Nature Explorer Bag

Rachel got a lot of nature presents for her birthday, being the bug lover that she is. She was so excited to go and look for insects and collect things on walks with her new treasures, but unfortunately, none of it came with a bag. The sewing mum in me responds to this predicament quickly: "Duty calls!"

I did a quick google for Nature Explorer Bags and found this pattern that I had seen a few years ago. I'll be honest, it doesn't have an exhaustive list of instructions or pictures, so you really need to know what you are doing to use it, but for a free pattern which meant I didn't have to guess sizes, it was perfect.

I did go to the stash to try to use up fabric for this project, but I didn't have anything sturdy enough for the outside of the bag that was really Rachel. I had white stuff, not ok for something that is going out into the wild, and some blue from the shorts I made for Sophie (here), but that seemed not great either, so I did splurge a bit and got more than enough of this great Japanese fabric from Spotlight.

The inside and trims of the bag are entirely from the stash though, the lady bugs are the last of the material that I made Rachel's Easter dress from, the floral is from some skirts, and I don't know where the blue check is from, but I assume a mysterious donation bag. I got the vinyl for the see-through pocket from one of those plastic pouches that sheets are in when you buy them. I even cut it so I could reuse the press studs, though I feel that was overkill now.

It's got pockets on the inside for all her insect collecting tools, and extra pockets on the outside for whatever. There is loads of space on the inside too. We took it for a road test to the part this morning and the kids played with it for over two hours, running through the bush, collecting bugs, looking at ants. It was great.

The thing that they all love is this compass that I spontaneously added. I think it came out of a Christmas cracker one year, so it doesn't work well (if at all), and I'm not sure why I kept it, but they love having it there. It's hooked on with a lanyard clip that I recycled from one of Steve's conferences. The adjustable strap clips came off my last backpack that I wore until the seams fell apart. Not sure if I'm hording too much stuff, but at least I'm using it up!

I love this bag for it's functionality, it's awesome bright material and it's total usability. Rachel loves it. We may go no where without it again. The only lament I have is that I sewed the front flap material on upside down and didn't realise until I had unpicked the top stitching twice and finally got it right the third time round. Rachel does not mind though, so let's go exploring!