Brief bike interlude

So there I was, sewing away on the black 3/4 sleeve unlined jacket and thinking that black is sure hard to photograph, when it occurred to me that I needed to make a handlebar bag for the tandem. First, where I have got to on the jacket.

The instructions call for all four front pieces (two fronts, to facings) to be interfaced. All I had in black was sew-in interfacing but I thought it would be best to use that in any event, as the iron-on stuff still seems to bubble and I am not convinced it is the best choice for large pieces like these. Plus, I am going to use it (sew-in) for the navy wool (whenever I get to it) and it's good to practise.

I'm sewing all the vertical seams and flat felling them in the modified fell, mostly because the jacket is only partly lined. Even though it is cotton, this fabric doesn't take a crease very well, and it frays and sheds, so the flat felling has been awkward. Here, you can see two seams, one unfinished at the top and the other is the seam between the interfacing front piece and the front side piece. I had to resort to pinning the curves after I ironed the seam allowances. Anyway, it is coming along but first, the bike bag.

I made a sketch of what I wanted and filled in dimensions after going into the garage to measure distances between handlebar ends, stems and water bottle cages. I figure I can slip the sewn-in loops over the ends of the handlebar (first one side and then the other) and then secure the middle tabs or loops once the bag was hanging from the bar. A zipper the entire width of the bag would allow easy access.

The bag is effectively a muslin because I'm going to have to use it on a ride to determine what changes might have to be made. I'm also going to have internal pockets and an external zipped pocket on the finished model. Here are the top and bottom of the bag. You can see I have split the top and added seam allowances in order to allow a zipper along the front (close to me the rider) edge.

Here are the top and bottom again, without the zipper yet. The bottom (I left the white selvage on it) is folded back on itself.

After I installed the zipper, I cut a piece for the curved back and without thinking, sewed it on to the top. I was so concerned about how I was going to fit a curved piece onto a flat piece that I totally forgot I wanted to sew in the four tabs that are needed to secure the bag to the bar. Stupid. Now I have to pick the seam apart in four places and insert the tabs. Grr.