I went on the longest hike I've ever done.  What we thought was going to be an 11 mile round trip, turned out to be 1/4 mile shy of 15 miles round trip. Zoinks!  Jinkies I was pooped. But super happy. Below is a photo of me at the summit, Gobbler's Knob Fire Lookout which is located on the west side of Mount Rainier National Park.  

In the photo at the top and one in the cluster below, you'll see that I'm wearing the Sewing Cake Espresso leggings I've heavily modified to be capris, etc. And I also wore my XYT top as a base layer (under the pink shirt) for decent support.  It worked GREAT! I loved the comments from other hikers.  "I've seen bright shirts, but bright pants are new. You'll be easily found if lost!"  Or "I want to hike with you, you'll never be lost!!"  Ha ha ha! Brilliant. You've understood my plan.  My work here is done!

The other huge thrill of this hike was the multitude of wildflowers in bloom. There were so many unique varieties in just the last 1000 ft to the lookout that it blew me away. Well, not off the peak it didn't.  The avalance lilies were gorgeous and there were fields and fields of them.  It was amazing to see the yellow violets, and then to stumble upon the purple ones was ... joyful.  Beargrass was in bloom, plus wandering phlox, and so many more that I've never ever seen in person, only in guide books. The clouds were few, but made lovely formations, we saw Mt. Hood, Mt. Saint Helens, and many other peaks.  It's a long day (8.5 hrs for us slow photographer types), but totally worth the trek. 

All photos above (c) 2014 Gwen Gyldenege.

Nearly a year ago, I took Kenneth King's Moulage class.  In the class, you basically 

• measure your entire body 
  
• draft a bodice + sleeve that fits
  
• make a muslin from the drafted pattern
  
• check the fit
  
• adjust your moulage 
  

Voilà!  

Fitted moulage that can be used to make any top, jacket, dress that fits you, glorious you!  And let me tell you, it fits so good! But it's an odd looking flat pattern.  Ignore! Ignore... pay no attention to the crookedy bits or large darts. If it fits, it fits! 


Now, how the... what the... you're making hiking gear?  Well, yes.  You see if the basic moulage is a form fitted (aka sausage casing) garment, then that suits the world of base layers for hiking quite perfectly.  Because you really need it to fit like a glove so you can layer all your other pieces: 


[ a fleece or thin wool sweater ] + [ gortex or other jacket ] + [ backpack ] = it all adds up the more layers you put on.

Going Dartless
Most base layers and active wear are dartless.  I am very curvy and have become quite annoyed at puddles of fabric from RTW or other sewing patterns.  I desperately want something to fit.  Truly fit. So, for my first base layer top, I took a queue from unitards and pushed the darts to the seam.  

For example, on the back pattern piece: 

• Dart leg closest to the side seam: Push the entire leg (tip to tip) to the center back seam.
  
• Dart leg closest to the center back seam: Push the entire leg (tip to tip) to the side seam seam.

You keep them parallel to the grain and the waist and just slide them over.  Here's a little visual that helps me. It's actually the visual that gave me the confidence to move the darts. 

• A-typical Dart is shaped like this <>
  
• Pushed Darts go from <> at the center of the back piece to >< at each seam.
  

Does that help? 

You can see I left the bust dart in for shaping. I could have folded it out or ruched or otherwise, but I really like clean shaping, have a larger bust and I wanted to stick with a standard shape rather than move to princess seam or something where I can really pull out that dart.

If you look at the image above, you get a closer look at how much the back curved in.  After wearing the top, I realized I get these weird poky bits right were the dart transitions to nothing (at the tips).  So, I took my curve and smoothed out/ rounded the seams at the former dart tips and at the fullest point of the dart.  I also marked that on my top and softened the curve on the finished shirt.  

I'm sure if I was in a class doing this, a teacher would note that you were supposed to smooth out the dart a little, but by making that mistake, I learned what the results of not smoothing it out were and so the lesson was really solidified in my head.  

Base Layer In Action

Here I am (upper photo, far left and lower photo far left) wearing my new powder blue, long sleeve, hiking base layer top.  As you can see the hem goes to the fullest part of my hip.  I left it long so I could leave out or tuck in.  It looks a little odd hanging so low beyond my jacket, but that's ok. 

Overall, this shirt did the job I asked it to!  The fabric (found at Joann's of all places!) did a great job wicking. As with any poly, I stink after wearing it.  My body reacts to non-natural fibers and I end up a little smelly.  Not my favorite, but I'd rather be a little smelly and warm on a hike than be cold and soaked by sweating in the lovely and ever breathable, but most absorbent cotton.  Interestingly, the odor was minimal.  Very minimal. So I was quite pleased.  I hardly knew I was wearing it.  My jacket is a negative ease piece, so having a base layer that was like my own skin was wonderful!

There will definitely be more hiking gear and active wear queued to sew.  

Have you sewed any of your hiking gear?  
What are you working on / what really rings your bell right now?