HOWTO: Create a Neck Seal

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

HOWTO: Create a Neck Seal

 

Original Poster: pandatrooper

 

My armor has arrived, but of course there's all these other things you need to complete a TK - including a neckseal.

 

Thought I'd post this up, might be a useful tip for those wanting to make their own neck seal, in a slightly different way than other neckseals I've seen. On mine, the ends do not overlap or close with a zipper. Although those methods are fine, I wanted the joined ends to be a butt join and stay flat, which helps maintain the round shape.

 

I found some great material from a local fabric store, it's like 1/8" thick foam, soft and fuzzy on one side and shiny satin finish on the other. The store said it's normally used for liners in motorcycle helmets. It wasn't cheap, about $10 for what I needed but it turned out great.

 

Started off with my templates, these are easy to make. Measure the height of your neck and the circumference. I added a little "dip" in the front for the throat / adams apple area. There will be 2 layers, an inside and an outside. The satin surface will face in towards my neck, and satin facing out to for the "ribs". Notice I added some cut angles at the ends of the fabric, so that the neck seal tapers towards the top.

 

 

 

I flipped one panel over and sewed loop velcro on the ends on the "good" side. I didn't want an overlap closure in the back, i wanted a "butt seam", so both ends will have loop velcro, with a simple "hook velcro" patch joining the 2 ends inside.

 

 

After sewing the velcro on the ends, I place both pieces face to face, and sew the top and sides. Sort of like an envelope with an open bottom.

 

 

Here it is with the top and sides sewn, I just flipped it inside out

 

 

Now I started sewing the ribs. I started at the top, so that the ribs remain even. If you start at the bottom, the top edge might come out crooked.

 

Halfway there!

 

Finished the ribs. Here's a simple patch I made with hook velcro and a spare piece of material. Again, this will join the ends inside the neackseal with a butt join, not overlap.

 

 

Here's how it joins

 

 

Let's test fit this, even though the "bib" portion isn't done yet. Fits awesome!

 

 

The bib is simply 2 pieces of fabric, with semi circles cut out. It's important to note that the semi circles are not perfect circles, they should be ovalized so that the bib lies against your back and chest. If you make it a perfect circle, you'll end up with a flared fringe around your neck with wrinkles. If you want, you can also cheat and cut the top half of a t-shirt off, and sew that to the bottom of the neck ring for a bib. I chose to make my own bib.

 

 

The circles are cut

 

 

I hemmed the edges.

 

 

I sewed the 2 halves together, and cut a slit in the back. This will line up with the butt seam at the back of the neck ring.

 

Sew the bib onto the ring, and add some velcro on the ends of the bib to join the ends

 

 

Back of the finished neck seal, showing the "butt seam"

 

 

Front view. You can see the patch in the back, joining the ends. This neck seal is very easy to put on. You just put it on backwards so that the seam is in front, close the velcro, and spin it 180 degrees. Now the seam is at the back and the front is "seamless".

 

 

Close up of the ribs.

 

 

Test fit, it's good to go! Now I just have to build my armor  Ha ha ha!