Tuesday, June 5, 2012

It's Tutorial Tuesday! Make a recycled wool bike seat cover!



I went for a bike ride the other day, and though the rest of me felt great, my bum was too warm! I of course thought of breathable, moisture wicking wool, and got to work!



First, take a piece of paper & make a template for the seat top, making sure to add on about 1/4" all around for seam allowance.


Now, using that template, cut out a piece of felted wool. You will also need a strip of wool long enough to go all the way around your seat piece. You probably won't have a long enough piece to do that, so just sew 2 pieces together, like I did, then join the ends, so it makes a complete circle. You will want this to be about 1" deeper than the bike seat's side.


Now you will want to sew the circular piece to the seat piece, wrong sides out.


It should look something like this when you are done doing that...


Now you will need some elastic. Please note: I like to use what I have on hand, so I used a thick piece of elastic, but a thinner piece of elastic would have worked much better than what I used. Stretch the elastic while you zig zag stitch it to the [not stretched] wool edge. You will be sewing it to the outside edge (the "wrong" side of the wool).


When you are done going all the way around, you can flip it right side out, and it should look like this...


Now it's time to put you cover on your bike seat! If you used the right elastic & stretched it enough while sewing, you should be done. If your cover ended up not tight enough, like below (because I used too thick elastic), there is an easy solution.


Take the cover back off, flip it inside out and sew closed the skinny part, like this...


When you flip it right side out again, it should resemble a goofy looking slipper.


Now when you slip it back on the bike seat, it should look perfect!


I tested it out with a long bike ride, and it works great! No more plastic seat sweat (yuck!)! It also looks cute with my water bottle cozie :).

14 comments:

Leslie said...

Such a cute idea! I think this should catch on and every bike have a stylish fair-isle cover. :)

teekaroo said...

Very cute. I may have to do this.

Resweater said...

Thanks! Cute AND comfy for the rear!

Rosachiara said...

lovely, super nice ideas :)
CONFETTURA ROSA- HandMade Clothing

Amy of While Wearing Heels said...

WOW..you do a bit of everything don't you. I hope this makes your bottom more comfortable :)

Resweater said...

It actually does... more than you'd think!

Megan H said...

Excellent idea!

OrloSubito said...

fantastic!!!

The Sitting Tree said...

Thanks, Kris! This is just what I needed for those long hot summer trips to town:)

snippa said...

That's so lovely - makes me wish I had a bike!

Resweater said...

Thanks, everyone :)!

Sewing-Chick said...

Love it :) I sent my friend a link for this because her son's bike seat is falling apart!

Resweater said...

That reminds me that I need to make one for my son's bike!

Andreia said...

For all you bike riders and TV series fans here are some really nice handmade bike seat covers:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/HappyBike?ref=l2-shopheader-name