Something for the grands.........

When I gave our daughter her Sling Along Bag Nora loved it and so she called me and asked me to make her a bag.  It is way too expensive to make that bag (I'm going to write a break down of costs post on that next week) but I said I would make her another bag and asked her what she wanted on it and she said owls.

Remember the post from yesterday and the owl fabric?  I decided to get some of that.

When I went to the store they didn't have any in the teal colour, just yellow and red.  I chose the yellow owls, which turns out to be a drapery fabric, which is quite canvas in feel.  Luckily it was on sale for 50% off, but still cost $16.00 a metre.  Now as you know I have six grandchildren; the youngest nearly 1 years old and the other's between nearly 3 to 6 years of age.  When I make something for one I make for all of them.  So as there are two boys in amongst the six I knew the yellow owls wouldn't work, so picked up the fish print and I picked up the green as lining.  They were on sale for $10 a metre.  Those two fabrics are indoor/outdoor fabrics.  All fabric was from Fabricland.

 So what did I make for the five eldest, Kid's Messenger Bags.  I used this pattern but will give you a couple of suggestions and ideas.  The owl ones are for the two eldest girls.  The fish ones are for the two youngest girls and Sammy.  I did not make one for the baby.

 Super cute eh?  A perfect size for a child.  I used cotton webbing which I get from DailyLike Canada  for the straps.

 Now one thing I did differently was due to the fact I had directional prints and I didn't want my owls or fish being upside down on the back of the bag which would have happened if I had only cut one piece of material for the exterior, as it says in the instructions.   I cut two pieces of fabric which were 12 inches wide by 9 inches high; instead of 12 inches wide by 17 inches high.  9 inches high to take into account for the 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Now despite me doing this I still managed to sew one panel upside down😔  Luckily the front flap covers it, so you don't notice.  I put in magnetic snaps in three of the bags.

 Although I didn't, you could add inside pockets very easily.

 In two of the bags, I added buttons for closure.  As Sam and Jeina are getting the same print bag, I added a bird button to Jeina's so it's different.  The owl one with the silver button is for Nitara.

This is a fun project, BUT my poor machine was not happy sewing through the many layers especially when sewing the inner and outer bags together where the seams and handles are.  I used a heavy duty Jeans needle because if the weight of the fabric.  

This pattern could be sized up no problem and I have a few ideas on what else I could do with it.