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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

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Time: 5h00

Practical made chic and waterproof!
In advance, my english is not perfect, please do not hesitate to ask if something is not described in an understandable way :)

So I really like backpacks. They are practical, easy on the back and as with most big bags, I can fit almost everything into them. But... They are rarely easy on the eye. And the ones that are, cost a fortune, plus they are not made to carry things as much as to just look pretty. In my experience anyway :)
So I set out to create something practical and fashionable. I really like the look of leather, but as a vegan I need to find alternatives. And bicycle innertubes are just the perfect free way of getting that look. Then I paired with an old ugly backpack of mine for supplies, and some colorful zippers and suddenly I had created the perfect packpack, for all my needs :)
This project calls for a bit of improvisation a long the way, since it is very unlikely that the bag and tubes you find are the same as mine. So there will be different sizing and maybe even parts you cannot get a hold of the same way as I have.
Even so, it is quite easy to just figure out another way of doing things, because most of the way you will just copy the shape of the original bag.

I already made the bag when I decided to make a tutorial and I did not have another old bag to show it again. But I promise to post better pictures if I make another one :)

Posted by BanDitte from Denmark, South Carolina, United States • Published 31st August 2010 • See BanDitte's 4 projects »

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Step 1
First, gather your supplies
You need:
A lot of innertubes, the ones that does not have a 'fold' on them, but just plain round. See picture on step 4.
(Read on, instructions for handling them will follow)

An old backpack, with padding on the back and good quality armstraps. I used an Eastpack with three rooms, kind of like this:
http://www.eastpak.com/shop/catalog/control/product?category_id=ROOT_BAGS&subcategory_id=COLLEC_AUTHENTIC&product_id=EK050236_00_999&breadcrumb=yes

5 zippers in different lenghts:
1 for the backroom 65 cm
4 for the fronroom:
1 x 20 cm
1 x 25 cm
1 x 30 cm
1 x 35

For thread I used fishingline, which is very cheap and very durable.
You also need a leather needle, not too thick, but strong enough to perforate layers of rubber and with a needle eye big enough for the thread.
If you have a strong sewingmachine, you can make it on that, but I actually like the look of the nylon.
Step 2
Measure your backpack.
Mine was 40 cm long, about 30 cm wide at the bottom and then it gets smaller towards the top. The bottom, that should be without a zipper was 62 cm from one side to the other and the top part that should be zippered was also 62 cm long

The reason for this is, that we are going to make the same basic form of the old backpack, so that we can use the parts in the most effecient way.
Step 3
Now you need to take your backpack apart.

What you need from it is:
The backpart, with padding
The armstraps
The long zipper for the big room
The piece of fabric that divides the two rooms in the bag.
If there is one, the small pocket for pencils, wallet, keys and such.
The handle on the top.
The long strips covering the places the bag has been sewn together. (I don't know what they are called in english)

You can definitely make these things yourself, but after many failed attempts of different kinds of bags, I have come to the conclusion that this way simply makes it look more professional.
Step 4
And now for the innertubes.
One tube makes for several strips and there are many tube sizs so I can't give an excact number of tubes needed.

Cut the valves off of the tubes and cut the tubes up so you have long flat pieces of rubber. It is easiest to cut along the strips on the rubber, to get a straight line.
Wash them with soap and water to get rid any dirt and talkum.

Cut out the needed stripes:
(The given cm measurements are for the bag I made. Remember to use your own measurements and be aware that the width of the tubes are not neccesarily the same)
5 strips, 35 cm long and 9½ wide for the front.
6 strips, 32 cm long and 7 cm wide for the top and bottom sides
2 strips 32 cm long and 6 cm wide for the top with zipper.
Step 5
Start with sewing the front of the bag.
Use the zippers to sew the five stripes together, making sure that they will be in the middle of the bag when you need to attach it.
Step 6
Billede af ryggen af tasken

Attach the bottom and top strips to the fabric back you got from the old bag. Remember that the straps and handle need to be reattached now. Fold the ends of the stripe to make a prettier place for the zipper to go.
At the same time sew on the top strips. They are shorter because the zipper also takes up some room. About a cm or so.
Step 7
Sew one side the zipper on to the top strip and attatch it to the folded part of the bottom strips.
Step 8
Now get the middle part, 'the room divider', that is probably made out of some ordinary fabric.
Use a sewing machine to attach the small pocket, so it will face towards the front room, with the colored zippers.

The picture does not show it very well, I hope you understand what I mean.
Step 9
Turn your bag inside out and sew the 'room divider, now with pocket, on to the bottom strips of the back room and the zipper on the top. Now you should have created the back room.

My drawing is when the bag is not turned out, and the green is where the fabric is supposed to be attached.
Step 10
Sew on the strips for the second room on top of the back strips in the bottom and the zipper at the top.
Step 11
Attach the front to the striops to create the second room.

This is a bit tricky. I did not add a top zipper to the second room, so when attaching the front you sort of have to work from the inside, zipping af unzipping as you go along. But it is possible, just be patient.
Step 12
And finally you just need to hide the places your bag has been sewn together. As I said earlier I don't know what those pieces of fabric are called, but the picture should explain.