Workshop...in progress...

I know you can't just throw money after fabrics, but have you checked extremtextil.de's remnants section?
I was just looking out of curiosity and they have some interesting stuff and prices are not too bad.

Interesting, thanks for the link. After €~£ and shipping probably no bargains to be had, and some are real remnants. 0.35m??

Should try find that kinda place in the UK and haggle for theirs.

You're right. Probably cheaper/easier to look up a more local supplier.
I was thinking since you don't do massive product runs it would be interesting to try and test out some high performance fabrics before ordering them for real.

I had this one going spare, as something went wonky during cutting/sewing and no good to sell, so decided to ‘upgrade’ from the blue paddling pool. Seems pretty alright, this is with a 700/28 tube, levers, and mini tool. Might see if there are CO2 cans going at Aldi/Lidl or if I missed the bargains, just to really fill it up - normally I carry a pump in my bag so it’s not a normal concern.

Epic rain while out, saddle roll was saved a little with the big X3 over the bag wheel though.

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Awesome with how well you work if progressing, you can actively see with each bag that you're getting better!

p.s, still got my kite here for you!

I must sort that!! Sorry. I have been really preoccupied. Been trying to tidy and clear out, lots of trips to offload old things into the charity shop... should have a bit of space shortly!

I’ll try organise the courier label asap mate. Sorry for the delay!

This morning’s prototype, hip bag. Bouncy castle is pretty tough, and as it’s plastic the lock doesn’t move easily. Used two layers of seatbelt horizontally. May sew one directly to the bag in future.

Needs a little bit of slack, as-is pulls everything tight, though that may be beneficial.

If/when I make these for you guys, I’ll change the design a little. This was guesswork and doodles, and grumpy morning stitching is always a little wobbly. MkII/MkIII should be much tighter.

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No worries dude :) Like I say it's been sat in the garage doing nothing for a long time not taking up much space so whenever you've got time. It's got your name on it!

Thanks @JamesNQ ;)

Used the hip bag to town and back, filled with a jersey pouch, slim wallet (full of £2.50 in 10p pieces), swiss army knife, tailor’s measure, and phone. Oodles of room to spare. Went via Aldi and picked up a CO2 can/inflator for £2, that used a lot of space if oriented badly.

Lock slipped in and out relatively easily and didn’t shift once installed. Bag seated well and wasn’t at all frustrating seated, but these jeans don’t put my belt very high up the waist so I felt it a little when hammering uphill. In no way was it off-putting, just conscious because I was looking out for it.

Retrieved and replaced most items easily, very pleased.

Looking at the photos, may make the MkII less wide, so the seams are much closer to the belt loops. Likely the horizontal lock strap is wholly unnecessary but it will remain as a belts+braces approach to the lock.

Next version will be fewer panels, now that I have a rough draft in front of me.

MkII this morning. Still wobbly stitching, something is wrong with the machine - lower thread keeps breaking because it won’t move through smoothly. Will need to disassemble and clean it out before my next real piece of sewing next week.

I’ll have this on me in London if anyone is about and wants to see it this weekend.

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Shit pic, but you get the idea... just made a utility belt this evening, which works very well with the hip bags. The two of them sit comfortably behind me. Nice wide seatbelt so no issues around the waist with it cutting in or shifting.

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Had this in my head last night when I couldn’t sleep. Made it on a whim this morning. Of course with a nice angled flap and better stitching etc, it could work. Pure seatbelt goodness. May be a pouch where velcro is king, snap fasteners aren’t great through this density.

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Mmm. Yep. Definitely gonna be better with angles.

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Been walking around with the black mkII and the seatbelt pouch, both on the same seatbelt utility belt: super useful and well-sized. Hope to finalise the designs for both and they are another design up for grabs.

Passed by the London Graphic Centre today, checked IRL the quality of Freitag and the price, if/when I go ‘proper’ business I think I should be within my right to inflate prices!

Grumble. Suppose all my year-old triangle bags will be considered trickle-down copies, now.

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Reckon they are more overpriced than Freitags..

Only just, though.

You think so?
Looking at the prices on their website (Freitag's) I'd say they were fairly reasonably priced.

Did you know that Carradice makes their own line of truck tarp bags? https://upsobags.co.uk/

Nah, they are reasonable for such a big operation. I’d really like to steer clear of making anything so clearly copycat like those Upso, it’s tough to avoid, but certainly it’s already boring when someone says “omg, have you heard of Freitag?”

Sure there's some similarity in materials, but I never thought of your stuff as freitag copies, which Upso quite clearly is.
I think your approach to design is novel and I like to see them progress.

Thanks ;)

I believe that as soon as you use inner tube as binding, or the interesting multi-coloured parts of a truck tarp, it’s dangerous territory. There are lots of etsy-copycats already, and nothing is new under the sun.

Been sketching out some stuff to try next week, in-between the orders that have come through.

Got a few pure seatbelt pouches and stuff to come.

A certain forumer asked for a pen holder, so this ended up inside a musette.

Also, a picture of lined vs unlined on the tool rolls. The bouncy castle (green) is more dense compared to the cordura (red). Very different sensation, but same internal dimensions.

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Hey! Forgot to say, bag received all well and fine. Perfect, I'm well chuffed with it and have been using it each chance I can.

Had this in my head last night when I couldn’t sleep. Made it on a whim this morning. Of course with a nice angled flap and better stitching etc, it could work. Pure seatbelt goodness.

This looks very nice (and very tough) !

Have to say I like the look of the non-angled version a lot better!