Silver Case

On my long bike rides, I need to eat, otherwise I deteriorate after about three hours’ riding. I can carry stuff in my back pockets, but it tends to be out-of-sight and kept out-of-mind (I don’t enjoy eating in the saddle). So last night I designed a prototype mussett bag that hangs across my top tube. Its dimensions keep it out of the way of my cables, my knees, and water bottles. It’s big enough to hold some food and sundries.   

I made it out of my favorite canvas duck fabric that I used to make my first messenger bag (which turns out to be a really nice bag that i still sometimes use). I love this durable, low-tech fabric. It’s just tough cotton, so you can make it foul, it politely dries itself out, and you can always wash it later. I embroidered a pig on the side, for color, but I was not thinking clearly and ended up putting it on upside down. I haven’t sewn on eyes or nose. I did add two large snaps to lock down the bag so that it doesn’t slide anywhere.

I didn’t finish it by this morning’s ride because last night I went into a fugue. I convinced myself something was seriously mal-adjusted with my sewing machine. I believed the bobbin spinning part was out of adjustment, thus colliding with the needle. As I was fading to sleep last night it dawned on me I probably had the needle installed 180d incorrectly. This side has a notch that lets the bobbin finger spin by very closely and snag the top thread.

Sure enough, that was the answer.

Then I went into another brain-cramp where I spent twenty minutes fussing with the presser foot and feed dog to make them pull the fabric better before I realized that the problem was simply a dial adjustment had been left at 0 forward advance after I’d working on the embroidery. duh.

Anyway, the bag is ready for my next ride.

Bag installed; simple.