Make yourself a T-shirt bag. Small shirts are good for groceries, double X are laundry and storage bags. (I snagged a bag of these from my local recycle group awhile back.) Fold your shirt in half. Remove the sleeves leaving the seam behind. Measure about a hands width from the sleeve and make a triangle cut through all 4layers of the folded shirt. No need to make it a deep v, shallow works great and holds a lot. Turn the shirt inside out and zigzag stitch across the bottom with some double stitching over the ends to lock it in. Flip it right side out and stuff it full of stuff. I organize our laundry in these - darks in a black bag, lights in a white bag and towels and such in a grey bag. I use them in the closet too- summer clothes in one and things for possible donations in another. These are the best laundry bags ever. I had a couple of final pics but I accidentally deleted them. Oops. #diyordie #makersgonnamake #notasexydiy

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So it's been a minute or two since I bought a new sports bra. The girls have gotten larger since then and ye old pull over sporty bra did not hold me in place and repetitive jarring movement like that HURTS after a few minutes. When I was younger, smaller, and gravity hadn't taken quite as much effect a pull over was fine. Now getting a pull over style means uniboob and straps that slowly slide forward until the cups are lower than the back and the straps dig into my neck. This under armour brand is adjustable both in strap and around my chest and keeps the girls strapped down. It took two different tries to get some that fit because sizing for sports bras doesn't follow typical bra sizing and you get a range and when you are a larger woman with bigger boobs you have to order a size that sounds wrong. Also I misread the sizing chart. Sigh. Shopping always makes me feel stupid. A good thing is that I was able to get 2 for the price of one because my size was on clearance. Also I got a stupid colorway for a few more bucks off. Good sports bras are stupid expensive. Anyway, happy birthday and thanks mom & dad for the gift card! #healingmybody #workingout #pedalpower

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I've had this little headlamp.for years and years. I initially got it to wear when I was working on something but also wore it while riding my bike. The downside is that the back is plastic and slick on my forehead. I could thread the elastic differently but that is less secure. You can see this thing is about an inch cubed. It's also light weight. I had made a small cushion with my trusty peel and stick craft foam which I stuck to a piece of buck skin. For vegetarians you could stick it to canvas. The goal is to have something soft and absorbent.fleece might work well. An chunk of old sweatshirt would be perfect. Anyway, this cushion works really well and feels great. #makersgonnamake #myog #usefulshit

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How cute is this fabric? Also this pattern was too small for my HUGE melon. I need another INCH at the edges to make this cycling cap fit. #makergonnamake #maker #myog cycling caps are dorky but serve the purpose of soaking up sweat under a helmet. This one is cotton from my stash. I've got to try another pattern or add some width and height to this one.

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Super cute and super clean new cage in central sq Lynn. I'll let you know about the food.

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As part of our team building we made mugs together @claydreaming in Beverly and it was awesome. I made a real functional mug and I like it. I'll be drinking coffee out of it until it breaks. #art #maker #clay #mug

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Shooting out of this world and a shooting star. Having some fun with that manipulated selfie.#artplay #mixedmedia

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Learning adobe express.

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I bought this bike new back in 1996 with scholarship money that said I could use it for transportation costs. I used it to get to and from class but also on the trails. This bike saw hundreds of hours of me on it on the trails and commuting. The drivetrain is original and needs some updates. Which will happen over this winter. The other bike will be for gravel and touring while this one will get updated for light trail use. I'll probably do some easy single track but nothing like I used to. Upcoming updates- drive train, front shock, likely wheels, headset, brakes, grips, shifter brakes and levers, and finally a new saddle. All in all giving it a tune up today made me realize I could take it out on a trail with just a new nobby tire on the back end. I've got a slick on it now. It's been the bike I've had on the trainer for the last 2 years. Takes care of your stuff and it'll last a long time, the stuff I'm adding aren't necessarily needed they'll just make riding better.

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Got the top tube bag installed. I like it a lot. It is just the right size for my phone and a few other things. It was a bear to stitch together the pieces after I realized it. The craft foam and my sewing machine did not get a long at all. Anyway. I like it, it looks cool. The attachments are made of rainbow grosgrain ribbon with Velcro stitched on. It stays put better than expected. I'll be making one for Chris's bike too. #makersgonnamake #pedalpower #bikes #bikepacking #myog

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The humble plastic peanut butter jar, a JIF natural spray painted with flat black because that's cool. And made fully waterproof with a wrap of electrical tape over the lip and threads. This fits into a water bottle cage and is further secured with a silicone bracelet. Why put a PB jar on my bike? Well it will hold my tools and chain lube in a secure easy to access spot. It also makes sense to wrap a few passes of duct tape or gorilla tape around the body of the jar, for emergencies. #pedalpower #recycledstuff #recyclingandbikes #peanutbutterjars

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I made a simple 4 signature 10x12 ish book with 16 leaves or 32 pages for someone. it's been a minute since I've bound any books. This is a doubled up version of a Keith A. smith 2 signature pamphlet style book, just made larger. It is one of my favorite structures of his since the 2 signature is effortless and doubling it is almost as easy. #makersgonnamake #maker #bookbinding

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On and off for the last couple of months I've had a sharp feeling very occasionally when I step into my hiking shoes in just the wrong way. It happened so infrequently that I could not figure it out. Well, finally, I pulled my shoe off and felt around where I was feeling the poke, and initially I thought it was the seam around there. Well this time the insole moved.and revealed something sharp. I flipped the shoe over and looked in the right spot and there it was, a tiny nail. Next time I'm taking a magnet to the shoe. I have no idea where this is from. #annoying

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Used that test bag as a tester for a top tube bag. I want something my phone fits into but this is too tall and long for my bike.i think I can cut the length down by 3 inches and the height by an inch and it will let my phone fit but also not look like a gas tank on my bike. Good news is that the acrylic paint makes the bags less slippery and my needles didn't have much issues with it. So that good. I did use some peal and stick foam to give the sides some structure. I might pick this apart and make to the size I need. #myog #pedalpower #makersgonnamake #maker

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I've been playing with some grain / feed bags for #myog I like messenger bags with the feed side showing but for my bike gear I want to add some skullies and stuff. So I decided to true paint pens and paint on the inside of the bag. I also might want to use these as a project with my students. It's kind of a cool surface, it's plastic but recycled and bright intense white. Some results: spray paint is bomb on this stuff. Esp the krylon multi surface. You gotta degrease the heck out of it. Oil and alcohol based paint markers work on it with just a wash and degrease. Krink k70 and sharpie oil based worked well. The acrylic paint pens... Not so much, the surface needs to be cleaned degreased and then primed. In this case I e got some tinted gac surface prep. If it isn't clean and degreased the primer slides off. But a nice even coat on a degreased surface is holding pretty well. It even penetrated down into the weave, a bonus for waterproofing. Do not try to iron this stuff. Even mild heat made the wrinkles worse and high heat melted it into a crusty nasty mess. I don't know if we'll make some posters with this or not but I'm going to continue to #myog. #diyordie #makersgonnamake #maker #recycle #upcycle #hiking #pedalpower #artist #artsyfartsy

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I made myself a frame bag out of recycled ish materials. I used Ikea bags and a benefit bag from the recycle group along with some zippers from Joanne's plus some poly thread and made lace ons from leftover Paracord I had from making handles for some of my other bags. Inside, it's not visible but there is a place to hook things with a Paracord PALS (aka MOLLE) strip. The teal zipper side is one big pocket while the orange side is a slim pocket. The rest of the bag straps on with Velcro. It is not waterproof but could be if I sealed the seams. This was one of the more difficult bag projects I've sewn. The various angles and putting in zippers is really hard. Plus the animal feed and Ikea bags are slippery buggers. My old sewing machine dogs didn't like it at all. I also had to oil the machine.which is a good reminder to service your sewing machines- brush out the lint and give her some oil. Just a little so she doesn't seize up. #myog #bikelife #bikepacking #pedalpower

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The cult of the conman we're out at the Petco in Danvers. Yikes. The woman on the corner was in the road. If you know the corner, you know how dangerous it is for her to stand in the road.

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Frustrating day today. The material I bought to make the front mounts is too flexible and also brittle at the same time. I'm looking at another option and it should work but will require a heat gun and paint. Gotta start with a rigid material not soft and flexy. The soft and flexible material (2 pack cutting mats from dollar tree) will make good support for the frame bag I'm making. It will also work for the handlebar bag I'm considering. Nothing lost . The design I came up with will work as a bag protector for the rack. So, it'll get used, but differently. The stem bag is visible and installed!!! #pedalpower #bikepacking #myog

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Pretty proud of this one. Made myself a stem bag out of an old dog food bag and some heavy duty rainbow ribbon. The ribbon isn't that sturdy so not the best but I like it. Figured I make MOLLE super gaaaaay. It holds my 40os Kleen kanteen. I also made but did not take a pic 2 small 8l-ish dry bags. Well dryish. They need to be waterproofed. They look pretty good. Today I make mounts and attachments. I found making the bags pretty enjoyable. Sewing skills are lifetime skills. My mom showed me the basics when I was around 10 or so and a bit more. I'm a hack when it comes to seeing, but my stitches are straightish. #myog #bikepacking #dirtbag #recycledstuff #pedalpower

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Voiding the warranty to make it mine. My front fork now has 6 lug/bottle bosses/riv nuts in total. Not my best work. Learned how to put riv nuts in. I'm going to put a few more in the triangle. This will let me attach more cages and to mount racks. #pedalpower #bikepacking

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I was gifted a box of assorted rubberstamps and stationery supplies.(thanks @junethomas ) some of them match my aesthetic pretty spot on, like the assorted coffee themed stamps. Those are going into my collection the rest are headed to work to build a rubberstamp collection for my studio. Neat I've spent the majority of the last week and a half off line. its weird to think that I've been off work for over a week and still have 5 days left. I plan to take more time off work next year. And to make sure I do a 2 week stretch again. I know that last summer I had a few weeks off but honestly after leaving a stressful toxic workplace I probably needed more, and some intense therapy. This year I'm actually able to enjoy the 2 weeks off, relax and focus on some of the stuff I've been wanting to do for a long time. Like painting the garage door, spending time with my fam, and cleaning up and fixing the bikes so we can actually make use of them. The hope is that once i get some gravel (or mixed use) tires on them we can spend some time on the rail trail and other trails around us. I also want to make sure we can do the Calais to Ellsworth portions of the east coast Greenway, which is mostly on the sunrise rail trail. Anyway, spending so much time offline and not working really makes me think that US workplaces should all consider giving employees 2 or more weeks in a row off. I know I'm going to come back more refreshed. #philosophicalthinking #offlinethinking #gettingshitdone #bikepacking #biketouring

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My wife's gifted bike. A friend gave her this bike, he picked up a new bike and gave her his old beater bike, which is nicer than any bike I've ever owned. Anyway, the reason for the gift is that the front derailleur was frozen. A shot or two of PB Blaster (stinkier wd40) and some elbow grease and it's good as new. The whole thing was cleaned of extensive road grime, washed polished, greased, and tuned up. Everything is shifting slick. I need to learn how to maintain the rockshox and the suspension seat post. Right now it is set up for a soft plush ride but needs a bit of love and attention. #bikelife #pedalpower

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