Things have been busy and I feel I have very little to show for it except a very messy workroom. I took my career break in June and it feels like I am trying to cram things in and then getting scatty as I am out of routine.
So I did embroider this sweater. It was remade from a larger mans sweater, then crochet trimmed before I stitched it. I like to use phrases that remind me of people… and this reminds me of 2 women I worked with, one was highly organised and and would say it with her tongue firmly in her cheek, and the other would add ‘havnt time to bless myself’. Currently I think I am really ‘killed with the chaos’.
The Repair Cafe is still going well and we did 2 ‘outreach’ cafe’s. We were asked by 2 communities if we would come out to them, so we thought a few of us could give it a try and if they went well, we could then do a proper set of outreach in 2027. These outreach did go well so hopefully there will be some more. I have photos here of us in Inis Oírr which is a lovely small island of Galway.
Over the summer, I was sewing all kinds of fabrics. Cat food bags, dog food bags and rubber tyre tubes. I had in mind to do a bag with cyclists for a while after making my own bike bags some years back. I applied for and got a small Creative Ireland grant from our local council to co-design a bike bag. At the first workshop, it turned out waterproofing was the main ask, so my waxed cotton wasn’t going to cut it. In the workshop I showed how to use a sewing machine and how a bag is made.
After this workshop I figured it may be better I sew some prototypes and they could give feedback. For the workshops we could continue to make some accessories as it would be more fun for them. So we made zipped pouches from food packing, lined tool rolls from waxed canvas and shower curtain, and wallets from rubber tyre tubes and odi coated comics. I really enjoyed the experimenting and the cyclists in the workshops were great, as these materials were not an easy sew. By workshop 3 the final bag was just completed and we all signed off on it – literally!
The bag is a basic design and all made from scrap. I did 3 different versions I saw these suitable for different levels of sewing, and we hope to do more workshops on making these during bike week 2027.
The first / easier one is fabric. The fabric is waxed (if you want) with outdoors wax. The sewing sequence for all the bags is to sew fixings first, and then the bag. The second bag was a dog food sack. Do clean these thoroughly before sewing! It was a bit slippy to sew but was grand. The third bag was from an end roll of PVC signage from a sign company. This was the trickiest sew as it was fairly bulky. Bags 2 and 3 were sewn with a leather needle and regular foot. I also used a Teflon and walking foot for the remakes and these worked well too. Waterproofing the seams for bags 2 and 3 were a challenge as the seam tape wouldn’t work, and duct tape too bulky. In the end it was the simplest method – which was ironing over the seam just covering the stitching as the plastics bonded (eureka). the other addition to the bag is strips of plastic from a milk carton in the top rim. this means the bag stays open like a basket when on the bike (if needed). The dog food bag in the main picture has 2 prototypes (fails) behind.
My favourite part though was the ties. In my original bags I secured the bag to the handlebar with a nylon cord loop and tent tie plastic. For this, I had the bright idea to use the rubber tube strip and a duffle button. Its brilliant.
Final verdict – I love them. I was surprised how quickly I converted to the new bag and ditched my old handlebar bag.
As I was making them, I preferred the waxed canvas. But when it came to using them, the PVC won here. As the PVC is so sturdy, it acts like a basket to pack and unpack. So when I went picking blackberries last week, I fitted 4 large lunch boxes into the bag, then used the bag while picking blackberries and reattached for the cycle home. I know the bag is only properly waterproof when rolled but it’s nice to know it’s useful for holding heaps when you need it.
My husband prefers the dog food bag. He likes it because its lighter and doesn’t look so fancy someone will steal it (I am still figuring out that one). For him, it holds a swim towel, togs and water bottle.
I have put a detailed one on the Instructables website (click here) . I will put a simpler one on this site shortly – but as its taking me so long to do this part, I thought I would do the blog post first.
