My new pack #4

I made this pack in kind of a hurry because my old pack was falling apart.  Still this is my nicest looking one yet.  I only took cell phone photos of the construction.

My sewing is mostly self taught, with very little help from YouTube.  I wanted to learn to sew since I was a child but it was always a struggle for one reason or another.

In home economics  I tried to make a duffel bag but there was only one teacher 30 students and about 15 sewing machines.  I needed one on one instructions and a machine to use at all times.  I gave up and did not complete the project.  My parents then got mad and made me pay for all the material.  My step-mother then sewed the bag and kept it for herself.  It still makes me angry.

Why didn't she teach me how to sew the bag and why did she keep it after making me pay for it?  Why were they so convinced that I was just slacking off in class?  I was trying hard but I had to give up in frustration.

What I did not understand was the box stitch, the teacher told me to just do it and walked off.  Even now almost 40 years later I think of all the frustration involved with that bag every time I do a box stitch.

For the first 30 years of my adult life I struggled with a broken sewing machine too.  I did not know it was broken.  When things went wrong I blamed myself.  Sewing always made my cry and get angry.  Always.  Then one day I saw a YouTube video that showed a machine self feeding the fabric.  I thought I was supposed to pull the fabric through myself.  All those years I struggled.

Now I have good old heavy duty machine thanks to Sew Now Studio in Shelton.  Now sewing is fun.  Now when the bobbin needs to be reloaded it is not a problem.

With my old garbage machine even reloading the bobbin was always an hour long ordeal.

Now when I sew, I don't hear my parents mocking me and telling me how awful I am at it.  I know better. What a shame it took so many years though. 

This time around for pack number 4 I had the self confidence to buy new material to sew with.  I knew that I probably would not screw it all up and waste my money.  Now I have a pretty pack in my favorite color!

Maybe next time I will buy all new parts and thread for my project too.  I used green thread for this project.   Green was the only color I had of the right type of thread.  I wanted black thread, but I did not want to face Walmart in December just to buy a spool of thread, so I used my old green thread.

Of course I forgot the buy black thread when I was in there grocery shopping.  They probably would have been out of the right type of thread anyway.  The Walmart in town is terrible at keeping things in stock.

Front back and side panels cut out

all panels and 4 pockets cut out

Shoulder pad material cut out

Shoulder pads sewn together in a tube (my methods are unconventional since I am self taught)

Panels to hold my sit pad cut out.  Panels are made of an old shirt.  I used a Jersey needle when I stitched them.
I used pink thread that is part cotton on the main spool and kept my green thread on the bobbin.  It seemed to work
and the green thread only shows through on the bottom where it can't be seen.  I hope that the part cotton
pink thread will not rot when it gets wet, but why should it?  I always dry my pack out after a hike and the thread
is part polyester.

front of pack and side panels assembled.  Next time I will wait until the panels are sewn
together before I bunch up the elastic.  I will just leave an opening where the elastic goes.  The panels
will be easier to stitch together when they are not stretched out of shape so that I have to stretch them back while
sewing them.  I sure wish I had thought of that years ago.

Back panel pad holder pockets sew into place shoulder straps all assembled
Outside of pack is pretty much done and ready to sew together.

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Front and one side sewn together

Front and sides pinned together with lots of pins due to elastic 

Front back and sides sewn together all that is left is to sew the bottom of the straps into the seams and sew the bottom on.  I had to re hem the top after sewing it all together because it did not all match up nice at the top.  

On the trail the next day for an 8 mile test

Photo of the back of the pack with out the pad in place.  I want to get a purple or black pad to match
the pack, but not sure where to get one.   I would like to have a pink pack but dont' want to advertise my gender.
All of the pink on this pack is hidden when I am actually wearing it.

Two dog day on Kamilchee Ridge

This was my last hike before my husband died and I was too tired to blog about it, so I just uploaded pictures.

First hike with my new pack.  Home made pack #4 my own design.

New backpack

My 4th backpack is done.  This time I splurged and actually bought the fabric to make it.  I got the fabric from Seattle Fabrics.   The cost of the fabric was $25.50 with shipping "handling" and regressive Washington state sales tax.

 I did not buy anything else to make this pack, all the other materials were things I already had on hand.  I cannibalized a few parts of the first backpack that I ever made.

The material is all slightly heavier than the 75D ripstop tent rain fly that I made my first three packs from.  I'm hoping that having both brand new and heavier material will make this pack more durable.

I'm really happy to finally have a pack that is a color that I like too.

It took me at least 32 hours to sew this using pretty much all the same design as my last two packs.  The only pattern that I made was for the shoulder straps and I've used that pattern three times now. This time I cut the pads much wider though.  I hope this pack will be more comfortable  than the last one.

Item ID

ITEMS

PRICE

QTY

Total

FOCS-PURPLE

60" 210 D. Coated "SALE" Oxford @ $4.99/ linear yard
Color: Purple 

$4.99

1.5

$7.49

FRD-BLACK

60" 400 x 300 D. Nylon/Polyester Diamond Ripstop @ $10.95/ linear yard
Color: Black 

$10.95

0.5

$5.48

H

Processing & Handling 

$4.00

1

$4.00

Subtotal:

$16.96

Discount(s):

$0.00

Taxes:

$2.07

Shipping:

$6.55

Total:

$25.58

Payments:

$25.58

Balance:

$0.00

New Daypack

I made a new daypack and it has been on two hikes now.  This is my best one yet.  My sewing machine is better and my sewing skills are improving.  It took me about 28 hours to sew this.  Sewing went fast then last time since I repeated most of my old design.  All I bought for this was thread, velcro and elastic cord.

I'll need to buy material for my next pack, this tent rainfly is all used up.  The material is 75 Denier Coated Ripstop.  I'm having trouble finding anything other than 70 Denier ripstop online, not sure if that is strong enough.

Update:  This pack lasted 1 year and 5 months before the fabric started to weaken and tear.  I used rather old fabric to make this pack.  The fabric was from a rain fly from a tent that wore out.

Now I have finally splurged and bought new fabric for a pack: http://mosswalks.blogspot.com/2018/12/two-dog-day-on-kamilchee-ridge.html

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All ready to sew up the 4 sides

My new backpack is ready for the trail

You can just barely see the ice axe loop at the bottom. I also
added a velcro loop to hold my trekking poles.

I finished up my new daypack last night.  Now I have to wait for the storms to pass before I can test it on the trail.  This pack has a nice tall left outside pocket to hold a water bottle firmly. and the right pocket is high enough to completely swallow my GPS.  I also sewed in a extra pocket inside of the left pocket to hold my pstyle.  I was hoping to be able to access it with my pack on but the pocket is just a bit to tall for that.

This pack cost me about $8.00 to make as the only materials I bought for it were elastic, thread and sewing machine needles.  I still have lots of elastic and thread and two needles left that did not get used.

I don't think I have enough material to make a third pack from my old tent rain fly, so I may have to buy fabric the next time I make a new pack.

I'm sure the first few trails tests will show any seams that were not formed properly.  I found the first bad seam before it even left the house and it is fixed now.

I have not weighed my new pack yet.  I'm guessing it weighs about 10.8 ounces.

I am Making a New Backpack

I'm really happy with the backpack that I made for myself a year and a  half ago. But there are a few things about it that I would like to change, so I'm making a new pack.  The main problem with my old pack was actually a problem with my sewing machine.  My machine was a pile of junk and it was not heavy duty enough for the job.  Because my machine was such a broken down hunk of junk I was not able to sew my pockets into the main seams of my pack.  I had to sew all the pockets onto the outside.

That made weak spots at the top corners of every pocket.  The I had  a lot of other problems with pockets too but after many trips back to the sewing machine I have figured out a good design.  You see I did not simply sew my own backpack. I DESIGNED MY OWN BACKPACK.  I did not have a pattern to go off of, or any directions to follow and I'm not much of a seamstress   I got a "D" in home economics because I failed the sewing project.  Add to that the my sewing machine was broken and I did not even know it, it was amazing that I managed to make anything I could take hiking.

The feed dogs on my old machine were broken and I did not know that a machine was supposed to feed the fabric.  I thought it was my job to pull the fabric through the machine and this was with a machine that only had two speeds; fast and insanely fast.  When I realized that my machine was broken I took it to a shop that could not fix it.  They offered to sell me a new used machine instead.  Okay, I know what you're thinking, they were just trying to up-sell me.  But no, this shop was an honest shop.  The found and old sturdy Kenmore machine and sold it to me for what they would have charged me to repair my machine.

I think I paid them $50 for it and it was tuned up and perfect for my needs.  I'm so happy with my new sewing machine.  Sewing is actually kind of fun now.  Since then I have inherited my Mother's sewing machine but it is not as good as my old Kenmore other than the fact that it has a free arm.  So I'll keep the free arm machine for sewing clothes and the Kenmore for making backpacks.

My new backpack sewing project is going very smoothly so far.  It's going suspiciously well.  My machine is behaving and I've only had to use the ripper a couple of times.

I have cut out all the pieces and I have sewed the pockets into place.  All I have left to do is sew it all together and add a couple of finishing touches to the shoulder straps.  I anticipate that I will be able to sew it all together without too much trouble.  The parts seem to fit well, and there is lots of room for error with a backpack and a one inch seam allowance.

Here is what I have done so far.  The rest will have to wait until I get back from Kirkland.

I started by cutting out the side panels.  I used the grid mat to help me make them square

4 panels and 3 outside pockets cut out

decorative trim and loops to hold bungee cord on side panels

Two pockets that my sit pad will fit into. This part of the pack will go against my back

Pockets have been tacked into place.  Velcro loop to hold trekking poles
and green loop to hole ice axe have been added

All pockets and panels done, including loops to hold in internal pocket
I'm going to use the internal pocket from my ULA pack.
Shoulder straps are on the far right.  I need to cut the foam to go in them and
then sew them to the top of the pack and sew cord to the bottom of the pack.
I don't have the little plastic parts I need to hook the to parts of the shoulder straps
together, so I will have to buy that.

All of the material for this pack has been upcycled. Once again I am using the old rainfly from my 4 season tent for the pack body.  I'm using an old shirt to hold the sit pad and to line the back of the shoulder straps.
The black pockets are made from a huge bag that I paid $1.00 for and have already used for pockets on my current pack.  All I have bought for this project is new sewing machine needles, thread and elastic.