Quote Originally Posted by DebW View Post
I sewed myself a set of front panniers a long time ago. They're still nice panniers, except the coating is peeling off the nylon and one has a small hole in a bottom corner. They're a bit of a mismatched set because they are 2 different shades of green, and one has a nice pocket on it and the other doesn't, and they have different zipper gauges. Guess I was working with whatever material I happened to have around at the time. The plastic stiffener against the back was a plastic shoe mat. Bought some nice aluminum hooks for rack attachment - think I've got an extra set of those hooks laying around (maybe for the rear panniers I never made). A couple aluminum bars inside each for mounting stiffness. One of my more useful sewing projects.
I've been struggling with finding JUST RIGHT panniers and of course, you just solved my dilemma.

Now, where to find the time....

I wish I'd thought to put some mesh stiffener in the back layer of the messenger bag I made for my construction class. It would have made it the "knock out" project for the class instead of just being larger and more brightly colored than most people's projects. (The project was technically to make a handbag - like I'd do THAT ) I should post up some pictures of that bag - it came out pretty well, even if it is a little floppy.