Saturday, July 24, 2010

A Sewing Fool

Many years ago I rescued a worn out bullet proof vest carrier from one of the old guys at work just before he retired. I ran across it the other day when I was cleaning my office. Rather than throw it away I though that I'd reuse it for something else. I decided this morning that I was going to try to throw together some kind of carrier for my u-lock. I've been carrying it in a pannier but it just takes up too much space.

I removed some of the Velcro, webbing, and nylon fabric from the back panel of the vest carrier. I ended up sewing the nylon fabric to the inside of some heavy cotton duck that I've been using for sewing practice.


It doesn't look like much but it took me a long time to get to this point. It would probably be a good idea next time to draw up a plan before getting started. I tend to just dive right in to projects.

This is what I ended up with. I plan to hang it from my rear rack. I forgot to add some kind of attachment at the bottom to keep the carrier from swinging.


If you're looking for a u-lock holster, or a bag, check out Death and Texas on Etsy. That's a great name.



13 comments:

  1. Nice work.

    I'm the opposite of "just dive right into projects". I tend to plan, research, design, and think about them until the need goes away.

    Your approach seems more productive.

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  2. Hey Myles do you have an email for DNTX? Id like to have some of their stuff around the shop.

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  3. Very inspirational. It would be just the thing to keep the cable on my own U lock behaved. A spare tube/mini tool holster next?

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  4. Big Oak-Thanks. I see things that I'm going to do differently next time.

    Pondero-I don't know how productive my approach actually is, you should see how many dead ends I've run myself into. I end up recycling many of my previous projects.

    bkmckendry-That's a good idea. I'll sign on to Etsy and contact DNTX. I'll let you know when I get a response.

    Steve A-I might try a seat bag of some kind. I'd like to get some stiffer material that will hold its shape better. Maybe some truck tarp or heavier nylon.

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  5. Thats cool! I'm doing a custom bag for someone right now-I have a plan in my head but I'm pretty much just diving in. I've made a few mistakes that I've had to redo but I learn better that way.

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  6. Brian and Monica-I can't imagine you making mistakes. It looks like things are going well at Carsick. I'm glad to see it.

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  7. Nice job, it looks very useful. Seems like fun, too.

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  8. Apertome-Thanks. You should pick up an old garage sale machine and give it a try.

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  9. Nice looking Singer there...nice bags too.

    We just picked up another Singer, I think the older cast iron frames with the cut steel gears are some of the best ones out there. We have a slant needle 404 and just picked up a fancy pants 500 with ALL the attachments, now for some nasty weather so I can stay indoors and sew...

    Aaron

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  10. 2whls3spds-I just saw a 500 for sale on CL for $100. If I had the extra money to spend I would have bought it. It's a cool looking machine. You should check out this blog:
    http://sewing-machines.blogspot.com/

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  11. Wow...$100? I done good! I got mine with a full hardwood dovetailed cabinet for $40 :-))

    Thanks for the link to yet ANOTHER blog. ;-)

    Aaron

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