And "Hers" Diaper Bag!

It took a few days to photograph and post, but I did finish all but a little hand sewing on Monday, one day before my due date. Yeah, no Raspberry at due date +3, which is very normal for first babies. But we've now got two diaper bags. So, we're as ready as we'll ever be!

Love this!

I LOVE how this bag turned out. Before you say anything, yes, I recognize that it's white.  A white diaper bag is just asking for trouble.  But the faux leather/faux basket weave fabric that I used for the bottom and outside pockets is very easily cleanable with a damp sponge or wipe. So, I'm hoping that it will hold up fairly well.

This is my fourth version of Butterick  B5005 (last sewn here). The versions on the Butterick website are very sweet, but I think I've shown that this can be a really chic bag, whether made as a diaper bag or a weekender. This is the first time I've sewn it using two different outer fabrics, which saved me the effort of having to pattern match the pockets, which I did in previous versions.  The second outside fabric is a white and silver/grey home dec weight fabric. Both outer fabrics are from Mood. I used a red cotton twill from Fabric.com to line the bag.

Again, there is nothing about this pattern, aside from the optional accessories, that specifically makes it a diaper bag. And after four times sewing it, I've really tweaked it to my liking, using hardware and altering the pockets to suit my needs.  But even out of the envelope, this is a terrific bag pattern.

I've really developed an expensive hardware habit. For this bag and it's accessories, the Lampo zipper, feet, magnetic snaps, D-ring, lobster claw and webbing straps all came from Botani, which has significantly expanded it's offerings over the last 1-2 years.

After making a zippered welt pocket for the inside of Phin's bag, I decided that I needed one too.

I sewed the other side of the lining according to the pattern, with a nice sized divided pocket which is perfect for diapers, creams and wipes.

 

Accessories
I also sewed some fun accessories for myself.

First, I made a great little fold over clutch like the one I made with the last version of this bag. This time I placed the magnetic snap closer to the top so the folded bag would be larger.

I also included a lanyard with a lobster claw on the inside of the bag so I can clip the clutch in by it's D-ring, like so...

Or closer up...

The second accessory I made was a diaper clutch - basically a changing pad with a pocket for diapers.

I looked at several diaper clutch or changing pad tutorials on-line, but there really weren't any that had all the elements I wanted. So, like with Phin's, I made this to the dimensions and with the methods I thought would work well for me.

Milkshake the Cow wanted to be in the picture "for scale".

The clutch folds in three and has a great little pocket for holding a few diapers and wipes for occasions when I want to just stick it into a different purse rather than carrying a diaper bag.  Like Phin's, I used a layer of batting for padding and iron-on vinyl to make the inside easy to wipe clean. The outer edges are bound in bias tape and I sewed a button and a small elastic loop on as a closure.

And that's it!

I have to confess that I'm pretty smitten with my bag.  I love the fabrics I used, crazy though white may be. I hadn't considered that Raspberry could be born in December, but with each passing day a white bag somehow seems more appropriate. 

And the bag and it's accessories are exactly what I wanted - lots of room and lots of options. It's not going to be entirely practical for every day use because of it's size. But when we go spend a day with grandma and anticipate needing things like extra clothing, bibs, burp cloths, toys and such, this will hold it all. And I think it's really beautiful.