For my 30th birthday, my mom gave me a sewing machine and a notions box filled with all sort of things that I might need to get started making my own clothes. John and I were living in a small-ish apartment in Los Angeles at the time, and the machine stayed in the box. When I was making things for our wedding, I thought about how nice it would be if I could sew some simple things, but I hadn't sewn anything since earning the Fashion, Fitness, and Makeup badge in Girl Scouts (when I was in junior high), and we didn't really have an extra table or anything. When we moved to Portland, the sewing machine and acoutrements stayed in the basement until about a year ago, when John got the idea that he could sew his own messenger bag.
Keep in mind that John had not used a sewing machine since his childhood (when he made beanbags with his grandma). He also wasn't saying that he'd find a pattern for a messenger bag and then sew it. He meant that he'd look at the features of the bags he had, and figure it out using, well, origami. His goal was to make the bag out of one piece of fabric, with nice, square seams and bias tape (which I'd never heard of) for the trim.
John and I are alike in that regard. We think, "What would happen if..." and then go off and give something a try.
His first bag, made from scraps of red (from a tool bag he thought he'd make, and I'm not sure he ever did) and some leftover fabric from the wedding. The apple is in there for size comparison.
Later, I had this idea while we were in Fabric World,
(scary, no?) I got some hemp furniture strap and asked John if he thought we could weave it into a bag. He was certain that we could. He did all the sewing on this. It's enormous. Really. It fits my knitting, my books, my purse, and it's missing one thing: a key fob. Man do I hate digging for my keys.
He finished that last spring. The knit blanket was for Graham, and is made of Sugar-n-Cream cotton in the modified log cabin pattern.
Last night, John finished his second messenger bag, complete with double D-ring strap and buckles. This one is navy and yellow, and the first one is royal blue with bright orange. They're waterproof because there's a layer of truck tarp between the two pieces of fabric. This means that they also make an awesome rustling sound when you move.
Here's the thing: now I'm totally jaded on buying knitting bags. There are some REALLY nice ones out there, but I look at them and think that John could make one for me for less money. Also, there's something really cool about taking my husband to the fabric store when he's as excited as I am about buying fabric. I wish you all could have seen his face when he discovered the hunting section at Mill End. The idea of bright orange and yellow inner fabric on his bags made him So Happy.
3 comments:
I just think it's uber-cool that you get to say something like "truck tarp". I'll back you up on the hemp strap bag: people, I have one of these, and it's the BOMB. Even big enough for overnits trips, and Steph made the straps long enough for me to hang it comfortably from my shoulder. It just rocks, plain and simple.
Now, can John make me a 5000cu.in internal frame backpack? Waterproof with truck tarp, of course!
-Laura
That bike bag is freaking gorgeous. Nice work, John. Also, don't let Chris near it. I think the sound you are mentioning will give C the heebie-jeebies. He has a thing about noise.
Oh, and nice photo of FBIC WOD.
Good luck with your sewing machine. It looks like you are doing a nice job so far. Your bag looks professional. Keep up the great work.
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