lycra
6.2-7.4 oz/sq yd. Black 56" $1.50 $10.98 N/A
HEAVY-DUTY STRETCH LYCRA These fabrics are not suitable for use with Green Pepper Lycra Patterns.
Uses: Riding pants, ski pants, cross-country wear, stretch insert panels, etc. Rolls are not available.
F33A Stretch Doubleknit 95% Nylon/5% Lycra 4-way stretch, double knit, matte finish. Great for riding pants!
12.3 oz/sq yd. Black 45" $1.50 $17.98 $14.24

I've made a few. The first ones were cut from a Green Pepper pattern that was sized for lycra (min. 75% stretch one way, 50% the other). It's not bad, but the design only allows for two pockets in the back. I didn't like their method for inserting the zipper, either, it was difficult to control on such stretchy fabric.
The next was cut from a Kwik Sew men's tee shirt pattern for my husband, using one of those Malden Mills wicking fabrics, with about 35% stretch in one direction, and I just modified it for a zippered front and three pockets in the back. It's not bad, but Kwik Sew patterns fit big so it was HUGE on him, even though I went down a size.
I made a jersey for myself using a Kwik Sew women's tee shirt pattern, but it came out a bit short in the body, so I'll have to lengthen the pattern next time I use it.
Jalie makes a very nice cycling jersey pattern, but I haven't tried it yet. It looks like a slightly looser fit.
Are you going to be using a sewing machine or a serger for the seams?

THANK YOU! I've been searching for sites that sold plus sizes but only came up with teamestrogen. (didn't care for their selection) BUT I love the aerotechdesign site. :) Great selection.

Thanks for all the good suggestions. We had seen some of what was suggested but found a lot of new materials and some patterns we hadn’t seen before.

Progress report: My wife’s jersey is almost done and we like the fit. It was our own pattern from a kayaking t-shirt she had. After it was assembled I did a little fitting to get it to look right.


My jersey is being made from the Jalie pattern with some minor changes.

Both jerseys are being made of some printed lycra/spandex material we found at a local fabric store.

I’ll probably take pictures of our jerseys sometime. I haven’t looked at what is involved in posting them here yet, so it may be a while.

We don’t own a serger but looked into them a bit when we started this project. Both the clerks at the fabric store and the instructions on the Jalie pattern said we could use a zig-zag stitch on our standard sewing machine so we did that. The Jalie pattern instructed us to zig-zag along the edge and then straight stitch ¼ inch in from the edge (while stretching the fabric slightly). That worked well. The zipper was a slight problem on the stretchy material. If we have difficulty with the next one, we may put it in by hand.

In picking a pattern, you need to be careful because some patterns don’t have the seams in the right places for modifications and/or fitting especially for women.