handpainted bicycle seats

This spring, while sprucing up my old Schwinn, my mind’s been wandering to other ways to share my love for 2 wheeled modes of transport. I had so much fun designing and making my bicycle seat that I decided to make a few more and see how they do at markets.

I was able to get these seats for an incredible deal from a guy who sells junk bikes for parts. These were already in great shape when I picked them up, and then I cleaned them and set them in the bright sunshine. The next step was to make a canvas cover for each seat. There’s no pattern for this part; each one has to be made individually. The top and sides are triple stitched for some incredible security, and then glued and stapled onto the saddle.

Now comes the fun part. I love coming up with designs to enhance the bike riding experience. The heart and stars design reminds me of riding up an incline that you think is too much, that you’ll have to get off and walk up, but finally pedaling to the top and then flying down the other side. I call it Heart It Races, from the Architecture in Helsinki song.

Fleur de lis designs are also awesome for New Orleans. Although the shape repeats, every seat is painted with different colors and lines. Every one is unique!

There’s no end of puns to be made about trips with this mushroom seat, so I’ll just save them for Etsy. If you come up with any good ones please leave them as a comment on this post. Maybe some psilly psycling will spark the imagination.

When the painting is finished I cover each seat with several coats of a glossy sealant. This keeps the colors bright and also makes the seats highly water-resistant. These seats can all be personalized with a name to make them extra awesome. I’m selling them for $60 each at art markets and Etsy.

I can also trick out the seat you already have! I can paint one of my own designs or we can come up with something specific to you and your wheels. Shoot me a message if you’re interested.