Pedal Strike

I love the anonymity of the internet.

I can show people I have never met before what I’m doing, tell them what I’m thinking, and have a long trail of blog posts and pictures open for pretty much anyone with an internet connection to read/see.

It’s like Facebook stalking taken to a creepier level. The most frightening part being that I’m actually voluntarily providing this information (sans the pictures of drunken debauchery…well, for now, at least).

So this is kind of a bold move on my part. It’s taking the internet life and applying it to my real one, which means that people might figure out who I am. My excuse though, is that my Baileyworks bag needed some customization.

It was fairly easy – I printed out what I wanted to eventually paint on my bag. I decided to paint this onto another piece of fabric for two reasons: 1. I didn’t want to mess up all over my beloved bag, and 2. if it got dirty or worn, I could easily replace it.

After figuring out where I wanted the text, I cut out the letters. This process is easier with an X-acto knife but I’m running a woefully amateur operation here, and made do with a pair of regular scissors.

Using a fabric pen (it’s a water soluble ink pen made for drawing on fabric – a pencil or tailor’s chalk should work just fine, although finer font will be more difficult), I traced the outline of the font.

I painted it by hand with a very fine paintbrush and some fabric paint. Actually it was silkscreen paint. Like I said before, I’m making do with what’s around my apartment.

After letting it dry overnight and ironing it from the back (as per the silkscreen ink instructions), I figured out where I wanted the giant patch to go on my bag. I chose to sew it on by hand because I was afraid my sewing machine may not be able to take it, and I didn’t want to punch holes (however tiny) into the vinyl lining. The edges were left raw on purpose, although finishing the seams would give it a cleaner look.

Hopefully I’ll get a picture of what it looks like when it’s strapped to my back. Now go and make your own patches!

Tags:   amateur · baileyworks bag · customize · messenger bag · patches2 Comments