Chalk Bags
It’s been another month since I’ve been on the blog, and after a month without creating anything worth talking about I’m itching to sew all day long :) My first make in this new wave of sew-jo is a set of chalk bags for my sister and I. She’s been talking a weekly class at our local rock climbing gym and I’ve been enjoying rock climbing too!
After climbing with sweaty hands for a couple weeks we decided it was ridiculous to not spend the $10 to buy some chalk. And then I, of course, decided it would be equally as ridiculous to spend $10 on a chalk bag. I found this tutorial from We Are Explorers and read through the supply list. Webbing, meh. Grommet and setting tool, meh. Okay! On to sewing!
I did find some weird black strap material that I felt like was a distant fourth cousin to webbing and decided I could use some of that. And I knew a grommet is basically just a hole in fabric. People, I can make a hole. It turns out, I was right! This was one shortcut / lazy move that did not come back to bite. I made my eyelet by hand after messing around with my machine’s eyelet program and discovering I did not have the brain power to dive into the world of sewing machine manuals and eyelet settings. It was super easy to make it by hand and I think it actually turned out really good!
As for fabric, I knew I should have some sort of tough, outdoorsy fabric. But sometimes, style takes priority over durability. My sister liked the idea of using an old sweatshirt of hers and really didn’t like any of the three canvas/twill fabrics I suggested. So I used the tie-dye sweatshirt for the outside, and then used the fleecy wrong side of the fabric to line the pouch. It think this pouch will probably outlast our rock climbing hobby anyway so I’m not too worried about the durability. I used canvas and twill for my pouch exterior and then lined it with scrap from my sister’s sweatshirt.
I really wanted some sort of mountain motif on my pouch but the idea of embroidering on canvas - while possible - did not sound enjoyable. And twill applique sounded like a torture method. So I went with the obvious other option… FPP. It was actually a good choice! Once I had struggled through designing my FPP pattern it was super easy to sew it up. I made sure the FPP section was exactly in the center of the main exterior piece so it didn’t get chopped up weird when I boxed the corner of the pouch. I also added and extra layer of twill to the exterior pieces of both bags so that they would hold their shape better.
Luckily, I actually had some scraps of parachute cord to use for the drawstring closure, and I even had two cord locks! Possibly my favorite part of the whole process was using a fire lighter to melt the ends of the cording and the black tape I used for the loops. So fun. Does that make me a little bit of an arson? :) The two loops on the back were added in case I ever want to add a belt piece for rope climbing or so I could clip the pouch to my harness. For now though, we’ve mostly used them bouldering.
I am so happy with how these turned out and I love how much they are getting used right now. This was a fast and easy project that only used materials I already on hand. And I got to use random things like twill scraps and cord locks that I thought were gonna rot in my sewing basket before I used them! A great, super satisfying little project.
Project Overview: Chalk Bags
Time: 6 hours total
Materials: Sweatshirt fabric, canvas, twill, parachute cord, cord locks, and woven tape (or ribbon, or whatever its called)
Cost: $0
Pattern: DIY Chalk Bag for Rock Climbing: Step by Step Guide (weareexplorers.co)
Date: 9/23 - 9/30/24
