Bike Bag

 My sad little bike bag finally died, after having the zipper split and spill my bike chain once too often. (Confession - I've been meaning to make a better one for a while. I'm not sad.)

So I set about making a new bag, this one will sit on the rear rack instead of attaching to the seat post.

 It's not enough for me to have sturdy denim, I wanted to keep water out too. I recycled some baggies that my CSA veggies are coming in, and ironed it to shrink and melt the bags together. It makes a nice thick layer to keep out rain.

 I pinned the plastic fabric to the denim pieces, and cut it a little bit bigger. The less holes one puts in the plastic to better it will repel water of course, so I tried to keep it simple. I added the fancy fabric first, so there wouldn't be lines of applique stitches in the plastic lining either.

And no, those are NOT my sewing scissors. People who cut plastic with sewing scissors deserve to be put in a bag full of ants.

 I also tucked some cords into the bottom seam to be my tie-ons. Can you believe that I don't have any velcro just laying around? The cords are working ok for now, but I will likely replace them with velcro in the long run.

 After sewing together the pieces I trimmed back all the excess plastic lining. If I lived somewhere that water was a big deal I would do flat-felled seams and seal them like a tent... but I don't.

Also, I'm lazy.

Here's the crazy vintage zipper added to the top. The bag opens on three sides for easy access of tools and such.

On the first test run of the bag, naturally, the zipper failed. After gathering up my chain and tools I vowed to never trust fancy vintage zippers again.

 Look at all that space! Mind you, I haven't had a flat tire for nearly a year *knocks on wood* so this is mostly cosmetic.

"I can fix my own bike! I never do, but I could..."

I do know that I will find more random items that need to be put in here 'just in case'. It's the big purse curse!

Here it is in it's natural habitat. A nice sturdy metal zipper that shows no sign of giving out replaced the broken one, but I kept the ribbon trim.

Ride on!

Have you ever made something for your bike?