I hate to say it, but I haven't stepped foot in my woodshop to make holiday gifts this year. I've been in our crafts room, sitting right behind the sewing machine. As weird as that seems, given how much fun I had learning how to make my own bikepacking bags this summer, I have been happy to switch out being covered in sawdust, to being covered in thread snippings. Maybe I'll be covered in both, the year ain't over yet.
There are a few people who are getting elaborate frame bags, but I had to go get a cardboard pattern of their frame, figure out whether they wanted a full, half, or wedge bag, what features they wanted, etc; not really feasible to replicate for all of my gift recipients.
I needed to get a pattern for something that pretty much everyone would use, regardless of the kind of bike they rode.
I scoured the web, saw lots of myog and diy channels before I decided on a handlebar bag as what I'd replicate for gifts.
There were a few tutorials I really liked, and would have used, but ultimately decided to design my own, as I am wont to do.
Since I wanted to make pretty much the same bag for multiple people, it made sense to design it in a somewhat modular fashion where I could easily modify individual components of the bag to add features I thought it's recipient would want - without changing the overall construction.
The result is a slim bag with a six-panel construction, where a variety of features can added to the individual panels before final assembly, giving me the ability to have each piece feel really unique.
I dubbed it the Stuph Bag, and listed below are the main components and the materials used to make it.
Front, Back, Side and Bottom Panels:
Outer Material is 1000D Cordura with a Waterproof Finish and DWR Back Coating
Lining Material is Ripstop Nylon, mostly HEX70, but I used some other types too
Inner Material is 3mm EVA Foam, provides form and rigidity, can be subbed with Interlacing
Top Panel:
1000D Cordura, same as above
Any Zipper, I used #5 Coil Zipper
Pockets:
1/4" Polyester Mesh (I've seen it called Kings Mesh?)
1/4" or 1/2" Polyester Bias tape
Mounting Components:
1" or 3/4" Nylon Webbing/Mil-Spec Nylon for the daisy chains
4mm Shock Cord for the stabilizer ties
1/2" wide velcro straps
The Cordura gives the bags a nice solid feel and plenty of weather resistance; then the interior ripstop/interlacing create a soft environment to protect the stored items, and they go a long way towards silencing any jingle-jangling. Due to the materials, I would call the bags highly water resistant. Since the seams and zippers aren't taped, I can't call it waterproof. But whatever, check the weather before you ride like a responsible human. Or don't, I'm not the boss of you.
Making an interior pocket on one of the panels is as simple as sewing on a piece of mesh on that panel before doing the final assembly.
Racing stripes are mandatory, because speed.
Adding some additional flair in the form of zipper pulls is encouraged.
Ultimately, these came out really nice, and seeing a bunch of the same bag, each with their own specific features, but all of them being the same size, feel, and weight - is incredibly satisfying. I feel like so far I have only made one-off items, so I never got to see consistency. Just goes to show you how valuable having a pattern is.
I didn't pick the colors of the retro pattern bag to match my old/restored Kona Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, but it was a happy accident.
I came up with several features per bag, listed below here are some of them, as well as some ideas I had for future ones. Use them to get your creative juices flowing, and tell me if you come up with better ones!
Side Panel Exterior/Interior Mesh Pockets
Front Panel Zippered Pocket
Interior Main Panel Mesh Pockets
Interior Hidden Pockets (two layers of Ripstop with an opening to conceal wallets or snacks that you don't want to share)
Daisy Chain Webbing on any exterior panel for quick storage of hooked or carabiner items
Front Panel Shock Cord Lattice for light removable layers
Removable Interior Panels (using velcro sewn into the panels before assembly)
Interior Fleece Lined Pocket for your phone, or someone else's
Small Front webbing pieces to mount lights
Side Panel Webbing for sliding sunglasses or pretty flowers that you found
Below I'll have a basic pattern layout for the barebones bag with most basic features that are needed, then a long (too long, I'm sorry) tutorial video below that.
Frankly I would love to make these and sell them, so if you are interested, drop me a line and we can talk about what features and colors you want!