* Rope Bag
Posted on April 14th, 2003 by maitreya. Filed under Projects with Instructions, Sewing/Fabric Crafts.
Mark has recently taken up rock-climbing. We made a rope bag to carry his climbing rope in. These things are $40 at REI, and it wasn’t too hard to make. This one zips up into a tube around the rope, and cinches at each end. When you open it, a tarp folds out to make a nice size area to throw your rope.
Items:
- 1 yard x 4 feet piece of waterproof fabric (Joann’s only had one type), on sale: $5.50
- several yards of webbing: $0.89/yard at Joann’s, but similarly cheap and of better quality at REI
- 2 pieces of yard long webbing with clip buckles on it (cheaper than the buckles at Joann’s): $2.00 each at REI
- strong thread
- buckle for adjusting the handle: $0.80/3 at REI
- 2 yards of shot cord: $0.15/foot at REI
- 2 cord holders, like you might find on the strings on a jacket: $1.25/2 at REI
- 2 foot long zipper: $2.00 at Joann’s
The fabric is really up to you. Mark wanted it waterproof, so we chose a flimsier fabric than we might’ve if Joann’s had a better selection. Their waterproof fabric is a piece of nylon with a coating on one side of some rubber-like substance (which is empirically not ironable!). A piece of canvas would be nice, too.
First, cut the fabric into 2 2 foot x 3 foot pieces. This is exactly in half if you got the yard of Joann’s fabric. One piece is for the bag and the other is for the fold-out tarp. Fold under and sew down 3 sides of the tarp piece to make a nice edge.
cord sleeves and fold-out tarp
Fold down about an inch on each long side. Pin it so it makes a nice seam. It is ideal to pin the fold-out-tarp piece under one of these seams so that you only have to make 1 seam. (When I made this one, I neglected to think that far ahead, so it has an extra seam.) Since you can’t iron the seams before sewing them down, try to keep things even as you go through the machine. These are the sleeves for the cinching cord. If you want to use grommets or buttonholes for the cinch cord holes, you need to put them in before you sew the channels. Since my fabric doesn’t fray, I just cut slits (see cord part of instructions).
zipper and internal webbing loops
On the short ends of the bag-piece, position the zipper so it topologically works out. Fold the piece around to make sure that it’s right. (I managed to sew mine on inside out, and Mark had to undo the little metal rivit to get the zipper part off to turn it around.) It’s easiest and strongest and looks nice if you first position the tape edge flush with the edge of the fabric, sew down that with a zipper foot. Now, fold it back so the zipper teeth are facing the right way and you have a nice folded-over area next to the zipper. Top stitch this part down, again with the zipper foot. At the same time, position a couple of webbing loops under this seam so you can tie in your rope if you wish. If you burn the cut edge of the webbing, it won’t unravel.
webbing for handle reinforcement
You want to put the handle about a quarter of the length of the fabric in from one short edge (i.e. parallel to the zipper). This puts the zipper and the buckles on the side of the bag when you carry it. Pin one piece of webbing (with burned ends) along the length of the bag (not including the cord channels) and sew it in place.
cinching straps
These straps run perpendicular to the piece you just sewed on, and are for cinching the bag around the rope so it’s snug. Use the 2 pieces with the snap buckles, or use 2 normal pieces and put the buckles on later. These need to be loose for some of their length so the fabric can gather. Start with the buckle end close to the zipper and pin it about a quarter to a third of the way in from the cord channels and about a quarter-length from the other end of the fabric. This should leave long tails. When you sew it down, reinforce the ends with a little crossed square since these will take some stress.
handle
Thread a short length of webbing through the adjustable buckle. Fold in half and sew down both ends flush with the end of the reinforcment piece. Cut a piece of webbing long enough for a handle, with a tail for adjusting it. Sew one end flush with the end of the reinforcement opposite from the one with the buckle on it. If you want, you can buy a piece of padding to put on the handle.
If you didn’t sew on the tarp earlier, you can do it now, along one of the cord channel seams.
cinch cords
Cut the rip cord in half. Cut a little slit in the middle of each channel for the cord to come out of. Thread the cord into the slit so the end’s all the way at the zipper seam. Sew back and forth over this to secure it. Do the same 3 more times until there’s a length of cord in each channel, secured at both ends. Thread a cord-holder on each one to use to cinch it.
Sorry to take so long to add pictures. This is still in active use in 2010!
3 Responses to “Rope Bag”
books I’m in
Categories
- Art
- Blythe
- Chickens
- Craft Room
- Crafty Links
- Crafty Review
- Crochet
- Cross Stitch/Embroidery
- Experiments
- Felting
- Fun with Lab Supplies
- Gocco/L Letterpress
- Holiday
- Home and Garden
- Inspiration
- Jewelry
- Knitting
- Martha
- Paper Crafts
- Projects with Instructions
- Random
- Resin
- Sewing/Fabric Crafts
- Toys (cat and kid)
- Uncategorized
- Wants
Blogroll
- a Stamp a Day
- Becca Stadtlander
- Cool Season Gardening
- ericamulherin.com
- Feeling Stitchy
- Frocks and Frou Frou
- Garden Mentors
- garden therapy
- Gardening in Seattle
- Hip Chick Digs
- Karen Barbe
- King County Seed Lending Library
- L I S A ‘ S – M U S I N G S
- Little Big Girl Studio
- Little Green Doll
- Lopez Island Kitchen Gardens
- Noodlehead
- Northwest Edible Life
- not martha
- Osborne Seed Company Variety Trials
- perdi o fio à meada
- Purl Soho
- Rake and Make
- Raspberry
- Salty Oat
- Seattle Urban Farm Company
- Sky Nursery
- Wee Wonderfuls
- Windy and Friends
- Wise Craft
Archives
- June 2019
- December 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- December 2017
- September 2017
- February 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- January 2016
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2013
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
April 21st, 2008 at 10:16 am
I would love to see a picture of that. I copied your directions and they seem to make sense but a visual would be great. I’ll be making one in the next few days. Thanks
May 31st, 2010 at 7:10 am
ditto. i’d really like to see a picture of how this turned out.
August 27th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
i hate this theres no pic