Homemade backpack, 1.7 oz

I thought about buying one of these but instead decided to make one. I made it out of the sleeves I'd cut off of an old cycling jacket so it's hi-vis yellow. It turned out really nice, weighs 1.7 oz, and rolls up tiny to carry in a jersey pocket. I used it today because I wanted to stop for a few groceries on the way home from my 11 mile ride and didn't want to carry panniers all the way. Got home with a small load of groceries in my trunk rack and the backpack. The backpack only carried kale and chips, but nothing got squashed. I read that these are also used to carry clothing that you might take off mid-ride.

Well, aren't you the crafty one! :D That is super cool, both practical and high-viz. Excellent work!

And she sews! :p

a sleeve! Now I know what to do with that sleeve. :cool:

I got a high-vis vest with removable sleeves at the Canari wharehouse sale for $5 - reason being it only had one sleeve. Works great as a vest though.

That is so cool! I'm feeling inspired to do something similar.

Very clever. I got a similar one as schwag at a running race I did in Baltimore in October. (but not high vis, and it advertises an insurance company's Gecko on it) It's great for those "just in case" events.

How 'bout specs? How did you do the straps? Length? One or two pieces? Did you reinforce the bottom attachment point?

I used 2 sleeves and cut open all the seams to get the max fabric out of them. The cuffs where I removed the elastic were the natural place for the drawstrings. For the bottom drawstring attachments, I sewed in 2 small pieces of grossgrain ribbon. I double sewed across the grossgrain ribbon and the bottom and top seams. The final dimension are 17" tall, 12" wide at the top, 17" wide at the bottom. The straps are drawstrings that run through the top sleeves in both direction from opposite sides and through the bottom anchors. See additional photos.

Kale, chips, and a homemade ultralight backpack. You're my kind of style!! :cool:

Now I must suppress the urge to hit all the thrift stores in the area RIGHT NOW to go find a high vis garment to snatch the sleeves off of!

Very nice!