Sunday, November 9, 2014

U-Lock Bag


I keep my bike secure by using two U-locks, which I store in my bike basket.  Unfortunately, the metal U-locks combined with the metal bike basket produces a metallic rattle that takes away from the calm and silent nature of biking.  For years (YEARS!) I've dreamed of putting together a simple bag for my U-locks. 

Thanks to HabitRPG's Seamstress Guild I have!  The challenge this month is to Make Something Simple. (a.k.a. the MSS Challenge). The thing I loved about this project is we had to make a Project Log, which could be something as simple as a piece of paper.  Then, you just write down daily what you did, even if the answer is nothing.  I found this to be tremendously motivating.  I don't sew on weekdays (unless on vacation) because I don't like having the sewing stuff on the dining room table all the time.  But by logging that on a Tuesday I "thought about bike bag" it seemed like I was working on my project all week long, which motivated me to drag out all the sewing stuff on the weekend.  Genius.

Here is my pattern.

I had some scrap dress material which I serged to finish the edges.  There are two layers here.

Pinning up the middle.

A visual of how the bag will hold the locks.

Locks in completed bag.

Tucked away.

Flap folded over.

And bag folded once more.

So it can nestle quite nicely in my bike basket.  And my ride is quiet once again.

4 comments:

  1. That is genius!!!! And totally practical! Are you able to ride your bike during the winter months? I ask because being in the Midwest so much recently, it feels a drudgery to even attempt to walk outside. Especially with babies. We do have our bikes on the RV and fingers crossed that Texas will be different for us!

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  2. This is lovely. I am glad that you liked the project log. I am finding it very useful as well, even if it is mainly documenting the struggles with my sewing machines. Oh well, getting the sewing machine working properly is important too.

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  3. Thanks Elaine!

    Thanks also Heather! I do ride a lot in the winter because we only get rain and barely have any freezing temperatures. So it's just dealing with the rain. There's a big biking culture here, so cars see us more than in other places. It's much easier to ride when it's not raining, but I can mostly motivate myself.

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  4. Excellent! I like both your use of scraps and the extreme practicality of your project. Lovely.

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