Make your own mini gaiters

While we make the best AR Gaiters - we've had lots of practice - you can give it a try to make your own pair. We make three styles - Mini, Desert and Adventure - for different purposes in a range of colours and fun prints (visit our website and Facebook page)

Today I finished making sand gaiters for Team www.AR.co.za for our race in Abu Dhabi next week. My new 'Rolls Royce' design results from the many variations that I've made over the years. They're easy to make, especially this basic 'AR Mini Gaiter' design. You can sew these gaiters by hand (or even use fabric glue?) but they are obviously longer lasting if sewn by machine.

What you need

• 0.25 metres of 4-way stretch fabric (I use regular lycra)
• 1.5 metres 'panty' elastic (it is about 0.8mm in width)
• 1 metre thicker elastic approx 15mm wide and thicker and stronger than the 'panty; elastic (this goes around your ankle)
• 25cm length of velcro (2cm width)
• Box of pins, thread, sewing machine/needle, sharp scissors and possibly a friend with sewing skills...

STEP 1
Measure and draw this pattern on a piece of paper (you'll need to join two sheets together).

NOTE: This is an average pattern size. Because lycra stretches it generally works for most shoes. BUT... there are differences in fabric, even lycra (thickness and stretchiness) and this makes the biggest difference. Sometimes these things are a bit of trail and error...

STEP 2

• Fold your fabric in half, with right sides facing (in lycra, the right side is a little more shiny). Make sure the fabric is flat - no bumps and kinks.
• Place your pattern on the fabric and pin around the edges.
• Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut out the fabric (double layer)

STEP 3
Start with one piece of fabric (it's like maths... what you do to the one side, you do to the other).

• Pin a 45cm length of the thin panty elastic to the bottom of the fabric (against the wrong side). Tip: I pin one end first, then the other. Then, stretch the elastic (yes, lycra is a bit longer than the elastic) and pin in the centre. Then repeat inbetween the ends and the centre.
• Sew the elastic to the fabric

Tip: ALWAYS pin and/or tack before you machine sew. If you have an overlocking machine, use it. If you just have a straight sewing machine, then stitch in the middle.

STEP 4
You can leave the bottom as it is... but I prefer to hem it.

• Roll the stitched elastic base up, pin and straight sew. This makes a neat hem. ('Panty' elastic will now be 'hidden')

STEP 5

• Repeat the same pinning and sewing process with the thicker elastic. I check the length required by measuring around my own ankle according to how tight I'd like the top of the gaiter. You do want it snug, but not cutting off your circulation. Probably about 22-26cm.

STEP 6

• Fold the shape in half, right sides together. Join the sides. This is where an overlocking machine is really great. If you sew with a straight machine, or by hand, sew two rows. Remember to pin and/or tack first, before sewing.

STEP 7

You've essentially got your gaiter. Now to add the velcro - this fastens the gaiter to your laces.

Prepare the velcro by doing the following:

• 
  
  Cut a 9cm length of velcro - both the fluffy and hooked sides.
  
  
• 
  
  Cut another 3cm length of velcro - also both sides
  
  
• 
  
  Tack (rough stitching) the short fluffy length on top of the long hooked side - both facing up (not stuck together). Do the same to the other two pieces.
  
  

Now grab the gaiter you've made. With it turned inside out, flatten it so that the main seam lies centre. Tack the velcro (double layer part) to this bottom end; then sew by machine. I make an X pattern.

STEP 8

Now try them out!

• 
  
  Turn them right side out
  
  
• 
  
  Slip your foot into them (velcro towards your toes)
  
  
• 
  
  Now put your foot into your trail shoe. Tie your laces.
  
  
• 
  
  Pull the back down over the heel. It won't slip because the elastic keeps the tension. Then hook the velcro over-and-under your bottom-most lace and stick the fluffy side on to the hooked side. Et voila!
  
  

Repeat with the other piece of fabric to make the pair. You'll notice that the long parts of the velcro are opposites... so you can stick your gaiters together when not wearing them.

Happy sewing.

More festive lights

I really like festive lights. Small, twinkle fairy lights - but not necessarily on a tree. I like them hanging - in malls, offices, decorating the outside of houses in movies and twinkling behind windows. They're just... just... pretty.

Last year, I bought one of those 'icicle' strings and put it up on my lounge windows. I so liked them that I left them there all year, turning them on most nights. They're warm and friendly both inside and to passersby who see them from the street.

Today I bought a string of 'curtain' lights, which are now attached to my sliding security gate. I'm now waiting for it to get dark so that I can try the eight different settings - chasing, sequential, combination, slow fade, steady on...

My mom's friend has the most divine festive lights (LED) hanging lamp in his kitchen. The string is twisted through a round wire frame. I bought the lights to make it last year; but only got around to it over the weekend. It looks fabulous and now needs to be wired into the ceiling.

While I really like festive lights - all year round - I'm not quite into doing the whole Santa and his reindeer setup. Sure, I like to look at them in photos from the US (where they go all the way), but I'm not about to drape my home in ornaments and decorations. Perhaps these all-out festive light decorators started with only a few strands? Hahaha

While looking on the web for things to do with festive lights I found this cheeky website - Ugly Christmas Lights. These are photos taken by people of really bad, garish house/garden festive light (and ornament) get ups. Towns have competitions too! And if you're getting into this, take a look at Planet Christmas' 'showing off' page. Many of these would be at home on the Ugly Christmas Lights site.

A few years ago I was in the US just before Halloween. I loved running past the homes and checking out the pumpkins, ghosts hanging from trees, spiderwebs, gravestones and everything else holiday-themed. I could see myself getting into this type of thing if I was in the US. Scary eh?

The Digital Photography School has 20 really cool photos of festive lights - decorating people (and a dog). I think I need to get me more lights!

Fancy a runabout?

In his book, ‘50 Marathons 50 Days: The secrets to super endurance’, Dean Karnazes mentions a distance running concept he calls ‘Runabout’. It is inspired by the Australian Aboriginal practice of walkabout.

Once you’ve developed a good fitness base, Dean says, “Pick a weekend morning to set out the door with a running pack containing a credit card, a cellphone and some fluid and snacks – maybe also a map or GPS if you want to get really sophisticated. Choose a direction (say, north) and start running. Keep running until you feel like taking a break. You can jog, walk or hike – just try to stay on your feet. When you’re ready for some more running, go for it. If you see a Starbucks and feel like a latte, stop and grab one.”

He recommends making a day of it and says you shouldn’t worry about how much distance you’ve covered. Focus on staying on your feet and on moving forward one way or another whether by running or walking. Aim for six to eight hours.

Dean likes to start before sunrise and finish after sunset. He finishes by saying, “Rarely in our modern society do we spend an entire day outside, and there’s just something enchanting about watching a day go by from the exterior of a building rather than locked inside.”

I like.

'Time to think' theme crops up again

A blog was posted on Mail & Guardian's 'Thought Leader' section by Elaine Rumboll that deals with the frenetic pace of our lives and the importance of 'time to think'. I've extracted the following bits that make a lot of sense...

"According to a recent article by Linda Stone [it is actually by Carl Honore] titled, “In Praise of Slow Thinking” [In Praise of Slowness] published in the Huffington Post, “the greatest thinkers in history certainly knew the value of shifting into a lower gear. Milan Kundera talked about ‘the wisdom of slowness’. Albert Einstein spent hours just staring into space in his office at Princeton University. Charles Darwin described himself as a ‘slow thinker’

All these great minds recognised the importance of having time to think, to mull things over, to consider all options. If they didn’t, we might never have had the opportunity to enjoy the results of their world-changing work."

I also liked this paragraph...

"There is no time to plan, no time to reflect, only time to do — and this is manifesting itself in something akin to a “flight or fight” response to life’s demands. In the process we are missing so much, including the discovery of our own true potential and possibilities for innovation."
And I pulled this from Carl's article (nice one)...

"Slow does not mean doing everything at a snail's pace. It means doing things at the right speed -- fast or slow. In other words, you don't have to ditch your career, toss the iPhone and join a commune to slow down. You can be Slow anywhere. ... It's about striking a balance and using time more wisely."


Mmmmm...