Elkins45
Member
One of the life skills my Dad taught me was how to use a sewing machine so I could fix stuff and not just have to throw it away. I probably don't use my sewing machine except maybe every couple of years, but occasionally I break it out and undertake some sort of money-saving project like making a hammock or fixing a backpack.
This particular project was to make some pistol protector sacks. The padded ones you buy are great, but they are quite bulky and can also trap moisture. I don't have enough room in my safe for all the padding, so I decided to whip up some thin pistol bags from synthetic fabric so they will make more room and also not hold moisture.
The fabric I used is synthetic fleece. Being as it's 90+ degrees here now, the heavy winer fabrics are on sale in the craft section of Wal-Mart so I got the thickest ones they had for $2/yard. Yes, I know it's ugly. I also picked up a bag of thin nylon rope.
After a little experimentation I came up with this basic shape for the pattern and cut out a dozen from the amount of fabric I had
I measured across the widest spot, added a couple of inches and used my torch to melt 12 pieces of the nylon rope to make drawstrings. Step 1 in assembly was to fold over the mouth and sew the drawstring in place:
Next I folded them in half and stitched the two halves together:
The final step was just to turn them inside out (really outside in
) and tie the two ends of the drawstring together:
For less than two hours work and less than $10 I ended up with a dozen pistol protectors that will protect the finish of my handguns yet allow them to be stacked together to maximize the space in my safe.
If you have your grandmother's old sewing machine stored away somewhere, or if your wife likes to sew then I recommend this as a useful, easy project.
This particular project was to make some pistol protector sacks. The padded ones you buy are great, but they are quite bulky and can also trap moisture. I don't have enough room in my safe for all the padding, so I decided to whip up some thin pistol bags from synthetic fabric so they will make more room and also not hold moisture.
The fabric I used is synthetic fleece. Being as it's 90+ degrees here now, the heavy winer fabrics are on sale in the craft section of Wal-Mart so I got the thickest ones they had for $2/yard. Yes, I know it's ugly. I also picked up a bag of thin nylon rope.
After a little experimentation I came up with this basic shape for the pattern and cut out a dozen from the amount of fabric I had
I measured across the widest spot, added a couple of inches and used my torch to melt 12 pieces of the nylon rope to make drawstrings. Step 1 in assembly was to fold over the mouth and sew the drawstring in place:
Next I folded them in half and stitched the two halves together:
The final step was just to turn them inside out (really outside in
) and tie the two ends of the drawstring together:
For less than two hours work and less than $10 I ended up with a dozen pistol protectors that will protect the finish of my handguns yet allow them to be stacked together to maximize the space in my safe.
If you have your grandmother's old sewing machine stored away somewhere, or if your wife likes to sew then I recommend this as a useful, easy project.
