Last year I built a bike box for my eBike – eBike Build, which resembles the back end of a Morris Minor Traveller ‘woody’ station wagon – Woody Bike Box.

However, when carrying items, especially wine bottles, I was worried that the bumpy ride might break the bottle. That would not make me happy when en route to a picnic lunch. What’s a picnic without wine?

So, I came up with an idea for some box padding. Of course, I do not sew, so I had to employ my favorite seamstress with the task.

My thought was to make a rectangular pillow that when folded, would cover the bottom and two ends of the box.

I had some leftover foam, which I cut to the desired size. The fabric was from a shirt that I purchased long ago, at a vintage clothing store in San Diego, CA.

The print, which has colorful, stylized sea lions on it, was produced in 1948 by Ganter & Mattern Co. That means this fabric is 74 years old (as of this post date). The shirt (what is left of it) was pretty threadbare in places, so we had to pick and choose the best pieces.

I decided that the sea lion print would only be on the ends, and the body would be black fabric.

Here you can see the remainder of the shirt, and one end of the form sewn.

In this picture, the pillow form is complete and stuffed with foam, and is laying on top of the bike box. I simply fold it in position to cover the box bottom and ends.

The wine (oh, the food too) will now arrive safe and secure. Let the picnic begin!