After doing the mending workshop for last April (fashion revolution week), I thought I could do a whole heap of re-imagining and re-making of textile waste as a new project.

So I got in touch with the VdeP who put me in touch with Dee. Dee and I had a great chat and she was happy for me to go through their recycling which I did. 3 visits…… The first visit I got a wool blanket, cotton shirts, wool blazer….second visit …. I got knits and wool, some damaged, some dirty and others that didn’t….. the third visit I was completely without focus as there just seemed to be so much useable stuff so I brought home a whole heap of random bits that even I don’t know what I was thinking!!! I think I was so shocked by the amount of useable stuff having to be shipped off, I tried to bring it all. So I had to figure where to start.

Sometimes its easier to do a few small things to begin…..Not everything needs to be remade, so I rehomed a few pieces like, a vintage merino polo (unsure why this lovely didn’t sell), an Abercrombie faded sweater with a thread pull was repaired and given to my niece and quickly made a size 12 tee from a size 6 stripy maternity dress as I needed a cycle tee for work…. and then.

As I am now cycling to work, I needed bags for my bike. A Pannier Bag for rain gear, change of clothes and my lunch, and a handlebar bag for high viz jacket, sunscreen, lip balm, wallet and keys.

I used Fabric Wax (Fjallraven) to wax denim and line. Lapped seams were used and waxed over after sewing. The bag pattern was just a basic 2 rectangles together with end pieces sewn across so it is 11 cm deep. The handlebar bag pattern is from bikepacking site and I adapted the fanny pack pattern (leaving out seam joins at sides so my zip goes 3 ways around).

The bags are made with all recycled pieces. Fabric is from jeans, and old trousers. The zips came from other bags, the nylon strap to attach the pannier to the side (so bag does not swing out) is from a broken camping gear, and the reflectors are from discarded high viz vests. As the Jeans waistband easily made 2 straps for the pannier bag – I kept the original pink jeans size label on. The pannier bag is held in place with a long strap and 2 clips which clip into 2 D-rings. The handlebar bag is secured by a nylon peg button (using old tent cord).