Beautiful moped…check
Beautiful convertible bag…check
Beautiful tool roll…che…oh crap!
The tool bag I had didn’t fit in the pocket I spec’d. Probably because it’s more of a tool wallet than a roll. It’s supposed to be worn by the rider not strapped to the bike…poo.
No wait, Yay! A new challenge. I wanted Tia (from VayaBags) to make this too but I wasn’t sure when I’d have the time to get myself and my tools out to her to design something. I tried making a template from a grocery bag but that was a failure. I decided to use some safety pins and an old fabric bag to mock things up. I had a lot of marine vinyl left from recovering the TSM-DR’s seat so I figured I’d try sewing one myself.
Leah has an old school Kenmore sewing machine from the 50s or 60s and it can pretty much sew through anything. I set to work taking measurements from my mocked up tool roll, sewing and checking for fitment. Let’s just say I was glad I had some junk vinyl to practice on…I’m not good at building with fabric. I also think that old sewing machine needs a tune-up. If you know of anyone that does that kind of work in the nyc area let me know.
Slowly but surely it started to look like what I wanted.
I needed to find some webbing that would wrap things up and secure it to the moped. I looked online but everything was expensive unless I bought a lot. A quick trip to Michaels and PetSmart solved my problem. A dog leash and some paracord bracelet clasps solved the problem.
Then some fabric was removed from the cover flap and I reinforced the other stitching and made a handle.
Not too shabby. I’m going to wear this out and then I can just hand off the roll to Tia to get something indestructible made.
Next up…keeping things well oiled and faired?