Rachel's Bag

Rachel starts school this year, which, of course, had me doing lots of sewing to prepare her (see the Library Bag and the Pencil Case). But the big thing she needed was a school bag. Initially I did an extensive search of bags for her that I could just purchase. We had gotten Sophie a great bag online so I was hopeful to pick up something similar but when a little girl loves bugs as much as Rachel does, it really decreases the scope of cool bags you can get. 

So I was left with only one option. Sew a bag. 

It started with a long trip to Spotlight to source some appropriate fabric. This too, was so difficult! Why are there no cool bug prints in fabric that is also suitable for a bag?! My final fabric choices were not exactly what I was hoping for given the limited selection, but still good.

Rachel went through a whole phase where she invented a creature called a "whaledragon" which had the head and wings of a dragon and the tail of a whale. It could be a thing. Anyway, she got light blue with whales, dark blue, purple for the interior and that fun dragonfly print for highlights. Here is a progress shot of pieces in a half sewn state. Note my essential cup of tea.

This was the moment that I lay out the pieces and thought to myself that the bottom of the bag looked to be not the right size. I was correct, it was not the right size. I don't know why, but I just added some more blue and it looks ok, if not better.

This is me also checking the position of the straps. I literally just copied Sophie's entire bag for this adventure, so there it is on the left showing me where to put straps: on the back, as it were.

Ta da! A bag! I couldn't get a zip for the main section long enough at Spotlight, but I was talking about it with some schoolyard friends and one of them offered me a perfectly sized one from their horde. Winning! They also donated the things (buckles?) on the straps to make them adjustable. Thanks schoolyard friends!

Again I realize that this post makes it seem like I just sat down and made a bag and it was no problem at all. But hours of work were involved! Measuring and cutting took nearly two hours; so much thinking!

Then, I decided this would be a great Christmas present, so I had to sew it when Rachel wasn't around and I had a limited number of other children present to enable me to actually sew. There was lots of sewing during naps and having to pack up and hide stuff in between sewing sessions.

Anyway, after some hard core sewing, the bag was done. Fully lined with a welt zip pocket in the inside as well as a slip pocket. It has a zip pocket on the front and two side pockets as well.  Functioning zips everywhere! The back and straps are also padded for comfort. Rachel is ready for school.