Thursday, August 05, 2010

A school bag for Brooklyn

I finished my very first bag yesterday! It is a messenger bag for Brooklyn to use for school this year. She loves the over the shoulder bags so when I found the tutorial for the basic messenger bag on Larissa's blog Mmmcrafts , I knew I had to make it.

I bought all my supplies and then got to cutting out my pattern pieces. Once I had them all layed out I had a moment of perfectionistic panic.

Oh no! What I have I gotten myself into????

What if this turns out to be a total train wreck and I am labeled a failure forever?!?!? 

Take a deep breath Amy, you will never know until you try.

Ok...It's go time!

I made a pot of coffee, turned on some Hulu and got to work. It took me three days to make the bag because of having to stop to take care of the darn kids play lovingly with my children, but I got it done!

The part that took the longest was doing the applique on the front flap. Brooklyn and I decided to flip the flap so that the lining was on the outside and I am thrilled with the way that it turned out. My stitching is a little wonky on the letter, but the stitching around the heart is my favorite.


The tutorial was so easy to follow and I will definitely make this bag again and again. Thanks Larissa for a great tutorial that even a newbie like me can follow!!!

Here is the front

This is what the back looks like...Love the pocket, but next time I will make sure to put the opening for turning on the bottom. Grrrrr! Let it GO Amy.

This is the inside lining with three small pencil pockets and one larger pocket for um, hand sanitizer?

I will most likely be adding a D ring to the strap to make it adjustable because I made the strap a little too long. Also, the next time I make one of these I will be using a heavier fabric or adding a thicker interfacing to give the bag more structure.

I  am making a matching pencil case and tissue case to go inside her bag and have already collected some Smencils and note cards and a notebook to put inside as a surprise. :)

9 comments:

From The Land Of Green Tea said...

Way to go! It's awesome. Your daughter gets the coolest school bag ever. =)

Tammi said...

wow! I am seriously impressed Amy! you did amazing! Applique stitching seems ridiculously hard( I am practicing before I do some onsies) did you do the stitching on the appliques with your machine or by hand?

Amy @ Increasingly Domestic said...

Thanks:) I did the applique stitching with my machine. Tammi, we need to have a sewing party soon! Coffee, sewing and babies in playpens:) Let's plan it!

Tammi said...

sounds good to me!! It is so hard to sew with Hannah when she is awake I have to wait for her naps, but a play pen sounds like a plan!! and Hannah and Travis need to get some play time!

Larissa Holland said...

wow, I really love that polka dot fabric for the flap and lining! Thanks much for the link and very nice words on the tutorial. Great job, it looks wonderful. Now, really, let it go. ;-)

Miranda said...

I love those colors! great job, Amy!

Elizabeth Rand said...

Okay...I need to make this too! You are amazing Amy!! Did you learn to make this bag from your sewing class? Absolutely LOVE!!!

Rachel at Stitched in Color said...

Yah, Amy, it looks great. See... not hard, not hard!!!

Hey, did you change the name of your blog? I must be a blond ;0)

Amy @ Increasingly Domestic said...

@Liz: I used a tutorial I found online. The link is in the post.

@Rachel: Thanks! I did change it...wanted to ditch the last name thing. Plus I think it really describes who I am.

The most important thing she’d learned over the years was that there was no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one."
~Jill Churchill