05/10/13

Friday DIY inspiration: Painted bicycles

by Jessie Kwak

You know those art cars you see around sometimes? Mostly in parades and whatnot, but sometimes just driving down the street?

Well, I’ve always wanted to be the one behind the wheel.

The crazier the better, really. Look at those spikes! Amazing.

In high school, my dad and I talked about restoring his old International pickup together, and I had big plans to paint a mural all over it. We never got around to it, but the dream of painting a vehicle has never died.

My canvas has gotten a bit smaller, however.

I’ve had this Torker Interurban in my possession for several months, now, but given the rainy weather and lack of garage, all I could really do was dream. And surf the interwebs looking for inspiration.

Should I paint a delicate Delft pattern, as a nod to my Dutch heritage?

Something stark and nautical? (I do love the idea of a simple black-and-white color scheme.)

In the end I was inspired by this bracelet my mom gave me:

I love it, but I seem to be allergic to the metal because I keep getting a rash on my wrist a few days after I wear it. So why not make it into a head badge?

I’ve been doing a ton of research on bike painting, and I plan to dive into the project this month. And, of course, I’ll share everything I learn with you here.

Have any of you ever painted a bike? I’d love to hear any tips you might have!

Oh, by the way, I’ve been collecting all my painted favorite bike inspirations on a Pinterest board. Check it out—there’s a ton of beautiful bikes out there.

05/4/13

Guest post: Top Tips and Tricks for Creating Your Own Cycling Jersey

by Jessie Kwak

It’s a gorgeous weekend in the Northwest! I’m traveling (which is why this post is late, sorry), and I’m pleased to report that the good weather Seattle was supposed to have is reflected throughout the Northwest. I was going to be so bummed if I missed 80-degree sunny days in Seattle only to get rained on in Newport.

Today’s post comes to us courtesy of Julianne Staino. Julianne is a NYC based runner/triathlete who can be found running and biking around town. You can follow her training over at rungerpains or, if you like puppy photos, you can get your daily fill by following her on Twitter (@JulianneStaino).

Thanks, Julianne!

On the pavement or blazing a trail, the thing that stands out most about a cyclist is the gear. A professional looking jersey will set you apart from the rookies. Whether you’re a seasoned roadie or mounting your steed for the first time, creating your own cycling jersey is fun and easy! So, lose the baggy t-shirts and hairy legs and use the tips below to create a professional-looking jersey and avoid looking like a Fred or Doris.

Source: www.shutterstock.com

Step 1: Choose a pattern and fabric

For you crafty chasers, sewing your own cycling jerseys is the way to go. Jerseys are tight-fitting so keep that in mind when you choose your pattern. You can find patterns online and in some stores. Cotton allows the skin to breathe and cool itself naturally but holds the sweat, while synthetic material like polyester wicks sweat off the rider and dries quickly. Preshrink your chosen fabric in the wash. Chalk your pattern line and use a rotary cutter to cut through fabric. With polyester thread and a ball point needle, use an overlock stitch and a quarter-inch seam allowance.

Tip 2: Screen printing

Screen printing is one of the most durable ways to customize your jersey and though it’s a little more complicated to do it yourself, you’ll likely save a lot of time. Whether you’re just planning on riding your beater bike but want to look legit, or part of a cycling club or team, this method is ideal. Start by tracing your desired image onto a piece of nylon stretched across an embroidery hoop. Fill in the areas you do not want transferred to your jersey with Mod Podge and let it dry. Clip the hoop to your jersey and evenly cover the design with fabric ink. Carefully lift the pattern away, allow the paint to dry and then heat seal it according to the directions on your paint.

Source: http://craftgrrl.livejournal.com

Tip 3: Iron-on Transfer

Weekend Warriors who want to look the part without shelling out the cash should start here. Print your image onto a transfer paper and trim excess paper and any part of the design you don’t want to transfer. Smooth any wrinkles on your jersey, place the transfer paper on top. With the steam setting off, run a preheated iron across the surface, allowing it to rest in one spot for 15 seconds at a time. Gently rub the whole design with a clean cloth for another few seconds and then remove the transfer paper.

Source: www.needlenthread.com

Tip 4: Design a custom logo online

For a custom logo professionally printed, the best way is to choose a template from the jersey company website you’ve decided to work with and import it into a design program like Adobe Illustrator. You can lay out your design the way you like it. If graphic design isn’t your thing, you could always get a custom shirt online for your ride! Teams that are looking for a polished and consistent look for large numbers of jerseys will often ride this route.

Whatever your cadence, you’re going to be riding in style!

Source: www.shutterstock.com

04/27/13

Tutorial: oilcloth & inner tube shopping pannier

by Jessie Kwak

I’ve been excited about making another bike pannier for some time.

Something functional and fun, with plenty of space for commuting, or a grocery run.

To be totally fair, I don’t think this is going to be a hardcore grocery run sort of bag—I think it’s sturdy enough, but I’m not sure I’d stuff it full of heavy produce or canned goods. Rather, it’ll be a good bag for all those light-but-voluminous items like lettuce, bread, and bags of marshmallows. (You know, for camping only. Not for eating straight out of the bag—I would never do that.)

Think of this as the final project in my inner tube tutorial series. It’s a culmination of a lot of techniques we talked about, like cleaning, cutting, gluing, and machine sewing. I can’t promise I’ll never post about inner tube crafting again, but I can tell you that I’ve got it out of my system for a little bit.

A week, at least.

If you’re still not sick of inner tubes, stick around. Let’s make an oilcloth & inner tube shopping pannier.

You need:

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04/24/13

3 tips for sewing with inner tubes

by Jessie Kwak

This is the sixth part in a series on crafting with inner tubes. You can find the introduction, learn about how to choose and clean inner tubes, how to cut inner tubes, how to glue inner tubes with contact cement, and 3 ways to hand-sew inner tubes by following the links.

And in case you missed it, check out the interview I did with Nancy McDonald of Re-Velo Bags. She’s got a lot more tips to add about working with inner tubes.

If it’s not obvious by now, I really enjoy crafting with inner tubes. I love that they’re a recycled craft material, and I love their industrial-chic look.

One of my absolute favorite things to do is to sew with them. Mostly I make pretty straightforward things like belts and wrist cuffs, but after all this series I’m inspired to branch out into making bags, too.

Ideally I’d have an industrial sewing machine that could handle the inner tube abuse, but since I have nowhere to put it, it’s out of the question.

I’ve sewn inner tubes on my old Singer, as well as on my new Pfaff Ambition. I was a bit nervous about using the Pfaff, actually. Even though I knew it was a much stronger machine than the Singer, I was deathly afraid of destroying such an expensive purchase.

The very first project I sewed on it, though, was an inner tube belt for an Etsy order.

It performed amazingly better than the Singer. It has a built-in dual feed (Pfaff calls it the IDT—Integrated Dual Transportation) which helps move the rubber through the machine. Add in a teflon presser foot and titanium needle, and sewing inner tubes is relatively easy.

Not entirely easy, however. Sewing inner tubes is still difficult, but I’ve learned some tricks along the way. Back in October I wrote a post that gave some tips for sewing inner tubes on a home sewing machine. I’ve sewn a lot more since, and it’s time for an update.

Especially since on ~~Friday~~ Saturday I’ll be posting a tutorial I’m really excited to share: sewing a shopping pannier using inner tubes and oilcloth. It’ll be super helpful to keep these tips in mind if you decide to make it.

Use the right tools

Sewing inner tubes is so much easier with a few simple tools: particularly a teflon presser foot and titanium needles. You could use denim or leather needles, too, but I prefer titanium because they won’t dull as quickly. I found titanium needles at my local fabric store, and the teflon presser foot at Quality Sewing & Vacuum, where I bought my machine.

Clean off your needle from time to time with rubbing alcohol, since it can get a bit sticky from the rubber.

Keep an eye on your tension

Stitch a couple practice lines to check your machine’s tension. Be sure to check the bobbin thread—it may look totally fine on top, but be snarled below.

I find that I need to keep my tension higher than normal (in the 7-9 range).

Check the tension every time you change thicknesses—like if you double over the end of a belt to sew on a buckle.

Drop the feed dogs

If you find yourself stitching inner tubes to something other than themselves, you may encounter problems with both fabrics feeding at different rates. I had this problem with sewing inner tubes to oilcloth—the thinner oilcloth fed at a faster speed, which made it pucker horribly.

I tried a half-dozen different things before I finally thought to lower my feed dogs. (My Singer didn’t have the option, so I forget sometimes that it’s possible to do.) I left the upper IDT feed on. I had to manually pull the work so that it fed through, but the result was that everything lay perfectly smooth.

How about you? What are your favorite tips for sewing with inner tubes?

04/17/13

3 ways to hand-sew inner tubes

by Jessie Kwak

This is the fifth part in a series on crafting with inner tubes. You can find the introduction, learn about how to choose and clean inner tubes, how to cut inner tubes, and how to glue inner tubes with contact cement by following the links.

Today I’m going to show you a couple different techniques for hand-sewing inner tubes, using inner tube laces.

I’m taking a lot of inspiration from leather stitching, where you punch holes for the laces, then stitch your pieces together using sinew. Using inner tubes makes it a 100% vegan craft.

Use binder clips to hold your pieces securely, then punch through both layers at once so all your holes line up.

Cut the laces about 1/8″-3/16″ wide. I used a yarn needle to sew with.

Tandy Leather Factory’s Leathercraft ABC’s has a great collection of tips on sewing leather, as well as other stitches you might want to try.

Baseball stitch

To stitch two edges together so that they meet, insert your needle from bottom to top through the first hole. Do the same on the other side through the second hole, then back to the first side through the third hole, etc. Keep crossing over, lacing every other hole bottom to top. (Like lacing up shoes.)

Once you’ve gotten to the end, repeat the process to lace up the skipped holes.

Whip Stitch

The whip stitch is a great way to join two edges with wrong sides together. Either do a single whip stitch:

Or double it up by whipping through all the holes from the opposite direction.

Triple Loop Stitch

This was a really fun one to try, and I love the decorative way it looks. Head on over to Kingsmere Crafts for a really detailed tutorial on how to do it.

Enjoy!

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Step 1: Choose a pattern and fabric

Tip 2: Screen printing

Tip 3: Iron-on Transfer

Tip 4: Design a custom logo online

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You need:

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Use the right tools

Keep an eye on your tension

Drop the feed dogs

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Baseball stitch

Whip Stitch

Triple Loop Stitch

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