Well folks, I am happy to announce that after a couple of more sewing lessons, and some practice, I was able to construct a Bike Mechanic’s Apron from an old pair of jeans.
The sewing machine cooperated nicely this time; It helped me “put together” the final work without a hitch. There were no broken needles, and I was able to complete the apron I had envisioned when I first started this project. I had fun designing this light, and practical apron, which will not only help protect my clothes from getting dirty, or getting damaged with grease or chain lube as a result of working with bikes. This apron will also allow me to be more efficient by holding the tools I need on any given bike repair job.
To start with, I wanted this apron to have a pocket on the chest area of the apron that would be big enough, to hold my multi-tool, and a couple of small wrenches.
For comfort, and fitting purposes, I decided to add buckles to the neck strap. This way, I am able to easily adjust, or remove the apron.
In case a bike repair job requires me to carry more tools, such as the “third hand tool”, or a “pedal wrench”, for example, I stitched the belt, which was one long piece, to the front of the apron, and turned it into a “tool belt”. In order to achieve this, I stitched a line in every couple of inches to create spaces along the belt, allowing for me to securely hold a variety of tools, by simply letting them hang.
Next, I made a “removable tire lever holder” that could easily be attached, and/or removed to the belt
Keeping your hands clean when fixing and maintaining bikes can be a bit of a challenge.
To address this issue, I stitched one of the belt loops, to the left side of the apron. Its purpose is to hold a cleaning rag, which is something I need to have close by when working on bikes, because I find the need to clean or dry my hands, quite often.
And just like that, I now know how to make a bike mechanic’s apron from a recycled pair of jeans!
My next goal is to teach some of the students I work with, how to make this practical, useful, and light bike mechanic’s apron from a pair of recycled jeans, and for them to be able to learn sewing skills like I did.
This has been quite the amazing, challenging, but also a super fun learning journey!
Thank you to the Moore family, for allowing me to be part of this project, and to Danielle, for continuing to be a source of inspiration.
Cheers! Fidel