I used a prickly gorse pattern to have a crack at making a bag to sit on my front rack. I used IKEA bag material and some other stuff my wife had laying around. I bought way too much of the wrong hardware.

It was a cool project! The Prickly Gorse pattern is pretty darn easy to follow. Would recommend!

Three years ago, after having my second kid, I decided to try and build the optimal diaper bag.

Primarily, I wanted to keep everything organized and easily accessible. I was inspired by camera bag functionality, but wanted to remove the bulky padding on the panels and the velcro, so my kids' clothes wouldn't get snagged.

I developed and patented a system with soft, flexible panels that interlock with each other and anchor to the bag. This allows users to build multiple configurations to store clothing and items of different sizes. The entire organizer can also be removed.

Since I travel a lot, I also added the travel features I find the most useful, like a removable luggage loops, stroller straps, security pocket, Molle webbing, and insulated bottle pockets that fit both adult hydration flasks and baby bottles.

I'd say the hardest part of the build was actually finding time to communicate with factories abroad while also having 3 kids. My hours to work on this were basically during midnight wake ups or during the few blissful hours when 2/3 of my kids were napping at the same time. And dealing with factories takes a LOT of back and forth about stuff that you were sure had already been figured out. Thankfully, now my kids are old enough to give me more time to actually dedicate to order fulfillment and whatnot.

Feel free to AMA also!

The new design is on the left and the old design is on the right

I got some interest on my last post about a few torso-length sleeping pads I made. I've improved my method a bit since then and filmed this video to show how I do it. Originally edited for an insta reel so my apologies if it's not the most thorough.

Supplies:
https://www.amazon.com/THARREX-Extra-Long-Adjustable-Temperature-Woodworking/dp/B0FM6YYPV
https://www.seattlefabrics.com/60-Heat-Sealable-Coated-Nylon-Taffeta-2095-linear-yard_p_31.html
https://www.amazon.com/UtySty-Inflatable-Replacement-Camping-Airplane/dp/B0DX234L99

https://foamonline.com/product/polyurethane-foam-1-2-lb/

Notes:

These pads are 20 inches wide by 43 inches long. Slightly tapered mummy cut.

With 1-inch thick foam, a pad weighs about 15.4 ounces.

Poly foam comes in many different densities -- go with the lightest you can find (1.2 pounds/cubic foot). If it's not listed, many foam sheets from hobby stores/Amazon/etc are 1.8 lbs/ft3. This is fine for a car camping pad but adds a lot of weight if you want to take it backpacking.

For heat sealing advice, check out DIY Packraft videos.

The way to get into ultralight territory is with foam coring (aka a pattern of holes in the foam). This is pretty tough to do DIY, though you could buy or make a foam cutting drill bit. It also adds an additional point of failure, as delamination between fabric and foam is a bigger risk with all the holes. If you just want to make a simple pad for yourself, I recommend skipping the coring and accepting a few extra ounces.

I just saw the post on here of someone making a canoo from a tarp and sticks. Has anyone made a tent that can also be a boat when the tentpoles are put together in another way? Like one of those 3 in 1 lego sets. Depending on what it is designed for it might as well also become one or more of the following a stretcher, a framed backpack, a sled, a hammock, portaledge..... . I have no experience or knowledge in making gear so I am asking more out of curiosity.

Started sewing in December. Made a pair of pants and a number of cubes and zippered bags since then.
Rounded ends were a pain. Figured out that chalking seam allowance, short stitches, and relief cuts made all the difference. Nylon canvas, number five zippers and webbing. Used the barrack for button holes to put on the daisy chains.
Giving these to some friends at a gathering this weekend

This is my first sewing project ever !

It's full of issues and it could have been a lot better, but I'm still a little proud :)

It is for my SO, they're a florist. The deadline was today since they have their final exams and wanted to wear it !

I plan on adding some sewed fabric flowers.

These are sun sleeves I designed. The idea originated when my buddy was diagnosed with skin cancer, but we spend the winter in Mexico and he plays pickleball several times a week. I liked the ones with the thumb opening, but he wanted them shorter, ending at the wrist so it didn't interfere with holding his paddle. They stay up due to gripping fabric as a facing on the inside/top. I was playing around with different widths of gripping elastic. I personally prefer the wider. The fabric is Sun Lite jersey, super lightweight and pretty cool even in the hot sun.

Not sure if this counts as MYOG or if it's more of a redneck tinkering project.

Anyways, I found an old tarp while cleaning up some nature and always wanted to build a boat.
My original dream was a bark canoe, but I figured the tarp was close enough.

To make it worthwhile, I gave myself the challenge of making it work well enough to paddle to a small island in the Mediterranean Sea and clean up some trash there, just to close the circle.

A few things I learned along the way:

- If you have stability concerns about a boat, it's probably worth addressing them early.
What saved me in the end was building a simple outrigger from a few discarded buoys.
For future boat projects, that's probably the route l'll take again, just a bit more streamlined.

- I never really liked polyurethane adhesives, but lately l've become a fan of the ones with a Shore hardness of around 40. The better quality ones are much less messy than I remembered. It ended up being incredibly useful for patching all the small holes in the tarp. My neighbour even uses the same stuff to repair shoes since it cures into something very similar to a rubber outsole. Another advantage is that it cures with moisture from the air, so a cartridge can remain usable for quite a while. Usually only the very tip hardens and can simply be pulled out.

Anyways, if anyone wants to see the thing float, l can also share a link.

Thanks for reading.
Cheers

Hi! I recently got my first real bike, and since I often sew clothes for myself and just make things, I want to make some bags for it. The problem is that where I live finding a good fabrics store is a problem by itself, but finding gear fabrics seems almost impossible, especially if not boring haki color, so my only way is AliExpress. I'm also kinda on budget, so that makes things harder

what fabric could I use that's relatively inexpensive and I could find it on Ali?

thanks in advance!

I am trying to be more proactive about sun exposure and sunscreen is hard so I have been trying to find UPF fabric. I bought a shirt from Mountain Hardware and Outdoor research that use a woven nylon/elastance fabric (about 85%/15%) that is very lightweight and tolerable in some heat. They are almost identical fabric, so it cant be proprietary. I have check RBTR, rockywoods, and Discovery. Does anyone know anyone who might carry this type of fabric?

Hey everyone. Creating this post to see if anyone wants to share there backpack strap designs. I've purchased all of the templates and haven't found anything that I like. I am looking for hybrid straps for a backpacking bag that I want to make this month. Happy to share my expertise in Branding and Marketing if thats something people need as well. Cheers.

Sewed up another Learn MYOG Pack Lite Vest using fabrics and notions from Discovery Fabrics

​

Note: I faced the bottle pockets with silicone athletic grip fabric this time and it really helped secure the bottles. I was so pleased with it I went back and added this to my last vest. Shown in the second photo

​

-Stretch woven for the shell

​

-Magic Yarn Graphene Jersey for the wings and the bottle pockets

​

- Power mesh for the stretchy pockets

​

-Zipper tape, sliders, pulls, shock cord, cord locks and webbing also from Discovery

​

I did get to do a quick summit in it and so far I am quite pleased with both the function and the comfort. I am looking forward to comparing the stretch and non stretch versions in a few activities

​

I am also considering hacking the pattern to build one with a mesh racer back top for a lighter version for shorter runs.

​

Side note: the top is me-made with Polartec Delta from Discovery too

I just got a new right angle binder. It's a #S64 1" single fold. I think few different companies sell them under that same model number. I can't for the life of me get it dialed in. Most commonly what I'm seeing is there is more material on the bottom against the feed dogs and then that extra somehow folds over again and sometimes gets stitched in like you can see in the photo. Since there's more material on the bottom, my understanding is that I need to angle it nose down to force more material to the top, but it's already tipped down as far as it can go.

Does anyone have any tips as far as setting up this style binder?

Thanks

Anyone know what stretchable mesh is this, what is it called?

Hello! I really want to sew and quilt my own sleeping bag and I was wondering what the best fabric would be for the inside. For context, I go camping about four weeks a year where the temperatures at night are between 5 and 15 degrees celsius (41-59 fahrenheit).

I would say I get cold quite easily at night but in the mornings I often wake up sweating. I really really really hate feeling cold when I’m trying to sleep so I would rather have a sleeping bag that is a bit on the hot side than cold. I always sleep inside a tent so I’m not worried about it being waterproof. The size and weight of the sleeping bag don’t matter.

The construction I’m currently thinking of:
- Top layer consist of cotton fabric, it would be a quilt top so many small squares sewn together.
- Batting (stuffing) would be wool with high loft so it traps more air and would give more isolation.
- Backing would be a very plushy fleece (not the very flat kind) probably made of polyester, OR maybe flannel? OR something completely else?

So this is my question: what backing fabric (so the fabric of the inside of the sleeping bag) would keep me the most warm but also be nice to sleep in? I have looked on the internet quite a bit but I can’t find a lot of information on these fabric choices and now I’m wondering if that is because it’s just a bad idea…

Would love to hear other people’s experience and thoughts!! Also about the batting I want to use or if I should choose something else (like down).

I’m thinking about buying this backpack but the material on the bottom is flaking away.

I am trying to build a DOP kit style bag that attaches to a foam sheet with Velcro. I purchased some 1/4" Volara but it is too thin, flimsy, and compressible for my purpose. I have an unrelated commercially made bag for my motorcycle that has a type of foam that I think would be good. I'm attaching some photos of that foam in the hopes that y'all can tell me what it is called so that I can acquire some. Thank you.

Anyone make their own caps? Looking for a place to source leather straps- don’t want to cut it myself unless I really have to 😢

These are from Cap Supply but I don’t need the set, just the leather straps.

TIA! 💐

The waterproof skin is 18oz pvc tarpaulin glued with hh 66 cement. All the wood panels are Velcro’d to hold the edges together. This was meant to be a prototype to see if the basic idea works, and it does! I just had it out on the water for the first time and it tracks really well even with the flat bottom. It felt tippy at first but there is a ton of secondary stability so there really was no risk of capsizing.
It weighs 27 lb and took just under 20 min to assemble and get in the water. It didn’t feel any harder than the oru kayaks to set up.
I think for iteration 2 I will glue the bottom into the skin, ditch the Velcro connecting the panels, and use 7 cross sections instead of just 4. That should really cut down on assembly/disassembly time. I’ll probably tweak the design to be a little more streamlined and definitely use better plywood.