| /crafts/sp.html | 25 February 2006 |
Seatbelt Purse |
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| Backstory: | |
| My wife came to me one day and said something to the effect of: "I want a purse made outta seatbelts. Make me one." Now, I had never heard of something like this much less seen one. Keeping this in mind I said I would get right on it. That first product was a few years ago and since I occasionally get requests for them from her friends I took the latest request as an opportunity to document the process. |
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| Materials: | |
I originally crafted this with very mundane tools and materials. I will list what the current project uses and mention parenthetically what I used on the prototype, as it were
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| Pictured above are the supplies for project. The liner is shown already complete. It is composed of two (roughly) 8.5"x11" panels joined on three sides by a long 3" wide strip.
The foam should be cut in such a way that it is as wide as five sections of your seatbelt material (about 10 inches). I purchased my initial riveting kit from a local leather-craft supply store. The seatbelt could be from an old car, purchased from a local auto upholstery supply store, or various internet sources. Ten yards of it will give a bag about 8"x10" with a 60" strap. Besides the carry strap, no piece will be longer than about 24 inches. | |
| The Build: | |
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The final product. This is done in a very dark shade of blue. It has a 60 inch shoulder strap and all metal hardware. |
| Step 1: | |
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Snugly loop the seatbelt around your foam form. Cut with a seam allowance of about half an inch. See picture at left. |
| You will need four pieces cut in this fashion. Cut a fifth piece an additional half inch longer. Seam each piece end-to-end with a half inch overlap and set aside the fifth (longer) loop until later. After this step you should have: |
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| Step 2: | |
| Place the four equal loops on the form like so: |
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Note: This picture shows the initial weaving step. It is imperative that the "end" strap (pictured at left) loops over the bottom strap. This will maintain the bag's structural integrity and shape while in use.
Upholstery pins should be used to temporarily affix the vertical webbings to the form until the process is complete. Don't be afraid to leave an inch or so excess. |
| Step 3: | |
| Weave the side panels similarly, alternating the weave starting at one end and working toward the other. Once the entire side is woven take a moment to even out all of the webbing. The goal is to have a uniform appearance and structure like pictured below. Only when satisfied should you flip the form and do the opposing side. Be certain not to forget to weave the base! | |
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Step 4: |
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| When the weave is complete the assembly must be tightened and smoothed out. All gaps should be the same, hopefully nonexistent, and the horizontal loops firmly seated down into the vertical straps.
Once you are satisfied with the assembly it is time to temporarily affix the straps relative to themselves so we may remove them from the form. The best way I have found to do this is to staple them to each other. Start at one end, remove a pin, hand tension the vertical strap and staple it to the horizontal. Work your way around the form until all have been stapled. Once removed from the form it should be able to easily support its own weight and maintain shape. |
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Step 5: |
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| Now it is time to attach the hardware for the carrying strap. Cut two pieces of seatbelt about four inches long. Fold each piece in half so that the cut ends align and staple once to hold. Insert the folded section into the weave where you want the strap to hang from.
At this point it could be sewn in place or attached by some other method, but I have chosen to use rivets. The kit I originally purchased came with a hole punch and a rivet-set so the only other things I needed were a hammer and a sturdy board. Two rivets would probably be my minimum recommendation but beyond that it is just aesthetic preference. |
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Step 6: |
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| This step may be a bit difficult for me to relay in text. Remember the loop we set aside from Step 1? We need that now. The grosgrain ribbon should be wrapped around the seam area on the loop. Tack the loose ends together with some fabric glue, hot glue, or somesuch. It does not need to be a permanent fixative. |
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| The previous picture shows the zipper already in place so I'll cover that here. That's the part I anticipate some difficulty with. Fold the loop in half and place the ribboned seam in the center of one side. Mark the endpoints on the inside of both ends (where the creases are).
The zippers I use have about a half an inch of untoothed space prior to the beginning of the actual zipper. I start with that end abutting the crease mark from before and stitch along that whole side, stopping about half an inch shy of the other center mark. Repeat the process in the other direction maintaining the same margins used on the first side. When finished, close the zipper and check to see that it lies flat and that the center marks on the loop match the center of the zipper. It should look similar to the following: |
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Step 7: |
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| This is where the rubber meets the road. This is by far the most critical step to get correct. Any slippage or problem here will at best need to be reworked and at worst, result in rebuilding all or part of the main body.
That being said, this process is rather straightforward. We're going to insert the liner, affix temporarily (I usually break out the stapler again), and attach the zipper assembly to the main body in preparation for sewing. The zipper should be trimmed to length first, leaving about an inch and a half "tail," this will be critical to the sewing process. Insert the zipper assembly into the main body. Starting on the end, roll edge of the zipper assembly over to the outside creating a bound edge and pin. Work from side to side rolling and pinning. Pay careful attention to the state of the "binding" at this point. The tension should be even all around the body. Avoid pigeon-toeing the vertical webbings or having ripply excess. A test fit of the loop prior to attaching the zipper would probably be prudent. |
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| This is what the main body looks like when the top has been rolled and pinned: | |
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Step 8: |
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| I feel terrible but I can't help with this bit much at all. Sew the top to the body. Easily enough said but it can be problematic. The only guidance I can give is to not torque the body of the bag when jockeying for good sewing position. Any slippage of the vertical straps/liner will be painfully evident. |
Step 9: |
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| Home stretch. All you need to do now is attach the carry strap. Use the same riveting technique as before. Just be certain to fold under the raw edges of seatbelt. | |
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Notes: |
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| I suppose these instructions could seem a little intimidating at first glance but I assure you I have probably over-dramatized the process. These webbings are pretty easy to work with. To keep the cut ends from fraying I typically use a lighter to melt the fibers together. I have experimented with one of those nylon rope cutters (think hot-knife) but it just wasn't worth the hassle.
The process takes me a little less than 2 hours to complete. It is, of course, considerably faster if I am doing more than one at a time in an assembly-line type doohickey. Here's my finished product: |
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Answered Emails: |
| Q: Where can I buy seatbelt webbing? A: I used a few places to purchase the seatbelt webbings. The place I purchased from first is www.atrim.com. They allowed me to purchase cuts in increments of 1yd so it was very convenient. Another online source was www.lowyusa.com. They had an incredibly helpful staff but dealt in much higher volume. I believe the minimum order there was 100 yards but it depended upon the color. I also occasionally patronized my local upholstery supplier Rex Pegg (Tacoma, WA). The folks there are awesome but the selection was rather limited. Q:I would like to ask you, if I can use the pictures of your seatbelt-bags and translate your instructions into German to publish it on my website. For sure I will mention you as the copyrightholder. A: Absolutely! Send me a link if you remember, I would love to add it here. Links to German translation: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 It appears as though Part 3 is not/was never completed. |
| Wrap: | |
| This was quite a learning experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is the first I'd made in almost two years so I decided to document it.
My wife now has a considerable variety of colors to choose from. I suppose the most fulfilling part is being out with her and hearing the positive comments she receives. She'll then usually point to me and mention that I made it. The girls usually start fawning at that point...how can that not be worth it? |
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| Updated: 13 June 2007; Clarified outbound links and added German translation info Updated: 9 March 2006; Added email section and changed color scheme Published: 25 February 2006 |
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