How to Make a Bicycle Seat Cover

You know riding a bicycle in the rain is not a pleasant experience. The bike seat can quickly get wet and squishy, which in turn can chafe your legs. A bicycle seat cover can help prevent this from happening. Plus, it can also give your bicycle a unique identity of its own.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 1 yard waterproof fabric such as oilcloth
• ½ yard of ¼-inch wide elastic
• Thread
• 1 safety pin
• Marking utensil such as a pen, pencil or tailor's chalk
• Ruler
• Sewing machine
• Scissors

1. Trace the outline of your bicycle seat on a piece of paper. The outline doesn't have to be exact. Once you draw it, fold the paper in half.

2. Redraw the lines for the pattern more symmetrically. Cut the pattern out, leaving ¼ inch extra for seam allowance. Set the pattern on bicycle seat to make sure it is close in size.

3. Mark the fabric based on the seat online. Also, measure a 34-by-4 1/2 inch piece of fabric. This is the base of the cover.

4. Fold a ½-inch seam down the long side of the rectangle with the wrong sides together. Stitch 3/8 inch from the folded edge.

5. Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic. Push the safety pin and its elastic into the seam you just created. When the end of the elastic enters the tube, stitch it in place. Continue feeding the safety pin and elastic through to the other end of the seam. Pull pin out, and sew this end of elastic in place.

6. Complete the base of the cover. Put the wrong sides of the fabric together. Sew the edges in a ¼-inch seam.

7. Sew the base piece and the top piece together after matching the wrong sides together. Remember to backstitch. If the base piece is too large, make a deeper seam than the ¼-inch original. If the base piece is too small, trim some fabric from the top piece.