Thursday, July 8, 2010

Bicycle Basket Liner


I live in a small village. The library is about 4 blocks away. The grocery store is about two blocks from my house. We do not have home mail delivery, but instead, must go to the post office daily to check the mail. It seems senseless to me to waste gasoline to drive to these places. And one of the benefits of living in a small town is everything is close by AND I need the exercise.


And even though my old, beatup bicycle has a basket, things would bounce and fly out or I'd run the risk of loosing my keys if I'd hit a bump. I've seen some lovely bicycle basket liners for sale online. They also come with quite a big price tag so I thought I'd give it a go to create my own bicycle basket liner that would double as a shopping bag and have all of the features I would need to keep my purchases, mail or books neatly in place.
My bike isn't a fancy or expensive cruiser and I'm afraid too that the basket has taken a bit of wear and tear over the years so I wanted my liner to be frilly and feminine and pretty!
And this is the liner I created. I am considering replacing the bow with a big flower. I'll update if I do indeed do that.
While the size of the basket would seem to limit the space of my bag, it didn't really. The gathers allow for expansion so that when I remove the liner at my destination and pick up the handles, you can see it is quite a room and very sturdy bag. I've used heavy weight interfacing to give my liner heft and durability.

The handles lay neatly inside the liner while riding...

...but easily lift up to carry once you are ready to take it with you.

And now for the details. The criteria for my bicycle basket liner was that I did not want to have to carry a purse too so I'd need my liner to be able to carry my wallet, cell phone, library card and my keys in a secure manner so that they couldn't bounce out while riding. The zippered pouch is big enough to hold my oversized wallet. And the snap clip/hook will securely hold my keys to the house and our mailbox without the risk of them bouncing out of the bag.

I wanted the hardware but I wanted it to be feminine and flowery and frilly too. The fabric store carries the handle webbing in a huge variety of colors. I happened to have this pink webbing in my sewing supplies and it worked out perfectly.

Another criteria when I set about making this project was that I refused to go out and purchase anything at all for it. I used all fabrics, interfacing, zipper, button, lace and webbing from my home supplies. Afterall, I'm making an effort to conserve, reuse and save money and energy so I didn't want to invest in something that was supposed to be cost efficient.

So here she is! My very own bicycle basket liner. It really was NOT difficult to make at all. In creating and sewing it, I worked backwards in its construction, visualizing the final product and imagining how it would need to be sewn with each step.

I just bought some beautiful raspberries and strawberries and rhubarb from the local fruit market. Wouldn't you know it? I realized that my jam jars don't have any new lids, so I'm off on my bicycle for a fast trip to the store so I can put up some jams and preserves today with my fresh yummy fruit.

Cheers!

Jennifer

17 comments:

  1. Jennifer,your bicycle basket liner is totally awesome. You never cease to amaze me with all you do. Let's just say Martha can't hold a candle to you. I love your liner.

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  2. OMG Jennifer your bike basket liner is awesome! I am very jealous! I have always wanted a bike basket! SMILE!

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  3. Oh Jennifer, sweet Jennifer...I admit I am a pale shade of green with envy over your exquisitely constructed bicycle basket liner. How absolutely intelligent! I'll bet when you ride your bike now, you're going to get lots of cat calls like "Hey, Dorothy, where's Auntie Em?"

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  4. now how stylish is that liner? Just adorable.

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  5. that is totally adorable and thanks so much for your comment on my blog. I thought I had left one earlier for you but I must have closed down the page too quick! Michelle x

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  6. Hi Jennifer - that looks fantastic! What a great idea. I wish (sort of) that I had a bike, but there are lots of hills here and all the cyclists are those very keen ones with lycra, helmets and expressions of great concentration! Don't think lycra would suit - and anyway where would Amy and Ben travel? Thanks for your kind thoughts for the newfies, it's really hot here and they spend most of the day cooling off on the cool slates of the courtyard at the back of the house. Hope your family are all well. Hx

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  7. How much higher can I put you on your pedastal?? Really! Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. I love love love it. For all you know you should have your own show! A testament to just how amazing you are: You did not just make a liner. You created a liner/bag/holder/purse with handles, zippers, pockets and pouches and it is all wrapped in beautiful girly fabric! And you are so clever you designed it all yourself. And you used only what you already had! OK. I think you should make a matching hat. You would look so CUTE riding your purple bicycle. The kicker here is you saying it was so {easy!!!} to make. lol. I love you HP! xoxo

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  8. How beautiful!!! Just love your ingenuity!! Hope you're having a great summer!

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  9. I have bicycle basket liner envy! This is fantastic and your attention to detail is amazing. Love that your bike is purple, too. Beautiful how you can take out the liner and it's a lovely bag.

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  10. Love the basket liner, Jennifer! Gosh, that makes me want to go and find my bicycle and buy a basket for it! BTW, love your collection of animal friends...I have to say, your mare is lovely! I have two geldings that I love to death, but someone told me horses are like potato chips...you can't have just one!

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  11. Fantastic idea!! I think a flower instead of the bow would be fantastic!!

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  12. I have that SAME basket (just purchased a cruiser and basket today) and would love to know if you have a tutorial for this!? You did such an amazing job. I'm a new fan :)

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  13. I love your bicycle basket liner! It's so beautiful! It just looks like spring and summer and makes me want to ride my bike.

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  14. This is so beautiful! I've been trying and looking for so long for a liner pattern and this one is so much like the one I would love to make. But I am not very good at sewing. I'm still a beginner. I'm only sad that you don't have a pattern available for it =(

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  15. I'll echo Jennifer--wish there was a pattern for this. I have the same basket, and need to make a liner, as I use it for my little dog, and his nails get caught in the mesh. (plus, I'd like it to be comfy for him.)

    Great job, though! I'm enthused.

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  16. Love it! I have the same basket on my bicycle. Now that I've seen how cute yours is, I hafta make one for mine. And I will follow your lead and not purchase anything to do it either.

    Thanks for sharing this and motivating me to use up some of the stash I've collected :)

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  17. hello, I am French and I love the shopping cart.
    Do you have a pattern to share with me? one basket because I wish that I dress.
    sorry if my English was not perfect.

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