I’ve been
rather slow blogging lately, but I’ve been sewing like crazy. The trouble is, I haven’t actually been
wearing the garments that I’ve been sewing, so I haven’t had the opportunity to
photograph them. I know, I could do my
hair, slap on a little make up and dress up just for the photos, but it does
seem rather odd.
Anyway,
one of the completed projects was a saddle bag for one of my bikes. I actually have two of them. One of them is a very light-weight road bike
with those skinny, smooth tyres. I
bought that one four years ago when I
decided to complete the “Round Taupo” cycle race. It’s an iconic New Zealand ride, 160 km round
a lake in the middle of the North Island.
Given the time I was going to spend on that bike preparing for the race,
I figured I could justify a proper bike.
The trouble is, she is a proper racing bike, and like a race horse, this
girl doesn’t take kindly to being expected to do the work of a trekking
pony. She will slip in wet weather. The slightest lump in the road and she’ll
puncture a tyre. Carrying anything
larger than a hydration pack and a banana will unbalance her. Since she wasn’t a cheap bike I don’t like
leaving her alone for any length of time.
When I decided to cycle to work about a year ago (get fit, save money
and avoid horrendous road work related delays – win-win) this bike wasn’t going to cope with 30km a
day on a rough cycle track carrying a change of clothes and shoes, so I bought “Mary
Poppins”, a cheap, clunky and practical bike who willingly undertook the trip
without complaint. She has a basket for luggage,
which I have customised, and very low gears for the steep hills. The best bit about her is that she cost less
than the lock I use to secure her. The
result is that I actually use her to travel with. The one missing accessory was a saddle bag,
which has now been rectified…
The bag is supported with a plastic chopping
mat, which I forgot to photograph before I stitched up the lining. This ensures
that it keeps its round shape, and makes it at least shower proof.
It has a clip at each end that clip to the
bag of the saddle and a two-way zip so I can get into the back from either
end.
Of course, I also let the embroidery
machine do a little customisation.
The other
cool feature? The clips also clip onto a
strap that converts it instantly into a shoulder bag once I reach my destination.
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