Journal

Sleeves on my Carhartt J141 jacket are at least partially repaired and much better than before.

Got a Carhartt J41 Sierra jacket yesterday and it's sweet, fits well, super comfy and warm, zippers work. But it has lots of fraying, especially on the sleeve cuffs. Started working on patching those up roughly last night but will probably end up replacing both of them eventually.

Just finished up another zipper bag from some trashed sleeping pads.

Another zipper bag made from old sleeping pads. This one has a magnet sewn into it so I can throw it at the fridge.

New tote bag turned out great! Made from trashed sleeping pads, with a zipper pocket on one side.

Has the new ALLEYPUP logo tab (just the second one) that I like versus most previous branded items had a patch sewn on 4 sides or the name sewn right onto the panel.

Made my first zipper bag from a sleeping pad today and it went well.

Made a hip pack/crossbody sling bag from the X-Pac X10 brown fabric from the Mavenhal bag and it turned out OK. Don't like the shape or look much, the corners are too bulky to invert well.

Made a couple wallets with the X-Pac X10 brown fabric from the Mavenhal bag. They both turned out well.

Just finished a fourth zipper bag from X-Pac X10 brown fabric from the Mavenhal bag, this one with a diagonal zipper, and it turned out well. I sewed two zipper halves on opposite ends of a piece of fabric that's longer on the zipper edge than the zipper, then when they're forced to meet up, it makes the zipper lie on a diagonal. Then sew it closed into a rectangle and it's done.

Made a third zipper bag from X-Pac X10 brown fabric from the Mavenhal bag and it turned out pretty well.

Made another zipper bag from X-Pac X10 brown fabric from the Mavenhal bag. This one holds my phone and has an Alleypup Denver patch. Don't like it as much as the first one I made.

Bought a damaged Mavenhal Shifter bar/cocktail supplies bag at the thrift shop for $10.79 for the fabrics. I saw it on the shelf and my eyes/brain instantly saw the X-Pac pattern through the cotton face of the bag. Picked it up and it was indeed X-Pac X10 in brown throughout the entire bag - a fabric I needed to have for projects as soon as I saw it. Bought the bag two days ago, started ripping it apart the same night, and made this small zipper bag yesterday.

The bag has a stiff, waxed canvas feel almost, and kinda looks that way, but no wax.

Made another taco bag out of some old Kuhl pants. This one has a piece of webbing across one of the faces, which I thought I made long enough with some slack to handle the folding and topstitch, but I did not make it long enough and it constricts the bag slightly. Still works well.

Made another taco bag today, turned out well except one of the zippers doesn't move well. Black cotton fabric with brand-style printed designs all over, tan zipper.

Added a double welt pocket to my Dickies denim jacket to make it look more like a Carhartt Detroit jacket. Turned out pretty good for my first try.

Made another taco bag, this one colored like a taco in some ways. Happy with it.

Made another taco bag, this one from blue denim with an orange webbing tab. Turned out decent - this one I finally figured out a good shape that works pattern wise.

My two most recent backpacks.

Day 4 of making banana bags: bike handlebar bag.

Day 3 of making banana bags until the bunch ripens. Today is the first time trying one of these single panel 3D zipper panel bags.

Day 2 of making banana bags until the bunch ripens.

Just came across these random Alleypup patches I made a little while back, some with free motion embroidery.

Sewing a patch on a Topo Rover backpack to cover up a Techstars logo went well except that the patch is a bit crooked on the panel. Oh well, it will have to do.

No shortcuts.

I should make my own straps for the new tiger stripe camo / purple X-pac backpack so the whole thing is made from scratch.

I'm thinking:

camo Cordura (maybe some black in there too) fabric
Straps that run down the middle the whole way down to the Ladderlock.
Milspec heavy duty grosgrain binding
2 layers of foam on the inside with maybe a third sewn inset a bit so it's not in the binding / seam allowance area
Spacer mesh in two colors - one for each strap

Finished up repairs on my bone white/black Topo Designs Rover backpack with some damage.

Replaced the black cinch top that was ripping off (likely the pack was lifted by the cinch top) with a lightweight ripstop nylon version with a Cordura patch with a hole instead of a grommet.

Also replaced the female buckles on the flap top, and one piece of the black webbing with orange.

Still has two small wear holes in the back panel that I'm not going to bother with yet.

Excited for this color combo.

#denver #nuggets #blue #yellow #ripstop #polyester

Really liking these patch ideas for future Patagonia Nano Puff jackets at some point.

Sweet t-shirts that I need to apply some sort of backing to these so I can put them on bags/jackets.

Took apart my Singer 201-2 and the clutch washer is a bit worn. I don't think this is most of my issue with the machine though - I think it needs a rewire and motor rebuild.

Smallest tote bag I've made so far.

10 lbs of coated and 10 lbs of uncoated fabrics from Rockywoods. Their bargain boxes are such a good deal and so much fun to get grab bags of random end-of-roll / slightly damaged fabrics.

My pop-up at Strawberry Mountain for First Friday Arts Walk!

Solid lineup of altered jackets.

#carhartt #berne #patagonia #levis #wrangler #americanapparel #quiksilver #oldnavy

Get to use this Kingmax 227R machine at work and it is sweet. Sews through so much, and the access you can get with a cylinder arm is so good for certain projects like backpacks.

Fun stitchwork on some Topo Designs black canvas joggers/pants.

Fun stitchwork on the pocket of these Carhartt pants.

Some repairs and added zipper guard on a black Patagonia Nano Puff jacket.

Patched a hole in the sleeve of my Quiksilver jacket with an Alleypup patch.

Technical issue: when the upper tension isn't high enough on the Singer 237, lots of messed up stitches.

Removing the hooks (grabby side of velcro) from these Yeti gloves.

Another fleece beanie done. Not super happy with the fit but it's ok, not the worst.

Colorful patches on a North Face Thermoball jacket to cover up a corporate logo.

Another patch on a Patagonia Nano Puff jacket, this time with light material from a donor down jacket - slowly getting better at these.

Some altered jackets and various other projects.

Found this Carhartt C55 BLK jacket in a trash pile in the alley, took it home and washed it thoroughly. Has a destroyed zipper and various other damage, probably why it was trashed. I'll chop it up and turn it into some other projects.

Added a slightly stretchy cotton rear panel to this Old Navy denim jacket so it moves well enough for me to actually wear.

Various patches and work on these Carhartt B01 pants. Still not super happy with them.

Finally fixed my Vuori stretch joggers/pants that were a gift and that I burned a hole in the first weekend I wore them. Patch is from a Duluth Trading stretchy fabric shirt.

Black thread had to be used because I only have a few color options in Gutermann Tera 80 cones and my machine has been skipping stitches due to thread twisting off of normal cheap polyester spools. So cones have been the go to lately. Need to order more colors and throw out all my cheap thread.

The pup's denim vest is done enough for now. Made from a little kid's Levi's jacket from the thrift store.

Got this Carhartt Full Swing jacket in my size for super cheap because someone chopped off the ribbing at some point in its past life - WHY?! Oh well, I can fix it.