Reprint: DIY shoe covers for rainy day riding

These were designed some fifteen years ago by Amanda Kovattana. A friend at Citybikes made a pair for her boyfriend and they lasted three rainy seasons before they needed to be patched and re-sealed. I've never made them for myself but if I can ever get someone to loan me a sewing machine with a heavy-duty needle and thread, I might just try one of these days. They're that cool.

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DIY shoe covers: Recycle old conference bags into useful cycling rain gear

Anybody who attends conferences usually has goody bags to bring home. Amanda usually donates her bags to Goodwill, but the bag from her latest trip was made of vinyl, "just right for raincovers for cycling."

She writes:

"I drew the pattern based on my favorite winter shoes, but they will fit over my Keen sandals too. Those spandex type covers sold to cyclists may look slick, but when you take them off all muddy and wet they wad into a stiff ball."

"I did make the bottom pieces bigger by sewing together scraps. Then I took apart the bag to salvage the vinyl piping to use to stiffen the top of shoe covers. I had velcro salvaged from another clothing item to sew on the ends so they would close over my heels. Both piping and vinyl were easy to sew on my machine."

  

 (Editor's note: The bottom of the bootie is a half-sole that runs only from the toe to the middle of the sole. The heel remains uncovered to avoid excessive wear, and also serves as a reminder to remove the covers when you get to your destination, and not walk around in them.)

"It only took me 3 hours to sew them up which gives me about $7.50 an hour given the price of the cheapest rain booties I could have ordered from Campmor, but no one else was paying me for my time yesterday and I didn't have to wait for them to be shipped."

 

"They have a clunky charm and the asymmetrical color combo is stylish. The gap between pants and raincovers won't matter too much because the flair of the pant cuffs seems to keep the rain off. And this way there will be some ventilation. Poor ventilation is the biggest complaint about rain booties. For traction I may run a line of Shoe Goo across the bottoms."

  This is a simple, good design and with the right material you could make a great pair of shoe covers that are similar in design and shape to Rivendell's Splats.
Bonus: You keep old bags out of the landfill and save money.

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