Ice Skating Accessories

I recently picked up ice skating, specifically figure skating, as a hobby.

By recent, I mean about like seven months ago, but at this age, anything within the last two years feels pretty recent.

The tl;dr is that I got a finger pulley injury from climbing, so I needed a non-finger-strength exercise hobby, and around the same time I was also reminded by the Winter Olympics hype that I did have a childhood dream of figure skating (I only took the first level of beginner lessons then my parents were like ok back to gymnastics). And now, as an adult, I had the financial means to do almost whatever I want! I also felt I had the physical ability and mental fortitude to make decent progress. So I got fitted for a pair of figure skates and started taking adult group lessons at my local ice rink.

In seven months, I went from not being able to do a crossover to working on one-foot spins and single jumps. I'm currently preparing for the adult pre-bronze skating skills test. I am no prodigy, but I'm always making progress, and unlike climbing, there's very tangible goals to aspire for since it is a very technical and well-defined sport.

My actual progress story is not important though.

What is important is aesthetic. Does it make me a better skater? Absolutely not. But I do enjoy feeling cute. And as a sewist, I can make some of the cute accessories myself!

I made three things:

1. Leg warmers
2. Soakers
3. Small zipper bag

Leg Warmers

One of the classic accessories is leg warmers. They're not only cute; they are very functional because they actually do keep my legs warm. I made these in April. I already had some rib knit fabric that I thought would be perfect for leg warmers, and it was a good opportunity to practice sewing stretchy fabric (which is rather difficult).

I'm very happy with how these came out! I've gotten compliments on them too.

Soakers

Another classic accessory is ice skate soakers. These are soft covers for the blades to keep them dry and protect them when storing them at home. I had a pair that I bought from Amazon (a set that also came with hard guards and a drying towel). It had been on my backlog to try making my own pair of soakers with cute fabric, and I finally got around to it this past week.

I used an old bathroom hand towel that was demoted to a rag for the lining, and a floral quilting cotton for the outer fabric. The towel is kind of thick, but hopefully that means it's more effective than a thin microfiber towel? It also adds extra cushion.

I followed the instructions for DIY Figure Skate Soakers by @be_susanna_ on Instagram. The only part I kind of messed up is that I used a thicker elastic than the instructions, but didn't increase the height, so the soakers are a little short and not covering the blade entirely. I also made the elastic longer than I'd like on the first soaker, and I reduced the length on the second one, so they are not identical.

We will see how they fare in the washing machine, but I don't expect to wash them often.

Small zipper Bag

Finally, I made a small zipper bag to store my extra socks, gloves, and ankle sleeves. I was previously using a zipper bag that came with a set of travel cubes; it said LAUNDRY on it (obviously not aesthetic) and was a flat pouch, so my things didn't sit in it nicely.

I have a long-term goal to sew a fancy tote bag for my skates and water bottle and everything else I need to bring to the rink. (Would it be cheaper and less work to buy one? Sure. But that wouldn't be any fun.) Part of that goal is learning how to sew zippers, so sewing a small zipper bag was a good mini project.

I didn't use any interfacing so the bag is floppy but that is ok because its purpose is to always have things in it and I want it to take up as little space as possible. I used scraps from my wedding guest dress for the outer fabric and leftover fabric I had from making face masks during the pandemic for the lining.

I like that it has a rectangular bottom so I can put my things in it vertically and see everything at once.