a really long post about "project diaper bag"

i do not know what possessed me to make my own diaper bag. seriously. For a girl with pretty much NO sewing skills to speak of before i decided to do this, it was a pretty ambitious undertaking. you much first understand how afraid i was of my sewing machine. i was pretty much unable to sew a straight line without breaking or messing something up on the machine (in hindsight...i don't even understand what my problem was because this sounds ridiculous). i could SOMETIMES successfully mend something. (aka: sew up a hole on a seam or re-sew a strap that had come detatched from a dress.) but as simple as these things sound, i would not have felt 100% confident doing them. 

ri-dic-u-lous. 

anyway, so i found a picture on pinterest of a diaper bag that i loved. but there were 2 problems. 1) the diaper bag was on etsy, and was thus one-of-a-kind...and had just been sold. and 2) sorry etsy seller, but i don't care how adorable that bag is, even if you HADN'T already sold it, i wasn't going to pay $100 plus shipping for it...no ma'am.

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/78456633

so, since my sewing skills were improving slightly, as you'll see in the picture below of the plethora of ties i had constructed (mind you they consist of sewing a rectangle of fabric into a tube and then hot gluing it into a bow...so still not sewing-rocket-science here people), i thought to myself, "hey, i can just MAKE a diaper bag and then it will be to my exact specifications and in exactly the patterns/colors i want!" 

i do not know why it did not occur to me at this point that i was crazy...that perhaps sewing a rectangle into a tube was not the only pre-requisite for sewing a much more complicated bag. whatever. so i went to the store, found the PERFECT fabric (possibly the same exact fabric used on the etsy bag i used as inspiration) and some red fabric for the inside and interfacing (i didn't even really know what interfacing was, but lots of the bag tutorials i looked at online used it, so i got some. probably a good move)

then i went home and promptly tied the bag of supplies up and didn't open the bag for a month. this is not to say i wasn't working on the bag, just that i was TERRIFIED to cut into my beautiful chevron fabric when i still felt completely unprepared to make a diaper bag. i proceeded to make bags. bag after bag after bag. i think i made 5 bags out of scrap fabric as "practice bags" to work on different elements of the final bag. remember here that i was working with NO pattern, just a few pictures on etsy. the first bag i made was little. mostly just to practice using the sewing machine. it was pretty much two rectangles with a handle (but it did have a gusset...which is, btw, a word i think sounds so gross) so that was something! piper likes it. the next bag was too tall/square, but it was cute and it does have interior, elastic pockets, and i've used it to carry stuff to church, so not a total waste. bag 3 was pretty much the right size and shape, just a little too short, with interior pockets (elastic and non-elastic) and an exterior pocket the length of the bag and top-stitching, but it looked a little too plain, so i decided the pleating on the front and back was a must (even though it really screwed with my brain when trying to figure out how large to cut my initial pieces). bag 4 had pleating and a panel across the top, but it was little and was never REALLY a contender for the final product, just something to practice those elements (another purse for piper). bag 5 was the right size and shape with pleating and a top panel. in fact, i didn't even finish it because at this point i realized i had figured out the right dimensions for all the bag pieces and was ready to work on the real thing.

i CAREFULLY cut out my pieces for the bag, actually ironed them (seriously people, i did NOT realize how huge a difference ironing can make when sewing...because 1) i never sewed. and 2) i was lazy and probably wouldn't have ironed even if i DID sew), attached fusible interfacing to the fabric and got down to the sewing. i was super cautious and spent most of the next day or 2 working on the bag.  and i am pleased to say that with very few issues along the way i have a beautiful (don't look TOO closely, it IS homemade after all) diaper bag that i LOVE. elements of the final bag: fully lined and interfaced (no wrong-side-of-the-fabric showing anywhere), double top-stitched, interior pockets (elastic and non-elastic), full-length exterior pocket, adjustable strap, magnetic closure, interior snap strap for attaching coin purse (yet to be made). 

seriously though, if you're even still reading, you can SURELY tell how excited i am about this bag! i am so proud of myself for setting a goal (even though it seemed ridiculously lofty at the time) and then taking all the steps to get there. i learned lots of new skills, and i am so much more confident at the sewing machine now. assuming i ever blog (hah, good one, right?), i'm sure i'll have lots more posts about the cute stuff i'm making for baby boy and of COURSE for piper, because she is super fun to sew for (seriously, simple skirts take like 30 minutes including ironing, and i like the instant gratification of having a finished product in so little time...especially after the saga that was this diaper bag)

i'm kind of sad that i didn't take any "during" pics of making this bag...but i'm sure there will be lots of "after" pics of me using it later :)