Make Your Own Camo Jacket

Making your own camo clothing is fun and not really all that difficult.  You will need access to a sewing machine or to someone who can sew it up for you.  While "sewing" is very "girlie", sewing CAMO HUNTING CLOTHES IS VERY MANLY! 

I didn't have a clue on how to sew when I first started, so I asked my wife to give me a couple of basic lessons.  My sewing got better after each vest or coat I finished.  Remember, the deer or turkey are not going to see (or care about) sewing imperfections.  Just do it and you will get better.

Start by going to a store like Wal-Mart and head to the (manly materials area) sewing and materials area.  Check out some patterns like this McCall's pattern for a vest (my first project) or better yet, get a pattern of a coat or sweat shirt with sleeves and a hood.  Open up the package and pull out the pattern.  They are usually made of a tissue material and are not very durable, so I taped together some colored sheets of paper and  cut out the pattern.  Use different colors of paper to differentiate the hood, sleeves, back and front of the coat.  Purchase a 26 inch heavy duty zipper, a bunch of spare sewing machine needles (beginners break them a lot) and most of all look at their selection of camo materials.  Each stores selection varies, so look at a couple of different stores.  I have found Mossy Oak, ASAT, Realtree and several other patterns.  Material comes in a couple of widths; get the stuff that is as wide as possible.  This project will require 3 yards to make a size “large” jacket with hood and sleeves.  Also required is a liner material. You will need 3 more yards of liner material.  I used a camo pattern on the outside (of course) and fleece on the inside.  Since the liner is on the inside of the coat you can purchase the cheapest fleece that is on sale, it does not have to be of a camo nature.  It is a plus if it is some type of dull color or a camo color...but anything will do.  I have not added any insulation or batting material between the liner and the outside shell, since this is a beginner project and it would add some complexity to the project.  I mostly use them as outer shells over other warmer layers.

Lay out your material and cut out two hoods. (Note the triangle shaped darts sticking out of the patterns.  These darts are used to line up the mating piece for correct alignment when sewing.)  Make sure you reverse the hood pattern to the "front or camo colored" side of the material and then flip it over to the plain back side of the camo material to get a "left and right" side of the hood.  Continue by cutting out the right and left side of the front.  Then cut out two sleeves. Then the back  (large single piece).

Front Right side in camo and paper pattern next to it

Making a paper pattern of the back, note colored paper

Ok, now you have all the parts for the outside shell.  Now we need to use the same patterns again and cut out the liner material.  Spread out the liner material, put on the pattern and using a felt permanent marker draw the outline, then cut it out.

Don't forget to reverse the liner pattern since you want the "liner" to face the opposite way from the camo side (it’s on the inside facing out). Again, cut out the same 7 pieces of liner as you did with the camo material.  Lay the liner face down and put the corresponding camo piece over it.  Pin it together to keep it in place for sewing.  Continue matching all 7 pieces and pin them together (not all pieces showing in this pic).  Now you’re ready for sewing.  Start with the hood and sew the liner and camo together for both halves. Later you will sew these two hood halves together to form the full hood.

Lay out the large back piece with camo side up, and then overlay it with the right FRONT side with LINER facing up. Sew the right side. When the right front side is closed, a minimal seam will show. Now layout and sew the left side. Remember to sew the two camo seams together, but don’t sew the arm holes together. It’s starting to look like something! PIC1 …. PIC2 shows seam on camo side.

OK, time to add the sleeves. Pick a sleeve, any sleeve. Turn the material in side out sew the arms onto the body of the main coat. It’s a bit hard to explain this procedure, just give it a try. Align the “darts” and sew. Since the material is a bit thick at this point, you may break a few needles here. Add the second sleeve.