Diaper Bag - DONE!!!

I often underestimate how long a bag is going to take me to make. I have been making the Highline Tote by Betz White, and I have been working on it for over 3 weeks. Most days I have been working for at least an hour, so I am guessing this bag took close to 25 hours to complete. If I make the bag again, there are some things I will do differently, but on the whole, I am quite pleased with this bag.

Want to see it?

The bag has  a zippered top, and two large outer pockets. These pockets can hide the handles or straps that aren't in use. It has handles to carry it.

Some clever straps that can be used as a backpack or zipped together to carry on one shoulder.

A zippered pocket outside, under the flap, and another inside.

A divided slip pocket for diapers and wipes.

And a carabiner, to hang keys from so they can be found in a hurry. The middle of the bag has lots of room for a change of clothes, bibs, snacks, a book for Mommie to read.

When I finished the bag I was doing my final ironing, and I had my hand inside holding my tailor's ham, to smooth everything out. I got up near the top zipper, and I felt a lump in the seam. I put down the iron and the ham, and felt again. I discovered I had left a Wonder Clip inside the bag. So, I had to open the seam in the bottom of the lining, and fish the clip out. Am I the only one these things happen too?

I love to go to craft shows and get ideas. I usually come away without buying anything. However, this weekend, I went to an Artwear show and sale. This is what followed me home.

This lovely jacket is much more purple then the picture shows. (why do cameras hate purple?) While I am quite capable of making the hoodie, I would not have managed those lovely embroidered feathers. I expect it is going to become a frequent choice this winter.

A Diaper Bag

I received a request for a diaper bag.  We consulted and settled on the Highline Tote by Betz White. The tote was the September pattern for the Bag of the Month Club. (link in sidebar)

The tote has a lot of interesting elements, so, as usual, I have lots of pieces to put together. I am currently at Step 15 of 40. I have completed the two outer pockets.

I love the way the fabric is coming together.

The main fabric is "The Fox and The Houndstooth".

Aren't they dapper fellows?

The lining is "Polar Pals".

Canadian babies need silver foxes with toques inside their diaper bag.

There are a total of 4 zippers in this bag. The first is under the flap at the front.

I have long had a hard time sewing the hook side of hook and loop tape, because the hooks tend to catch my thread. I figured out that if you take your thread snips and clip off the tops of the hooks in the seam allowance, the problem is solved. Why didn't I think of that sooner?

We had a visitor on the weekend. My grandcat, Mike, was staying with us. He was a huge help in cutting and fusing the interfacing.

Thanksgiving

The turkey is in the oven. It is just a breast because the family came yesterday and wanted roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Today it is just us and the pets. Turkey fans, all.

Fall has finally arrived. It was 5C when we went walking this morning.  I picked this up on my walk,

I think it is quite interesting that the leaf still has some green. The whole tree had leaves that looked like that. The trees in the park this morning were many different fall colours, red, orange, brown and green. Time to get out the woolies.

I haven't gotten much sewing done this week. I had a bunch of meetings and waiting to do. That means I got a lot of knitting done.

I blocked the finished pieces this afternoon.

I bought a set of blocking mats a couple of years ago. My projects have gotten bigger, so a few weeks ago, I bought a second set. They don't mesh with the first set. My husband was going to the building supply store so i asked him to pick me up a set there (where I got the first set). Guess what! They don't mesh with either set. Now I am afraid to try again.  I was having a bit of trouble making them work for my shawl.

The Gondola Shawl is finished. I will take a better picture when it is dry. You can see where the mats are butted together. It's not a perfect solution.

These tiny socks are perfect carry along projects and use up the ends of my sock yarn. This pair is in size 12 months. I didn't try to make them match, because I wasn't sure I had enough yarn, but at least you can tell they are a pair.

A little hat, using a ball of My First Regia and a bit of leftover white from the lace socks of last winter.

I knit about half of this while I attended a very long and boring meeting. I can pay attention much better when my hands are busy. However, the gentleman sitting next to me kept staring at my knitting. I wasn't sure if he disapproved or was afraid of the wild woman with the pointy sticks.  I don't really care, because I have gotten a good start on a requested Christmas present. I love this yarn. I think I may have a second ball. It might need to become a hat.

Gotta Go Bag

My Dad had a silly thing he said, along the lines of " I thought I was wrong once, then realized that I was mistaken." Well, I did one of those today.

I completed my Gotta Go bag. I got the pattern on my last shopping spree. A friend bought it for me, after I promised to make her one. This is my first attempt and it's a good thing I am keeping it for me.

Here are those cute kitties at the movies.

That fabulous handbag is on the other side.

The bag opens into three compartments, and one of them is zippered. (Doggie fabric for the lining).

Card pockets and slip pockets in the outer compartments.

Inner zippered compartment is a bit smaller then the other two.

Room for your phone, a credit card, driver's license, a bit of cash, your keys, all the essentials. Perfect for a trip to a quilt show, or some other outing where you are taking a tote and don't need your whole purse.

Now, for the non-error that I then turned into a real error.

I thought I had put the zipper into the inner compartment, the wrong way, so I figured I would put the outer zipper in the opposite way to the pattern instructions and it would be fixed.

Sadly, I had done the inner zipper correctly, and now the outer zipper runs into the wrist strap. If I had put it in, the way the pattern said, the tail of the zipper would be tacked to the inner pocket on the other side, tidy and out of the way.

I also need to look at the whole construction of the bag. The directions have you scrunching the entire bag between the last pieces, in order to give everything a clean finish, however, the fusible fleece makes the bag very thick and the side pieces are quite small, so sewing is really difficult. My first thought is to use two layers of Shapeflex interfacing on the outer pieces, instead of fusible fleece. I might try canvas with one layer of interfacing, instead of the fleece. I also think a handbag zipper would work better then an all purpose one for the outer zipper.

I got a paper copy of the pattern at a LQS, but you can find a PDF version on Craftsy.