cold cans, warm hands.

Here's the latest crop of covetables from Rad. Get 'em local from the CRC (see link: coffee & bikes), or order one custom straight up from me. Bottoms up!

Caution Custom Bike Messenger

Earlier this year, my awesome husband T.C. joined a cycling team just to make official his obsession with anything on wheels. His first race was a cyclocross race put on by his team Grumpy's/Little Guy Racing. We stuck around to help out with clean up, and I scored a grubby wad of leftover caution tape.

I had to clean it up a little, and de-duct tape it, but after all the work, it made a pretty rad sheet of plastic fabric. It turned out super gnarly, so it was quite a task to stitch. There were some words exchanged with my sewing machine, but I won in the end. As always.

This one has one of my favorite features--little plastic clips on bungee cords to keep the bag in place so you can actually wear it while you ride. That was my husband, the cyclist's idea, naturally. The reflective buckles hold the flap closed and let your presence be known on the road. All that caution tape helps too, of course.

This one was still under the needle when T.C. claimed it as his own, but if you're interested in your own messenger, they start at $75 and can be custom-designed to your preferrences. Leave your contact info in the comment section or reach me at my etsy site.

Wool Gym Messenger

It's pretty much winter now. And I'm well into my crabby phase of the year. One thing I can appreciate about winter though, is wool. You can't really enjoy something that cozy in the middle of July when you're happily wearing next to nothing and a sunburn. I find lots of great vintage wool when I'm hunting through thrift stores; sometimes it's an old blanket or an awesome poncho of another decade.

I made this Wool Gym Messenger for my friend Katie. She's one of my favorite people to sew for because she usually knows exactly what she needs. For this bag she needed a gym bag she could carry to work without looking like a hockey player. And since it was a gym bag it needed to be durable, and be ok with a little moisture inside.

The red wool I used is really thick, and previously existed as a blanket. It has great herringbone texture woven into it. For the interior I used my homemade recycled plastic fabric because it's really sturdy, can get wet, and can be cleaned with a wet cloth or a mild spray if needed. The brown strap is heavyweight polypropelene, adjustable, and wraps under the bottom of the bag for extra support. And everyone knows red and brown is a winning combination.

The little owl pouch was an extra Katie asked for. I love making tiny things with faces, so I was happy to do it. It makes me laugh and feel like a complete nerd at the same time.

Recycling Shopping Bags

So, here's the latest batch of my recycled wares. I make the material myself out of old plastic shopping bags and whatnots. Then sew it into whatever my heart (or yours) desires. Like this assortment.

The aqua zippered case I'm kind of excited about because it's a new take on what I've already done, and also, the images across the front came from a piece of plastic cut from something somewhere that I've been saving for a long time for just the right bag. And I just really like those colors.

Another thing I tried that I've been meaning to is using a cut-out. I did that with the umbrella satchel. That was my first attempt, and I feel like I'll probably end up doing more with that. I like using some fabric/textile items as well as the plastic because I spend a lot of time in thrift stores finding things that need to be recycled. I made the plastic part of the umbrella satchel out of bubble wrap. All the bubbles melted down, but you can see the circles they left if you look close.