With nice weather on its way, these would made great gifts for bicyclists! Here is the bag for the front of the bike. I like the buttons on this one.
And, this shows the velcro for fastening it onto the bike. I have both methods on since I don't know which will work best with my bike. (Sorry, I refuse to shovel my way to she shed to show these on an actual bike. It is still winter here as in, I am having a snow day!) Take a look at the pdf to see how they look on a bike (and in some much more "grown-up" looking fabric.)
I do, however, like the red Velcro on the back of this one.
I actually used PUL instead of the oilcloth suggested because this PUL was already in the stash. I am keeping my pledge not to buy fabric til I get the stash way down. This is not the lighter weight, stretchier, shiny PUL that people use for diaper covers. This is a nice cotton poly-laminate. It was really easy to work with.
I tried this pattern once without the the bias tape or braid, too. I DO like easy. I turned the flap pieces under a quarter of an inch and sewed a top stitch. If you want to try this simpler design, I've included some pics to show you what I did below.
Follow the directions to create the basic rectangular piece in the book/pdf. Once you have finished putting together the two rectangles, turned it right-side out, and sewn on the strap for holding the Velcro, DON'T turn the bottom up and sew it in place. Instead, cut the angles for the flap as in the directions. Now start folding in a quarter of an inch on each side. .
Follow the directions to create the basic rectangular piece in the book/pdf. Once you have finished putting together the two rectangles, turned it right-side out, and sewn on the strap for holding the Velcro, DON'T turn the bottom up and sew it in place. Instead, cut the angles for the flap as in the directions. Now start folding in a quarter of an inch on each side. .
You need to clip off this point in the seamed corner to make it less bulky. |
This is what you'll have at the end of pinning. You are ready to top stitch! |
One other change I made was to make the box corners 3/4 of an inch instead of 1 1/4 to give the bag just a bit more room. If you make some of these, I'd love to see them. Leave me a link to your blog in the comments or email me.
I'll leave you with a picture from the icy, snowy day--sun glistening off the branches in the aftermath. It IS pretty.
I'll leave you with a picture from the icy, snowy day--sun glistening off the branches in the aftermath. It IS pretty.