A Finished Affair

Aren't my titles punny? 

Moving on...

I have finished the complicated diaper bag.  It did not turn out as I hoped.  I picked a lot of stitches, poked my finger a hundred times while handstitching, and got fairly frustrated.  

This bag really did take me 3 days to finish.  Ridiculous!  Usually I can be done in a day!

I sure hope my sister likes it now because I have finished with it and have no desire to do anymore work on it. You know how it gets after working on something that frustrates you and takes longer than intended and then doesn't turn out how you envisioned.  You simply don't want to look at it anymore.

Here she is in all her baggy blue glory.

Pretty and innocent enough from the outside

But then you see it... the rotten recessed zipper.

I tried to find a good tutorial for inserting a recessed zipper and they all seemed fairly easy.  But none of them were exactly like I wanted.  Most didn't have the top bands or the width this bag has.  So I spent forever and a day finagling this zipper into this bag.  Overall, not a failure, just not how I envisioned.

Plenty of pockets on the inside, just as my sister asked.

In other, less frustrating ventures, I made butter.  

My dear husband brought home a can of cream from the dairy he works at.  I made some oh so yummy cinnamon buns with some of the cream and beat the rest into butter.  

Fairly simple.  Just beat the cream until you get past the whipped cream stage and the buttermilk and butter start separating.  Then strain the buttermilk and knead the butter in cold water to remove any excess buttermilk.  What you are left with is yummy wholesome whipped butter. 

And some buttermilk, which I used to make banana bread.

Sure smells delicious in here!

A Complicated Affair

I am becoming a jack of all trades I think. 

Well, not all, but I am certainly sewing up a variety of things these days. Dresses, pillows, all different kinds of bags.

Right now I am working on a diaper bag for my sister who is expecting in May.  Her youngest now will be 5 when this baby arrives, so she needs some new baby things.  My calling was her diaper bag.

She chose an Amy Butler print, English Garden in Blue Stone, for the exterior.  

Lucky us, it was on super sale from Drygoods Design.  Must've been a good pick because it's now sold out.  

It's a gorgeous fabric, the nicest home decor fabric I have worked with.  I was surprised at how soft it still felt for being a heavier fabric.  It's also gorgeous!  The blue really pops against the the dark background.

Enough raving about the fabric.

I have made a few diaper bags before, and they were all messenger style bags - rectangular and with a flap pocket.

My sister wanted something different.  Something that resembled the shape of the Hobo bag.  So I searched and found this bag: 

Pleated, lined handbag.

I have decided it needs some modifying to be a great diaper bag.  First I decided to add some width by sewing a 3 inch strip of fabric all the way around the main pieces. 

I also changed the way the pleats lay.

Then it needed better pockets than the pattern gave, so I added full width panels of fabric with elastic on the top to make 4 large pockets all together. Perfect for holding diapers, wipes, extra sleepers, creams and the like. Just to keep things separate. 

 Lastly, instead of a magnetic snap closure, I am adding a recessed zip.  I have never done one before, but I shall succeed.  I figure a zipper will be better than a single point closure in keeping all those baby things where they need to be.

So far it is looking good.  I wanted to blog a finished bag today, but it is taking me longer than I anticipated.  That and I DO NOT sew after 9:30 because then it all goes wrong. 

Next time a finished bag.