Build a man a fire, he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.
Terry Pratchett
A piece of armor in «Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous» that I didn’t know (haramaki) pointed me to its Wikipedia page, and from there to other websites dealing with this piece of clothing. Turns out it’s not exactly armor anymore, but first a kind of good luck charm, and then a piece of clothing to keep warm.
Essentially, a board belly band, a kind of kidney warmer.
And hey, that’s a pretty good idea. It’s usually the torso I want to keep warm. I can live with exposed arms and legs, but the torso has to be kept warm (e.g., when jogging in the cold).
And looking at a heat image comparison, a haramaki makes a difference:
Hmm, and there are different ways to sew one. I’ll probably try doing one from scratch sometime before the winter (perhaps with a stretchy outer layer and a core of isolating material, sewn like scales over each other as that material won’t stretch). But there are easier ways to get one (besides buying, you find them on Amazon and in specialized shops, e.g., https://haramaki.co.uk).
One suggestion I think I’ve seen somewhere was just to sew a thick winter leggings into a haramaki. After all, if it’s high-waited, the top part should be high enough to work as a haramaki.
And it’s not that difficult either (even for a crappy beginner like me). Just take a thick winter leggings:
Cut off the legs and any unnecessary parts on the top side:
Take care that both sides are open, you want a short tube. Then fold in the borders (use needles or clips):
Sew it in place with a lighting stitch (the material stretches!) and flatten the fabric with a zigzag stitch (no warranty, I’m new to this, but keeping the end of the folded in fabric in the middle of the foot when using the zigzag stich worked well):
The result looks okay (for an absolute beginner) who plays it by ear:
And yeah, I should have ironed it beforehand, so it looks kinda outa form:
But might work as a kidney warmer. I’ll find that out next winter (and yeah, an under the outer clothes item 😉 ). And yup, no warranty — no idea whether it survives even the first washing.
(BTW, sewing winter clothing in 30°C temperatures … kinda strange.)
