Question on using fleece + spandex to make a SPE?

[alexpotato]

So I have a fleece blanket that measures 36" x ~60" and several yards of 60" wide spandex

I was thinking to make a 2x2 SPE that is is 36" long and has four 18" x ~5" sleeves with a 19" or 20" middle section. I was hoping to get two SPEs actually if I could.

My question is: when I sew the spandex to the fleece, do I just sew the sleeves with no extra space for the pad? In other words, is the stretch of the spandex enough to account for the space taken up by the pad?

to use a poor ascii diagram, I'm asking if I should do this:

F = Fleece
S = Spandex
- = Stitching

-SSSSSSS-
FFFFFFFFF

OR

 SSSSSSSSSS
-S        S-
FFFFFFFFFFFF

Would a blanket stitch on the outside edges save me the most material? Since 5 + 20 + 5 puts me right about 30".

I've been thinking about getting two 19" 3/8" pads (1 main and 1 for the wings) to use inside of this SPE.

Thanks in advance!

[Black Wolf]

Design, build, test, repeat ..

[alexpotato]

Design, build, test, repeat ..

So after reading that suggestion and listening to the sound of one hand clapping . I got down to business.

Quick recap of what I ended up doing:

-Used an old fleece blanket and some spandex from Spandex World in NYC. Mixed up feet and yards and ended up getting 30 feet of spandex. Little more than I needed.

-I ended up making cardboard templates for the sides and center sleeve. Turns out just sewing the spandex to the fleece and leaving the thickness of the cardboard (<1/16") worked out fine.

-The sides were 5" wide and the center was 21". I had a 20" pad and I wanted to give a little extra space in case I ever put it two pads or one thicker pad.

-I then hand stitched the the outer edges and the center sleeve but left the "head" and "foot" ends open.

-Since this thing is 36" long that ended being 144" of hand stitching. I used doubled up dental floss with a straight stitch for 6" and then a back stitch for 2" and then back to straight stitch and so on... In other words about 75% straight stitch and 25% back stitched.

-After some testing, I ended up sewing the left and right thirds of the "head" end of the center channel and leaving a hole just to be able to put my hand in and pull the center pad through. This stopped the center pad from sliding out of the "head" end.

-After MORE testing, I sewed about 2" (out of a possible 5") of the "head" and "foot" end of each side channel to help block the side pads from coming out. The side channels run the whole length of the SPE so the ends are the only way to get the pads in

-I found it is MUCH easier to fold the side pads in half longwise (the crease running down the long side) and insert them that way. This makes it easier to grab the pad once it's in the sleeve and pull it through.

-I also found out that spandex is pretty heavy: the whole thing (fleece + spandex) weighs 12oz/340g. By comparison, Just Jeff's design (which is much more minimalist) weighed in at 2oz.

Things I would have done differently:
-Make the center channel a little narrower.

-Make the side channels a little wider. 5" feels like it doesn't wrap around me enough and I'm not that big (6'1", 175lbs, size 38 suit jacket)

Other than that, it works pretty well. Thanks to this forum, Just Jeff and dejoha for inspiring me to do this.

Any questions and/or if you want pictures, feel free to ask.

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

Well you just have to post up some pictures of a hand stitched with dental floss spandex quilt for us all to see!

[alexpotato]

And here you go:

Photo Dec 10, 6 47 08 PM.jpg
Blurry but overall shot of finished product from the fleece side.

Photo Dec 10, 6 47 22 PM.jpg
Spandex side. You can see how the channels run the whole lenght of the SPE. I've seen other versions where the side channels have a top and bottom section that are separate.

Photo Dec 10, 6 47 35 PM.jpg
Close up of the stitiching. You can see one of the back stitches on the upper left.

Photo Dec 10, 6 47 50 PM.jpg
Close up of the short stitches I made to help keep the side pads in place. Without them, the side pads kept sliding out.

Photo Dec 10, 6 48 12 PM.jpg
Close up to show how I get the side pads into the side channel. I found out this also makes it much easier to slide them farther up the side channel.

[Scotty Von Porkchop]

Wow you have much more patience stitching than I. Its turned out well though