I made both of these bags and panels, trolley adjustments in about 3 days from about late morning to dinnertime which is around 9:00AM - 6:30PM, not working overnight or lunch, tea breaks and house chores that is, that would be absurd. Breaks are what keeps employees motivated, better metal health and reduce over tiredness to prevent mistakes and accidents, time for socialising and talking. Something nasty bosses and MP's don't understand with their legal law of a 20 minute break in one day, it should be at least half hour (I like to see MP's stand all day, not eat, go to the toilet and only have a 20 minute break).
Chatting and "not socialising" (gossiping and b*tching) which my colleagues say I don't do, is what you shouldn't do during work hours. I socialise with the right people, if I like you in general and have a connection (it must be one of my hobbies, I don't watch soaps, have enough drama and b*tches in my life). Plus outside socialising usually costs more money, something I don't have enough of as my hobbies are prioritised my life. In fact I have a record of them treating me like an outcast, so it's not me "not socialising", it is them treating me badly from day 1 just because they are too stupid to decipher fact from fiction.
Cage Trolley & Shopping Bag
This is my new shopping trolley purchased off Amazon for £40.99, thought it is a great design as it is foldable and thought it could be used as a shopping basket as well, after a few personal changes. I will still use my very useful old £12.99 Lidl trolley as it has nice long handle and plastic platform base which I used to carry my mini fridge to and from university dorms. You could say, I have a trolley for every occasion.
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On the trolley, I've made panels out of white with silver bird scare metallic thread insect polyethylene mesh. This is see through perfect for anti-security following and strong enough provided it is not gashed with a sharp metal object. The panels are sewn with white hook and loop tape for attaching to the trolley. On the back, the mesh has been made into a pocket to hold a few small thin items. For instance, salami or compact umbrella, as is likely to fall through a couple of small gaps at the bottom of the trolley.
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Trolley with mesh panels added.
The trolley handle swivels; that can be kind of annoying when walking, so I've drilled a hole in the handle and added a stainless steel cleat pin with 'R' clip. A key ring and strap has been added, to hang on the handle of the trolley, so as to not lose these.
Cleat pin complete with strap.
Trolley bag before the re-sew.
The shopping bag has been fully stitch picked and made a few changes to the design. The grey straps and handles have been replaced by black polypropylene strapping, they have been moved to the sides from the front. New black snap buttons added to keep the bag flat when folded and the hook and loop tape to attach the bag onto the trolley has been removed. The lid of the bag has been lopped off, hook and loop tape added to make into a secure front pouch that is if I decide to use the bag a general shopping bag. I've added a draw string top to the bag with purple Ripstop fabric, to prevent fraying inside, the seams have been bound with more polypropylene strapping and the side seam French seamed.
Finished trolley bag.
The handle straps have been reinforced with box 'X' stitching.
French seam inside bag and webbing bound seam inside bag.
Drawstring opening made from purple Ripstop fabric, complete with toggle and zipper cord lock ends.
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Front secure hook and loop pouch made from flap of bag.
Trolley bag folded flat, handy to carry even without the trolley.
Luggage Trolley & Bag
This luggage trolley £23.99 is so handy, also from Amazon years ago, it is a foldable in design and fits perfectly in my locker at work. I've made a few alterations to the trolley and made a trolley bag to fit it which can also double up as a shopping bag. Sometimes I buy things on the way home from work, obviously buy too much that it gets heavy. As I walk to and from work, this will be very handy to carry shopping home from work or if I put too much water or food in my bag, it will be convenient to pull this along to work.
Added a top plate, to work as a platform on the trolley to prevent the bag and things falling through.
A4 top Plate of 5mm aluminium composite, with filed down corners and attached with upcycled small screws from my old computer.
Bottom of the plate is attached to the trolley bars on the base with plastic cable tie base pieces given to me by my sibling, and cut down VELCRO® brand One-Wrap®, this ensures easy cleaning if necessary.
The bag is very long and made it out of cute, grey elephant fabric, childish but cute. The rip stop is PU lined, though it can flake off once it is heavily creased or damaged, so it has been backed with black non-woven photography backdrop fabric. Both the rip stop fabric and photography backdrop is water resistant and will add added strength to the bag.
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Polypropylene black strapping has been sewn all the way down the front, back and bottom of bag which is one piece to intensify bag strength. The join is hidden well underneath the box 'X' stitching forming the handles.
Full length of bag, shows handle strapping goes all the way back and front.
More black strapping has been added to the top of the bag to increase handle strength and 'D' rings allow the bag to be carried once folded or used to attach as a shoulder strap.
Box 'X' stitch conceals join & 'D' rings on either side of the bag.
The seams on the outside and inside of the bag has been bound by more strapping to finish off the look and prevent fraying. I chose rounded bottom corners that were a pain to sew, they look nice, but I'll have to remember to use easier to sew straight corners next time.
Rounded corners and bound in contrasting black polypropylene webbing.
The top of the bag is completed with regular rip stop draw string top, the inside seam is French seamed to prevent fraying and give a neat look to the inside. I do not like flaps as they get in the way when packing and all they do is flap in the wind, a draw string top will keep things secure.
Drawstring top complete with black paracord, cord lock and ends. Plenty of space for more than just a couple bags of crisps.
Trolley bag can folded down to one third in size and stores away easily.
Hook & loop tape fastening, strap with lobster clasp to keep bag folded. Hook & loop tape generally deteriorates over time, so nice and long for ease of repairs in the future.
Shopping trolleys are usually associated and stereotyped to old ladies. I think with Covid-19 around, with funkier designs and longer handles, trolleys could take off. I hope no one mistakes me for a OAP going around town, the stigma that would be other than all the illegal slander which is already going around.
A lot of people look down on crafters, they expect us to sell things cheap to them without any idea of the cost of materials and the time to make products that they all love to buy and wear, so I be listing the cost of the second elephant bag just below. It will also drop in some reality for budding designers, university students as to how much a project costs. The number of students I've met at university who believe government grants will cover everything, or even their parents, who think you don't need extra money to study except to go drinking blowing it all away.
PU lined Elephant Rip Stop £7.99/Metre X2
Non-woven black photography backdrop around £9.99 (2 metres used)
Purple rip stop £7.99/3Feet
10 metres of black polypropylene strapping £3.97
Black hook and loop tape less than one metre 11p (normally sold by the metre with postage on top)
D rings X2 £2.49/10
Black paracord £9.99/30 Metres (about 1.5 metres used)
Zipper cord lock ends £4.13/50
Around 21 woman hours @ £8.72 (minimum wage) = £183.12
So this bag would be around £241 excluding profit, marketing and selling fees online in reality. Or in a shop; an assistant, electricity bill, rent etc. Britain's shops obviously rip off poorer workers and countries to do the work. However, ordering in bulk means you can use excess for future projects and cheaper than purchase a quantity of one. And you don't learn anything about making bags in fashion college/university.
