Saturday, April 23, 2011

Welcome to the Jungle

Helloooooo!!! Can I just tell you it does NOT feel like a long weekend? And also that I am very excited to eat things tomorrow? Now that THAT's out of the way...

A girl I work with is going to have her third little drooler in June, and she asked if I could make her a diaper bag. Her nursery theme is jungle babies, and for once Joann's had the perfect fabric in-store AND online.
 Isn't that as cute as the dickens? Whatever that means...must research origin of statement.
(They don't have the image of the fabric I used online anymore--but I love this adorable panel).

She gave me fairly free-reign with the design of the bag. This always makes me nervous because I start thinking "Should I add this or that? How many pockets? How big?" When I tell you I asked 57 million questions I might be under-shooting the actual number. She had sent me a few pictures of styles she liked, and they were all basic and simple. I still didn't know what to do, though. She wants to be surprised with the gender, so I was nervous it might look too boyish but I didn't know how to girl it up without making it look girlish. Last Saturday morning I literally sat up in bed and said "Piping!" Literally. I felt foolish only briefly because I had the answer I was waiting on for a few months. Yes, I've had the fabric for months with no ideas.

But it all came together so quickly, from start to finish. It was a design-as-you-go adventure, so it took me a bit longer than it would have if it was something I'd made before. But it's so cute I wanted to buy a baby to have an excuse to keep it:

I adore the little monkey the most. But I love the doofy little grins they all have.

This is the lining. When you open the bag it looks like all the little animals are playing Hide-and-Seek.

 There are elasticized bottle pockets on the sides. I sewed multiple rows on the handle to give them a quilted look. And then there's the piping...

I. Love this piping. I love how it's soft and springy, and I love how cutting it on the bias makes it look like lemon candy canes. I wanted to keep making yards and yards of this for no good reason.

 One final look...

I think it ended up being fairly neutral. The yellow makes it not all blue and green, and the animal ears give it a touch of pink without anything pink being added. The outside pockets are each supposed to be on the other side but I didn't notice until after the point of no return was reached. I really love the look the piping gives to the bag. I have another diaper bag to do (but a much smaller one) that I'm going to do the same basic design for. But first? I must eat candy and quilt my quilt. Priorities, y'know?

I'm linking up here:

The Girl Creativecraft

Sumo Sweet Stuff
 Today's Creative Blog
Running with Glitter
Anything Related
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Fantabulous Friday!
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Iron Violet Designs

9 comments:

  1. Oh wow! Such great fabric! You did a fabulous job!

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  2. I agree with you. The piping rocks! Once I made a diaper bag for a customer and I chose the colour brown because based on my own experience, it's the dad who ends up carrying the bag. As it turned out, the dad who ended up having to carry the diaper bag was very grateful to me!

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  3. This bag is amazing!!! You've done such a wonderful job:)
    Thank you for sharing and thank you for a good laugh (you have such a sense of humor hehehehe)!!
    Take care and happy quilting:)
    xo
    Eleni

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  4. This is such a cute bag, the fabric is so sweet!

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  5. oh that is lovely! it looks so sleek, and the piping is fantabulous!

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  6. Such a cute bag! I love all of the compartments, I wish I'd had one of those when I had my daughter. :) Thank you for linking this up to my Weekend Warrior party. It has taken me awhile to get around to visiting everyone but I am so thrilled to have people join in the fun and I hope to see you again next week! :)

    Anna
    www.askannamoseley.com

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  7. Saw you at Mama's Kinda Crafty. Love the bag! It is definitely neutral.

    You are right, all the animals do have "doofy" grins...it makes them endearing. :)

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  8. aw!! so precious. i love the print! such cute little animals :)

    Thanks for linking up to Your Whims Wednesday!

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  9. I love that fabric! When my first son was born a lady made me a quilt out of it by just using a large panel of the same fabric you used on the bag then sewing along all the lines between the animals. It's become the little rug that lays on the floor in front of every current baby's crib and so many hours have been spent by babies smiling and drooling at the animals! Cute bag!

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