I want to makse some small, light weight, gaitors for summer use. My intention is to make some silnylon gaitors to use to prevent rain from running down my legs and into my boots. Can anyone recommend a pattern to use for something like that? Any other helpful hints would also be appreciated.

I want to makse some small, light weight, gaitors for summer use. My intention is to make some silnylon gaitors to use to prevent rain from running down my legs and into my boots. Can anyone recommend a pattern to use for something like that? Any other helpful hints would also be appreciated.

I usually don't bother with gators but there have been a few places where trail stuff kept getting into my shoes. I bought a pair of the short women’s stockings. I cut the toe and the heel out of it leaving a strap for under the arch of my foot. It was about a buck for a package of five pair. It's fast, easy, light weight and disposable. No one miss-took me for a female.:)

This is a pattern for full gaiters (http://www.nwta.com/patterns/pdfs/212fullg.pdf) - you could likely modify this to a short gaiter for summer use. It shows how to fit the gaiters to the ankles and over the shoe top and laces - the most important part of keeping rain out.

Personally, I switch to runners with lots of mesh in the summer and forego the gaiters so I can't personally speak to how well this will work.

....trail stuff kept getting into my shoes. I bought a pair of the short women’s stockings. I cut the toe and the heel out of it leaving a strap for under the arch of my foot. ::: Dino gives Superman a high-five for a brilliant idea :::

I picked up a pair of nylon warm-up pants at the Salvation Army for $1. The quality and water resistance of these will vary, so it pays to look them over. I cut off the bottoms, hemmed them with elastic and added grommets and a string for under the heel. The grommets and elastic can be purchased at the Dollar Store.
The pant bottoms already had zippers and elastic around the ankles, so this was a very easy sewing project.

Corset makers will sometimes apply duct tape over a T-shirt and cut it off to make a corset pattern. I suppose if you really wanted to get fancy, wrapping saran wrap over your pants calf and top of your shoe, cover with strips of duct tape, cut it off carefully and cut into panels would give you a customized pattern for gaters.

brilliant, wonder if that would work for regular pieces of clothing as well...

Thanks for the ideas everybody.......happy new year to all!

brilliant, wonder if that would work for regular pieces of clothing as well...

You could probably make a whole suit that way, but you're gonna need a lot of duct tape and somebody to cut you out of it.

My teenage daughter made and wore a dress she made using ducktape. It was red with blue thingies. Kind of hot in May but it was a one timer. It was creative. Work for gaiters???! -SunnyWalker