Hang it all!

Since I will need to use the panniers soon, I must finish making them.

All that is left to do is make and attach the hanging apparatus.  

My brother bent flat steel into 8 hooks for me and drilled the screw holes...I painted them glossy black.

My dad cut flat aluminum for anchoring the hooks...

The aluminum gets sandwiched between the leather and the canvas.

I poked and punched holes in the leather for the screws to go through, carved channels for the stitching, poked all the thread holes, and wore out my fingers stitching the leather to the canvas.

Since the paint on the hooks needs to dry fully, I attached these two for demonstration's sake alone...

I am very pleased with how it looks!

Oh, I  do need to waterproof the leather before the hooks are permanently secured...

Finishing the Handlebar Bag...

Earlier this week I made two loops for the front toggles and covered their unsightly parts with small rectangles of leather.  Yesterday I drilled holes in and put finish on the toggles.  Finally, this morning I attached them with some leather cording knotted at each end.  

 The toggles on the sides of the flap will only be closed if it is stormy.  They just hold the edges down to keep rain from blowing in.

Straps and Buckles...

Today I installed the straps and buckles on one front pannier.
Before sewing them on, I prepared all four sets by gouging out the grooves for the thread and punching the holes...

 The sewing itself went pretty fast...

 Not perfectly straight...but that is ok....it will work just fine!

The Final Waterproof...

 Today I waterproofed the last pannier...

I'm going to be finished soon!

More waterproofing...

A few days ago I waterproofed the first front pannier...today I treated the handlebar bag.  I didn't take pics of the pannier job, you'll just have to believe me...
Here are the details of the handlebar bag work and waterproofing.

Before treating...
I sewed leather onto both sides of the bag as channels for the metal rods that will secure it. I soaked the leather with water so I could shape it.  When dry, it was stiff and held the shape I formed it into. I braided two loops out of leather cording to enable a carrying strap to be attached or removed at the slightest whim.  I sewed them securely to the canvas, and then the leather channel covered their untidy ends.

After waterproofing...
The leather darkened significantly when waterproofed...I like the look a lot.
It also became stiffer, but that won't be a problem.

A few things I noticed with the panniers I waterproofed first:  the linseed oil takes a couple weeks to dry completely.  While it is drying it smells strongly of rancid oil...yuk!

After it dries, the canvas is very stiff....and I mean VERY stiff!

I wasn't expecting it to become so resistant to bending and folding.  I am glad it got so stiff...that will help the handlebar bag stay shaped when filled and off the bike....

I did make a rather silly mistake when storing the leftover mixture of beeswax and linseed oil...I didn't cover the container or wrap up the paintbrush, so the oil dried.  I had to pick pieces of dried linseed oil out of the melted beeswax and off the canvas when I used it next...

Well...learn from your mistakes!

Trim-work finished!

My fingers are sore, but I'm nearing the end...

I just finished sewing the leather trim onto the handlebar bag.

I am very pleased with how it looks!

The volume is 9.5L or 585 cubic inches.

Front, with flap closed...

Trim on the Handlebar Bag

Slowly, since sewing leather is a long process, the handlebar bag is nearing completion.
I'm trimming all the raw edges with the same leather I used on the panniers.  I'm also trimming all the seams.  I'm sewing the seam trim with the saddle stitch....it sure is time consuming!

It doesn't take long to sew...

This morning I cut out the canvas for the handlebar bag.

Since there are only two relatively short seams to sew,  it doesn't take long to put the sides on...

One more small step finished....

The beginning of the end

Saturday I cut out the pieces of canvas for the last pannier.  It is the second front one.  I started sewing it Sunday afternoon.  

It is kind of a weird feeling to be working on the last pannier!  But it is a good weird feeling...

I still have to finish the other front pannier, but that just involves straps and waterproofing.  

I am also waiting for a final design and materials for the two rear pannier attachment systems....

Progress...

The first front pannier is nearly finished!

The front

Back view

Side and front

I had some frustrations while making it that I will try to avoid in the next one.  When cutting it out, I didn't cut the top flap wide or long enough, so it was difficult to fold and sew neatly into the shape I wanted it. Because of this, the back edges of the flap curve downward as is visible in the above photo.  It is still functional, just not as pretty, or as easy to make!

Front Panniers

Now that the rear bags are nearly finished, I have started work on the front panniers.  The design is similar to that of the back panniers, with a few alterations...
I often hear that weight in the front should be carried down low, so I extended these down 2 inches further than the back panniers.  They will be 18 inches tall.
I am making them only about 9 inches across...the measurement of the narrow part of the rear panniers.  Since these will be hanging in the front, there will be no interference with my pedaling, and I won't need a curve to accommodate for my foot. They will be a little smaller than the rear panniers...if they were too big they could interfere with my steering!
The width is the same...7 inches.
Here are the pattern pieces for the front and back...

I'm going to sew them the same way I sewed the first pair.  I'll use the backstitch for seam strength, aluminum rods for reinforcement and shaping, and leather for trim.  

Until next time...

It works!

I thought I was going to have to wait until warmer weather to test the water-proof-ness of the panniers but I was wrong...I could use the shower!  I filled the pannier with fabric, closed it, and put it under the cold shower.

 I adjusted the water flow to simulate a reasonably heavy rain, and left it there for a few minutes.  The inside was dry!  Under an extended heavy rain the inside may get a little damp, but this treatment is just water resistant, not fully water proof.  

I did notice the slightly rancid-oil smell from the linseed oil did seep into the fabric I had inside.  Hopefully the smell will decrease with use and exposure.

Strapping the flaps down

The buckles...
I was able to buy buckles and pre-cut leather at the leather goods store.  I just needed to sew it on...

First I marked where I wanted the stitching to be, and gouged it out with a carving tool. There is a specific tool for this task, but a curved carving tool works well. Gouging a channel for the stitching keeps it flush with the surface of the leather.

After gouging, I punched holes for the thread with an awl and mallet.  This leather is too thick to push a needle through without pre-punched holes.  

                      

The waxed linen thread that I used on the knife sheath worked well to sew the buckles and straps.  I used the saddle stitch which is very strong and looks nice. 

I sewed only the 'D' shaped part to the pannier. The two extensions of stitching proceeding towards the buckle only sewed the leather together so as to keep the buckle in place.  

The buckle being sewed to the pannier...  

Finished sewing it on!!

I also got leather straps to buckle the top flaps on the panniers down.  I bought black leather, precut by the leather lady to the correct length.  All I had to do was punch holes in them for the buckle prong to go through and then attach them to the flap.  These were sewed the same way as the buckles were.

Holes punched...                                         

 Sewed onto the flap...

The finished work...  

Water-proofing the bags

Canvas is supposed to be water repellent in its natural state, but I decided to give my bike bags a little help.  After much searching on the internet, I found little information on waterproofing canvas using natural ingredients.  A few sites had vague directions on covering it with wax or linseed oil, but there were a wide variety of recipes and techniques.
Finally I decided to use a 50/50 ratio of melted beeswax and boiled linseed oil.

Using an old yogurt container and a medium sized pot, I melted the wax in a double boiler.










Next I carefully added an equal amount of linseed oil to the melted wax, mixed it, and brushed the mixture onto the canvas.

The wax solidified on the surface of the canvas.
It looked rather ugly, and would quickly flake off, so I melted it into the fibers with a heat gun.






This is about halfway through...you can see the difference between the wax on the surface, and what has been melted in.




A side-by-side comparison of the waxed bag, and the un-waxed one.
I used about 1/4 lb of wax and 1/2 cup of oil, but it didn't quite cover one pannier.   The coloring was very uneven; it was darker where there was more beeswax, and lighter where there was less.  I'm going to leave the bag to air for a while to let the linseed oil dry...

Trimming the pannier with leather.

Finally I was able to get to M Steffan's Sons and get leather for trimming the raw edges of the canvas. I was terribly absentminded so forgot to ask about leather for straps. I will need to return soon for that...

The piece of leather I bought for trim is dark gray, textured, and thin enough to sew without pre-punching the holes.

 I cut 1 inch strips of the leather, and folded them around the raw edges of the canvas.  The polyester thread I used for the rest of the pannier worked well for sewing the leather on too.

The finished product....

Sewing the rear panniers together

After cutting out the canvas pieces with heavy scissors,
I sewed the side panel to the back by hand using a strong stitch called the back stitch. I had to do this because the fabric was too heavy for my machine to handle.
Use of a strong thimble became necessary, because sewing such heavy material wears out the fingers rapidly.

At the top of the back panel, it was tricky to sew the side piece on because of the shape of the top flap.



So as to keep the seam on the inside, I had to sew the side panel to the inside of the flap. You can see how I laid the seam allowance against the back panel, and sewed the side flat to it in the same direction. I had to cut a small slit so the seam could fold smoothly to the inside.






After sewing both the front and back panels to the side strip, a stiffening and shaping piece needed to be inserted.

 I preferred to use something biodegradable. Aluminum rods were lightweight, bendable, and natural, so I decided they would do the job.  1/4 inch rods 3 feet in length were found at a hardware store and bent to the proper shape.  I made them a little wider at the  top than the pannier was, so they would stretch the canvas tight.

Here is how they were laid in the seam before sewing into place.








Before the rods were inserted.....

After they were sewed in.  You can see the seam along the edge, outlining the rods.

 Shaping the flap to make it fit around the top of the pannier and keep out the rain was difficult.  I finally decided I would fold the corners up, roll the raw edges under, and sew them down.

Here is the (almost) finished pannier.  It just needs the leather trim, hooks for attaching it to the rack, and closure straps.                                                       

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