Two shows to finish ADHD April

April is a wild month in Chico.  A budding, blooming, creative explosion of lengthening light and lusty life.  We were lucky/taxed to have two deadlines fall at the end of it - RayRay's 'Bike=art' show and Chikoko's 'Bizarre Bazaar'.  We overextended and are glad that they are over!  But we got to make a lot of new art - a spectrum from Bumblebee habitat boxes, psychedelic micro messenger bags, and rice harvester steel sunflowers to 'Opium Den' leather collage purses and fire hose totes.   Here are some photos from the two shows.
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Hillbilly yard art, firehose snakeskin samba belts, tough-mama firehose totes, and rake+ski pole garden diggers - our uncategorizable booth at Chikoko's Bizarre Bazaar.

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Pulled together some new and old bags with a bike theme and decided to use my old chopper 'Pinkie' as a rack at the last minute.  Welded a stand, loaded up the goods into the hemp panniers and rode it to the show.   The bags on the handlebars are a new design that I am calling the MicroMessenger - they are big enough for a mini Kryptonite lock, cell phone and wallet; they have a loop to go on your belt, or we can add a traditional messenger strap and stabilizer. 

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Our hemp panniers and large and mini messenger bags - I added a new stabilizer strap to the messenger bags.  
Stopped at the newspaper recycling shed at 6th and Flume to get some paper to stuff the bags with and found a paper bag full of old maps!  Score!  RayRay decided to put us in the window - I like what they did with the maps - they are prolific and amazing.

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My folks were in town and pops took these photos - you can see him in the reflection, below. 

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Thanks RayRay and Chikoko.  The RayRay show is still up in downtown Chico - make sure to go out back and look at Katrina's handmade longbike - she did a beautiful job on it.

Filed under  //   bike bags   bike purses   fabric printing   fire hose bags   messenger bags   panniers   rants   shows  
Posted May 3, 2011
 

Hemp Bike Panniers

Getting some of the new bike panniers made.  
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We've been playing with stencil graphics,

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making the hooks, 

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we finished the first real pair.

 

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Marty Beau came by and took some great photos, sewed a little, and learned how to set rivets.  Our friend Lauren comes over to sew with us, she is learning the zigzag machine. 

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Adding hardware 

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An almost-finished bag 

Filed under  //   panniers   the shop  
Posted October 29, 2010
 

The New Hemp Pannier

People have asking us for bicycle panniers for as long as we have been making bags.  I have avoided them for just as long.  After relying on 4 incredible Overland panniers for nine months in 1997, I have felt like making panniers was a lot like making a backpack that someone might use to hike the PCT - a lot goes into a good pack, and people put an enormous amount of trust into this kind of gear.

So I have been prototyping.  Michelle Wurlitzer asked for a pair of bags for her grand bike adventure, and we made her a pair.  They were really hard to make, and I wasn't thrilled with how they turned out, nor excited about her taking them on a huge tour.  She has a credit for a new and improved pair when she comes back to town - she is our first team rider.

Having an event to prepare for - Wheeled Migration's Bicycle Harvest  - is motivating me to get going to produce enough bike-related bags to do a show.  Ryan Laine called last night to see if we needed help sewing.  I told him "I don't know what I am making, or how to make it yet, so probably not".  

After 4 prototypes, I have something that we can produce and improve upon.  

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Here is the main panel of our new hemp pannier - it is basically a scaled up version of the toolbelts that we have been making. 

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A friend at the county fire department was glad to hear that we could recycle their old hose.  They had been dumpstering it, and were glad to see it re-used.  This is a piece of 'LDH' - large diameter hose.  It connects a fire truck to a hydrant, or stiffens a pannier so the bag won't sway and hit your spokes. 

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Finding off-the-shelf hooks to attach the bag to the rack has been hard, and it isn't really our style to buy hardware off the shelf.  I got some scrap metal plate cut, and am bending them by hand.  I was using brass, which looked beautiful, but it doesn't seem worthy. 

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The mechanism.

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We love rivets, all kinds of them. 

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Collage.  Zipper scraps from one of Erika's projects, Carhartt pantlegs, army shirt camo, and a little fire hose. I have a lot of these pieces from fiddling around over the last few months, so this project should use some of them up.

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These bags are meant to get a little shaggy.

 

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Zipper to nowhere.  The brass grommets are leftovers from the hemp's previous life as a mondo German Army Duffel Bag.

 

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The lid is a challenge- it feels like the culmination of everything we have learned in the last few years.  Want something big enough to cover a bulging load, but not sloppy when the bag is closed.  It still needs some work.  Have been studying the construction on my old Overland bags - they really are works of art.  I feel humbled by all of the amazing Butte County bagmakers that have come before.  

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The hemp is fairly water resistant.   

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Took many hours.  Planning to make as many as I can by next weekend - they are a lot of work!

Filed under  //   bike bags   panniers   the shop  
Posted October 22, 2010
 

Autumn Bike Love

Wondering where you are going to put your chapstick, iphone, flask, cookies, and cigarettes while you are pedaling to Wheeled Migration's Bicycle Harvest Festival in your skintight leopard-skin bodysuit?  We are looking out for you!  We'll be selling some of our new bike bags at Grub at the start of the ride, and also at the event in the orchards.  Here is a sneak preview.
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Erika's handlebar bag - made from used irrigation hose that we got from Freewheelin' Farm, in Santa Cruz.

 

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Styley zipper!  This is really nice material to work with - not too bulky, and it doesn't fray much when we cut it.

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Barrel bag 

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Fire hose ends 

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Handmade brass hooks for panniers 

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Brass is from a door kickplate from the ReStore 

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Back of pannier detail - center strip is LDH - large-diameter hose, black hose for armor.  Both recycled for Butte County Fire Department. 

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Pop-rivets are backed by brass tabs inside of the bag.  

 

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Prototype simple pannier made from birdseed bag.  This material is fun, but doesn't hold up well enough to sunlight for us to want to sell many made from it - the sun will rot it eventually.  These bags will be made out of salvaged truck-tarp material or hemp canvas duffel bags.

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Birds Delight

 

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Just a basic bag.  Big enough for a 12 pack of Pale Ale, or a hoodie, a raincoat, a blanket, a bottle of wine, and a bucket of fried chicken.

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Onward - see you at the Bicycle Harvest (bring CASH)!

Filed under  //   bike bags   panniers   the shop  
Posted October 19, 2010