So this idea came from one of my amazing instagram followers, and my husband and I thought it was brilliant, so heres how to make your Atomic Hip Pouch an Atomically Rad Bike Bag (or, if you just want to add a zipper to your bag, skip to the second part on zippers):
Materials for Bike attachment Loops:
4 inches of 1 inch wide Velcro, or 2 buttons, or 2 snaps
Double the amount of fabric for belt loops as called for in the pattern
Material for Zipper:
9" Zipper (or longer zipper cut to 9") (handbag zippers work best, they have a wider zipper tape)
Two Pieces of fabric for zipper attachment using 8.5" x 2.5"
2" x 2.5" Pieces of fabric for zipper ends
VELCRO BELT LOOPS
This can be done for the Hip Pouch and for the Combo Bag (views A and C). Instead of velcro, you could also use buttons or snaps. I would stay away from magnetic snaps, because you don't want the bag falling off while riding. This nice thing about this is that you can easily remove it from your bike and then attach it to your belt!
Your are going to make your belt loops slightly different. Take the belt loop pattern piece and cut it with the short side on the fold. You will be now cutting 2 belt loops that will be 7 inches x 3.5 inches, instead of the 3.5" x 3.5" loops as called for in the pattern. If using interfacing, cut it the same way, on the fold to make the longer piece. Complete the belt loops exactly as described in the pattern,
1) folding the short ends in,
2)folding it in half the long way, then
3)folding the long sides in again to meet in the center, finishing off by sewing a 1/8th seam allowance around the entire loop. Do this for both loops.
To attach this to the back piece, fold your loop in half, and place the fold on the right side of the back exterior piece 1.24" down from the top and the side of the loop at least 3/4" from the side of the bag. You may want to double check this with your bike, to make sure it will fit there. (Since the Seam allowance for the exterior bag is 1/2", just be sure to not place your loops in the 1/2" seam allowance.)
Once you've positioned this where you want it, sew across the loop using a triple stitch (forward, back, forward). this should be plenty, but if you're like me, go ahead and place another security line about 1/4" down from that one, using another triple stitch! Repeat on the other side.
The VELCRO: If you have your back piece and loops laying flat, you will be attaching the rough side of the velcro to the topside of the top loop , and the soft side of the velcro to the underside of the loop , see picture above if that sounds confusing. (I suggest this way, so when you wear the bag as a hip pouch, the rough side of the velcro won't be rubbing against you or your clothing.)
Repeat on the other other side and now the belt loops are done! If you are using buttons, make the button hole on the top strap and sew the button to underside of the bottom end of the loop (where the soft velcro was placed). Snap, same placements as the velcro, top up, bottom under. To get the correct placement, check it on your bike first and make your marks so you know the most secure place to attach your fasteners.
PART 2: THE ZIPPER!
The zipper we are doing is basically a recessed zipper, but since the bag is already small, we will be sewing it into the top seams, and not recessing and losing valuable space.
First you will want to cut out the recessed panels, which are two pieces of fabric about 8.5"x 2.5". This doesn't need to be interfaced unless the fabric is flimsy and thin, and in that case, I suggest you use a different fabric 😉. This has a lot of ironing, so here we go, do this for both pieces:
1)Fold short ends in and press
2)Fold long ends in about 1/2" and press
3)Fold in half and press again
Next we will make the zipper ends:
1) Fold the long edges in 1/4" and press
2) Fold short ends in about 1/4" and press
3) fold in half and press
Take your 9" zipper and slide the short end of each zipper into the center of the zipper ends. Hold in place and stitch around the whole rectangle using a tiny 1/8" Seam Allowance (SA).
Next we will add the recessed panels:
Take your two panels that you already prepped and center them on the zipper, and sandwiching the zipper tape between the open side of the panel. As you can see in the picture you, will want to only go in about 1/2 way on the zipper tape.
Now go ahead and sew around each panel using a 1/8" SA.
Attaching the zipper to the bag:
We will be attaching this to the liner first:
1) Decide which side you would like your zipper to close. Now center the zipper panel with the underside of the zipper to the RIGHT SIDE of the back liner (the piece with the pocket).
Sew the panel to the liner piece using a 1/8-1/4 inch seam allowance. To do the same for the other side, flip the zipper up and Align the top edge the RIGHT SIDE of the front liner piece to the underside of the zipper panel, making sure you align the sides of the liner pieces as well. Then sew across using the same SA used for the back side
When you open it back up, it should look like this
Proceed as per the pattern instructions, aligning the front and back liner pieces and sewing down the short sides and about 2" into the bottom
Again, following the instructions in the pattern, stuff the exterior of the bag, into the liner, making sure the zipper and panels are down. Align the top edges of the exterior to the liner.
As you can see, the zipper ends do not get sewn into the top edge of the bag, only the recessed panels are sewn in. (The bag pictured has a D-ring strap attachment, which is that red piece you are seeing sticking out of the sides).
Sew around the top using a 1/4" SA.
Pull the exterior bag through the liner and stuff the liner into the bag and iron that seam nice and flat, with the zipper pulled out. Use a pressing cloth, so you don't melt your zipper. Now you can top stitch around, securing the liner to the exterior.
As you can see in the picture, the zipper is pulled out of the bag and you are top stitching as if the zipper wasn't even there. When going around the sided with the gusset and zipper ends, make sure they are out of the way.
Follow the instructions from the pattern to complete the bag!
I hope that was helpful, if you ever have questions, please comment, send me an email maureen@atomicbeet.com, or DM on Instagram @atomic_beet!
Thanks for reading!!
👩🏼💻Maureen