For a while I was admiring these shorts (that I can’t find anywhere) and some rapha ones in the same color and was just so frustrated on not being able to find my dream bike shorts in stock.

Then I remembered I can make things.

SO looking for recommendations on 4 way stretch Lycra in this color or if anyone has experience dying Lycra?? (and any advice for someone working with the fabric for the first time)

Thanks so much in advance!!

Edit: thanks for the info! For context I’m an experienced sewer just haven’t sewn Lycra yet. It’s also a bit of a passion project so I’m fully aware it may not be pretty the first or second run but I’ll learn a lot if nothing else :) I’ll likely start by making a sports bra and a few other things before the shorts to get a hang of the fabric. Thank you!!

I've been sewing bags for 2-3 years now, and I've mostly used existing patterns or made hand-drafted ones, but I'd never modeled an accurate bag in 3D until this project.

I've been taking CLO 3D classes through Parsons / TheNewSchool, and I've learned how to sew in 3D as a result. The classes are heavily focused on garment construction, but the same principles can be applied to bag-making.

I chose to model a Disc Golf bag, since I've made one before. I was able to design the panels, "sew" them together, generate a PDF pattern, print, cut, and assemble the bag without too many issues. Made some bonus wallets from the scraps.

There are definitely some gotchas when modeling bags in CLO, such as having to simulate the bag standing up by adding internal pressure, as well as disabling gravity sometimes. This can give the bag kind of a "marshmallow" or "jumping castle" look.

I wanted my shock-cord zipper pulls to be accurate, and I had no idea how to do that in CLO, so I used Blender to model the pulls as bezier curves with a texture applied, then exported as a glb file.

The pattern isn't quite ready for release yet, but I plan to make a revision, build one more, then release the pattern for others to use. Let me know if you're interested in the comments, and I can ping you when I release it.

Really liking this colour!

• Glacier Blue X-Pac X
• Black UltraStretch front, side and bottom pockets
• L capacity and weighs in at
• Side compression straps
• Roll top with poppers for closure
• Single top strap with G-Hook
• Rear pocket with key loop and YKK AquaGuard zip
• Removable sternum strap
• printed thumbs pulls (PETG)
• printed webbing keepers (PETG)
• All inside seams trimmed and bound
• mm Nylon webbing

I've got plenty of fabric to make a few of these if anyone is interested.

Edit: By the above I mean if you’re in the UK I have a lot of X11 and would be happy to share.

Virtually everything on it it repurposed material from the old backpack. The only thing that isn't is the shoulder strap! The plastic inside was becoming really sticky and one of the shoulders straps had a huge rip on the webbing so I'm happy with what I managed to save!

Well. My paint has many flaws and my striping as well.. but I had so much fun with this project. I have never refinished a machine to this extent. I did new wicks/felt throughout the machine and cleaned and polished as much as possible. It runs like a new machine now and it runs much nicer after swapping the pulleys to gear it down.

Got everything assembled and timed yesterday, did my first stitches in the evening.

Can't wait for the next project!

This was my second try making a beer sling optimized for ease/speed of sewing. It's essentially a long zipper pouch with foam and a shoulder strap.

I meant to take more pictures but gave it to a friend too soon so I have to settle with this video.

The pattern is a 23"x11" rectangle and is sewn flat to avoid fussing with small circles or gussets. I sewed the outer and liner together, cut it 1" from the top, slid in the foam, and sewed in the zipper to make a large rectangular zipper panel. This allowed a single piece of foam to give it a rounder shape when turned out and limited the number of seams.

Once the zipper was on I tripled stitched the strap to each side and folded the whole thing in half length wise. Then the three sides were sewn and finished with 1" poly herringbone.

I'm super happy with the end result. I wanted something slim enough to hold cans and I knew trying to sew a cylindrical bag that small of diameter would not work for me. It holds the shape nicely when full and there's not too much wasted space at the ends.

Outer:600d vinyl backed polyester

Liner: 3.9oz ripstop

Structure: 1/8" closed cell foam - 21.5"x8.5". Inserted before sewing on zipper.

The zipper is installed 1" down from the top. 21.5" zipper with double slide.

1.5" seatbelt webbing with Fidlock Slider buckle.

Was so stoked as I built this thinking I had pioneered a new feature, oh to be ignorant hey. Either way pleased with how it came out. Also experimented with a retractable stabiliser strap system which I designed and 3D printed, idea being it would slide along some soft rails. It doesn’t work well at all but I reckon the bones are there for a V2 at some point.

I made my own slippers to wear around the house and I’m proud of it! I wanted something comfortable, so I decided to use what I had on hand: backpack straps, discarded EVA foam, and cobbler’s rubber. It’s not really the style you’d see out on the street, but for lounging around the house, it’s perfect. Who else makes this kind of DIY stuff?"

Stoked on how my latest frame bag turned out. Keep this one simple only add one large inside pocket.

I've been reworking my designs and have made one of the new pouches today.

The one with the rounded corners is the improved version, the one with the boxed corners the old one.

I kinda like the rounded one better, but the corners are tricky to sew and don't really keep shape that well, how can I improve this? And which one would be the better option going forward?

I feel like a boxed one with laminate instead of webbing would go hard as well.

I needed a larger top tube bag for my spares and a pump. The bag turned out nicely… but since I went for a tight fit, in the end it was very tight, to fit the pump.

However, the bags fits the pump, a spare tube (700x40) and a set of tools. Yes, I know that most people use the top tube for bars and snacks, a phone and such. But I needed a place for the pump. The Topeak pump comes with some holders, that replace the bottle holder (instead of being place at the side of the bottle). Total rubbish.

Normally I use daisy chains, but this time I wanted to go for velcro sewn into place. Even though it limits the options, surpisingly I kind of like it this way.

The net on the outside was a quick idea, that I got, when I found the leftover bit in my stuff. Normally I would go for something slightly larger.

I needed a frame bag for my first ever high altitude climb and have layers of clothing available during the day, so I had to rush a frame bag project.

Some of the lessons for the next time:

• make a checklist and what needs to be sewn at which step would help a lot
• try to mark items (in my case with some painter tape and names) would probably help too. maybe if I had marked the direction of the zipper I would have avoided the mistake
• non lined frame bags have barely any structure, will go with lining and perhaps EVA foam.

One tip that I had seen was to clip the bag in the 90 degree corner seams as I show in the 3rd photo overnight. I did help a lot to give a shape to the bag.

(4th photo of the bag in the Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria, 10/10 experience to do at least once in your life).

Been a really great way for me to learn!

Hand stitched from a 2-3oz Veg Tanned hide.
MagSnap closures
Minimal Design Japanese inspiration.
Seatbelt strap and simple SR plastic buckle.
Snaps were covered with a reflective “leather” material.
I made a wallet with this leather two years ago to see how it forms a patina. Huge difference.
Still need to add my logo and added some loops for possible add on/ retainer strap.
Cheers.

Learn MYOG Tech Pouch with XPac VX21 RFID shell from RBTR, and UltraGrid in bronze from Rockywoods for the lining and zipper pocket. The side pockets are Venom Mesh. Of all my projects, the tech pouch is the most appreciated by my friends and family.

Learn MYOG Tech Pouch with XPacVX21RS RFID from RBTR for the shell, and UltraGrid in bronze from Rockywoods for the lining and zipper pocket. The side pockets are Venom Mesh. Of all of my projects, the Tech Pouch is the most appreciated by my family and friends.

One of my favorite parts of making my own gear is the post-trip review and the iterative changes that result from it. I just got back from a great canoe trip in Killarney Provincial Park, paddling the channels around Philip Edward Island. I brought my newest version of my canoe portaging pack, which I call the Moose River, and a pack designed to connect to the bottom of a canoe seat.

The Moose River

The idea behind this pack is to have serious volume for all the comfort gear you can get away with bringing on a canoe trip. The main compartment alone is 95 liters, and that doesn't include the brain or the side pockets. I wanted it to carry well while portaging under a canoe and have grab handles for moving the pack in and out of the boat.

Overall I think this pack was a success. It carried better than any canoe pack I've made or used before. Everything fit easily, and the exterior pockets gave me spots for miscellaneous stuff I wanted to access on the go. The x-frame using ash splints for structure worked wonderfully. It transferred weight well to the hip belt and kept the pack from collapsing. The brain was also a highlight: it protected the contents of the main compartment and gave me a spot for anything I needed to reach quickly.

What didn't work

I love the look of torpedo pockets (tapered tube-shaped side pockets), but I didn't find them that functional. They were either too small or too big for whatever I wanted to put in them, and anything I did store there could just as easily have gone in the brain or inside the pack. I'm going to replace them with standard stuff pockets on the next version.

The grab handles gave me trouble. I used an hourglass stitch to attach them, and I noticed stress concentrations at the corners of the hourglass that were stretching the fabric. I'm going to look at alternatives, probably a box-X stitch or bartacked webbing, that distribute the load better.

In theory I like a roll top closure, but in practice I much prefer a cinch collar. For a canoe pack the roll top makes sense for water resistance, but I'm wondering if a cinch closure with a liner would be adequate. Curious if anyone has run that setup on a canoe pack and how it held up.

I'm also going to remove the lash tabs on the bottom of the pack. Having two lash points down there turned out to be unnecessary.

Made a convertible sling a while back and forgot to post it here.

It’s heavily inspired by the Cotopaxi Allpa X sling, but with a couple of alterations to meet my taste and use case.

For EDC it is used with a regular strap, that can be attached with wiregated g-hooks. Initially I wanted to make a strap with an integrated shoulder pad, but I didn’t get to it (yet?).

For trekking use, the padded wings can be folded back and tucked behind the back padding. It then can be used to close the hip belt of my backpack, using Siamese silk clips. Or it can be used by pushing the hip belt through the channel behind the back padding. But so far I’ve only used it as a hip belt closure.