Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Showers of Love Part Deux: Baby Crafting

I promised a post about the diaper bag that I made for Polyhymnia, and here it is. I always forget how long it takes for the finishing touches - hand sewing a few places, trimming thread ends, removing any visible basting stitches, edgestitching and giving it a good coating of ScotchGuard. But I finished in time for her shower!

Look how well I lined up that front pocket!

Here's the bag from the side. Note the little end tab on
the zipper: my own addition to the pattern.



Here is the inside view of the bag, fully loaded and ready to go.
Oh, do you recognize those
onesies on the left?



Another view of the inside.

I really have to say again how much I like Butterick's construction techniques for their bags. It all went so smoothly and IMHO the end result is a nice looking bag. The features that I particularly liked are:
  • Ample size and pockets: This is a nice sized bag! I loaded it with diapers, travel feeding dishes, 3 sets of burp cloths (under the onesies), 3 onesies, wipes, baby powder, diaper cream, and all sorts of things. Plus 3 outside and 4 inside pockets provide lots of options for keeping things easy to find.
  • Sturdy construction - Now that I have used hair canvas to interface the bag, I can't imagine using anything else in the future. It is lightweight and doesn't add a lot of bulk, but it is very stable and strong. Even fully loaded, I didn't feel like the fabric was pulling or straining.
  • Zipper top construction - Zipper installation was a breeze and I love the styling of the zipper's housing.
  • Contrast lining - you could make this bag in one pattern or in a solid color, but I loved Butterick's pattern for it's fun use of contrasting fabric. For example, if you look in all of the outside pockets, they are also lined in the striped fabric. I also like how the inside of the zipper housing is in the floral fabric. It really makes for a fun bag that has some nice style.
  • Again, as with my last diaper bag, this one does not scream "here's baby!". It is a really fun and functional bag that, really, could be used as a weekender or a large tote bag. There really isn't any feature that makes it a "diaper" bag.
I will be making this bag again, for my sister-in-law and I expect it will go a bit quicker the second time around. However, I am not planning on any alterations to the pattern, unless Poly has suggestions. It really is a great bag, and I hope it will do the job well for her!

4 comments:

Rachel Eloise said...

I've made this bag two times and I find the zipper instructions to be quite frustrating. Both times that I followed the instructions, when I turned the bag inside out, my zipper was upside down. I'm really not sure where I'm going wrong. Do you remember much about the facing/zipper/turning point?

Clio said...

Oh no! That stinks. I think (and please keep in mind this is going back 2+ years)that when I read the directions I couldn't really see where they were going, but when I followed them to the letter (making sure that I was doing things exactly as written) I had that "aha!" moment and it all went together easily and beautifully. My advice would be to make sure all your pieces are well marked so that you are working with the correct pattern piece and that you pay close attention to directional instructions - right/wrong side together, zipper facing up/down, etc.

Clio said...

Oh and here is a picture of how the constructed zipper should look from the inside (ie from the wrong/lining side). - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OXcXpwb40Is/SowLzs5tqMI/AAAAAAAABsA/AsoGA9sEXYk/s400/latestcarddump+022.jpg

Rachel Eloise said...

That picture helps tremendously.

Here is where I posted my problem with it: http://sewersluts.blogspot.com/2009/08/diaper-bag-is-possessed-by-sewing.html

The Butterick diagram for the zipper install makes it look like the zipper is face down when you attach it to the facing, but looking at your in-progress photo, it looks like you would have had the zipper face up during Step 17 or whatever it is.

I have one more bag to make for myself -- I'm due in two weeks (!) -- so maybe I'll give that a try.

Thanks for your help!