LOUD racquet cover

It’s been a while since I’d done a fashion garment or accessories post so I want to let you all know that I name all the things I sew as a way to quickly reference them. Here, I have a tennis racquet cover and so to play on, both, a verbal and written pun of racket and racquet, I am calling this accessory LOUD. I am also putting a double meaning in LOUD for the visually “loud” design these racquet covers will be since I can choose any fabric I want in making them.

Quite the clever and funny name, I thought! 🙂

LOUD racquet cover worn

This is just a prototype so I chose some fabric I didn’t like but which was suitable for the job. That turned out to be some garish Duke Blue Devils university print Norma in the Atlantic Sewing Guild once gave me. But it was cotton so it was easy to cut and sew. Actual versions won’t be “loud” in this garish sense, but likely a beach towel with prints larger than the tennis racquet itself. You can get an idea of what I mean by this loud Spider-man bath robe I made a few years back.

I made this tennis racquet cover not for show, ironically, but for practicality. I tend not to waste time making stuff I can buy or have. Someone at the local tennis club accidentally walked off with my racquet cover one day. They must not have brought theirs because there was none remaining at the end of the day for me to take home. So since I was at it, I figured I’d put in design and engineering to improve a racquet cover design, the way I do with my garments rather than make generic stuff. That’s how I make a good thing out of a bad situation in life.

First thing I did was eliminate the need for a zipper. They’re long zippers that are hard to find, and would be an extra cost. It’s also painstaking to put one on a strip barely the thickness of a tennis racquet, and then having to sew it on. Instead, I made a cover that is one piece on one side, and two pieces on the other, with something like a flip over lid above the widest part of the racquet face, so it can open and close easily, but not too easily. A button held down the top if desired.

Then I went to the strap. I hate those thin racquet straps that basically forces you to have to carry on the side if you want to sling it on your shoulder and not choke yourself. This is a wider band, which can also showcase some small design like the Duke name part way down. It’s more comfortable and you won’t choke yourself from the weight of the racquet, or if it got caught on something to pull you back by the strap.

The only slight drawback to this design that I see is that the racquet is held a little low on the back for my liking. I like the racquet face, or handle, to be sticking up higher. I guess I’m used to having swords hang that way, if you check out my Animatrix coat with built in sword holders, lol.

For future versions, I will correct this low hanging look by hanging the strap come out of the bottom half of the side with the opening and part way on the handle so enough of both ends will stick up above the shoulders. I will also put on a clasp to adjust the length unlike this prototype done quickly and cheaply just to test out all the design concepts. Finally, I will round off the butt end of the handle because the fabric crinkles a bit more than I’d like there.

I’m not sure when I will get around to doing the real version as tennis season is done for me so I won’t need to be taking my racquet without a case anywhere any time soon. Perhaps over the Christmas holidays? I’ve got a lot of other garments to be working on in the meanwhile!

Silver rating

I give each project a medal rating on how I did based on a variety of set factors, but no defined formula. It’s just for fun, after all. I’m giving this effort a silver because it went fairly well, especially for a prototype, but with enough things to fix for next time around. That plus I ain’t giving nothin’ with the Duke Blue Devils on it a gold, being a North Caroline Tar Heels die hard fan since the days of Michael Jordan! 🙂

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