08/08/2026
One of the highlight creations this summer was this removable shoulder strap pad!
Came out of the intention of reducing pain and adding comfort for my friend’s shoulders (“shouldies” as we like to call it) as we walk back from the farmer’s market with our respective bounties each week.
At first I thought I would just fold over felt multiple times and add snaps to pad the tote straps.
But after brainstorming with my dear BIL, AJ, who played the sousaphone in high school, I realized, it needs more than fabric to protect the shoulders, and prevent straps from digging in. Then somehow I remembered that if you soak cardboard in water for a couple days, it can get malleable. But it needs to dry completely (otherwise, mold). So I laid it over a water bottle to give it curvature.
Once that was done, I folded over excess felt underneath the completely-dry and rounded cardboard piece, and hand sewed over the whole thing, and added these snaps to make it removable.
The result was a very happy friend whose shoulders are nice and protected from heavy bountiful produce!
Love it when an idea works!
✅
Curved cardboard
Practicing putting on snaps. Much more challenging than jt looks!
