: A no-name
: waterproof/breathable fabric might get the cost down to 18-20 /yard and
: I'm estimating 5 yards might be required.

Probably closer to 6 yards of 45 inch wide material. But, onsider again that you don't need to make the entire thing from breathable materials. For example, pants are typically made from 4 parts: left and right backs, and left and right fronts. You could cut the backs of the pant legs (big, long pieces

You cut the fronts of the pant legs from the breathable material. it doesn't matter it the material is a different color as this scheme would look stylish. Besides, even with a breathable material, there is not much air movement under your body, so there would be little moisture going out the fabric on the bottom anyhow. why pay for it?

And if you use attached boots, the sides and soles of the boots are cut from the non breathable material. Then you just need a patch of breathable material across the top of each boot (look at the nylon vented area on running shoes for the plan. The bottom of running shoes is thick ruber and ertainly not vented!)

: . . .The zipper definitley looks like the big ticket item. I
: have an email into ykk zippers right now to see if there is a less
: expensive source.

Look at how they seal drybags. 2 folds or rolls over a stiff strip, and then the ends are folded up so the seal won't open up. You can do something similar with a triple roll of fabric which is the held in shape with clamping bars, or perhaps strips of velcro, or even an ordinary zipper. You would need to create a short tunnel ( maybe 12 to 14 inches long, and as wide as your torso) of fabric that you could crawl through to get into the suit, then fold the tunnel flat, and roll it up to seal it shut. I think if you did this across your chest you pull up the bottom part like overalls, and then could open up the dry suit enough to pull the top part over your head, and to insert your arms into the sleeves. The "tunnel" would of course be made of the less expensive, unbreathing material.

That idea, by the way, has a historic background. Some of the first drysuits for divers were entered through a tunnel-like entrance from the back, and then the tunnel was folded and rolled up. This was long before zippers! However, I think a back entry design would be uncomfortable.

I like the idea of buying a goretex jumpsuit, or a jacket and waders and adding seals to make it a dry suit. That would save a lot of time and effort. I'd keep the existing zipper in the jacket and sew the "tunnel" material about 1/2 inch to either side of it. then I'd sew shut the top of the zipper up to the neck so it would not open. To get in I'd unzip the front, which would let that tunnel stretch open wide. Once inside I'd zip it shut, which would give me the "lines" and shap of a jacket, and also pull in the bottom edge of the fabric for the entrance tunnel, flattening it. 3 sharp, flat folds of the tunnel fabric would bring it tight to my chest, directly over the now well sealed zipper. A few straps of velcro over the folded tunnel would hold it in place.

Have fun experimenting, but be sure to try on you experiments when there is someone else nearby. you don't want to get stuck half way in, or halfway out of your prototype.

: Boy, browsing through the pattern catalogs opens a whole world of creative
: possibilities. Would a handmade Gore-Tex teddy be such a bad gift on
: Valentines day?

Goretex? Umm, someone planning to get a bit sweaty? It just won't happen if you don't get out of the shop a bit more often and do some serious relationship building between now and them. The smell of epoxy has never been consider an aphrodisiac. However, if that sewing machine is out, I found that stitching up plush teddy BEARS, and stuffed fake-fur dogs made a big impression on my wife.

http://www.simplicity.com/s3index.htm check for pattern number 8932, which is pictured below

Best of luck with your projects.

PGJ