My Sewpbox

Jamie and Lily flew back to New Jersey today.. the visit just didn’t feel long enough!  We did have enough time, however, to sew up a new diaper bag!  We used Butterick pattern 5005 with zebra (matching Jamie’s Christmas present) and polka dot fabrics.  The bag is lined with a nice, bright pink that matches the bright pink ruffly trim that we used to seperate the zebra and polka dots.

For the most part, I followed the pattern for this bag.  Some very small modifications were made — adding the pink trim and putting pockets on the back of the bag as well as the front.  Honestly, it seemed strange to call for pockets on the front and both sides, and not the back.

I did run into a few problems with this pattern.  The instructions were easy enough to follow, but I was unable to get hair canvas for the lining as the pattern called for.  Honestly, I had absolutely no idea what hair canvas was before this weekend.  We ended up picking up a regular sew-in fleecy type lining and it was much too thick.  The bag has a fantastic and plush feel, but the areas where the pockets needed to be sewn together (especially near the added pink ruffle) were nigh impossible.  I broke two needles in the serger and two needles in my regular sewing machine attempting to sew it together!  And I’m talking heavy-duty needles.  I finally ended up just threading a leather needle with a serger chain and giving it to Dan to do by hand (I had to have him do it because I lacked the strength to push the needle through the fabric)!

With all of that said and done, I am really pleased with how the bag and matching changing pad (which we also added a ruffle to) turned out.  I think the bag is very “Jamie” and also very unique!

I would definitely recommend this pattern if you are looking to make a diaper bag.  It was fairly simple to follow, is large enough to be useful, and has tons of pockets (especially if you add the extra back pocket)!  It took me just about all of one day and the next morning (perhaps 15 hours total) to make the bag, although I’m certain that if I made another it would take much less time.  Don’t make my mistake and choose an interface that is too thick, it really added an inordinate amount of work to this project.

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