I sewed something from an actual pattern...and here it is:

I finally finished the Amy Butler nappy bag, and am just a little proud of myself. I think it is a pretty easy beginner pattern (considering I only found it slightly perplexing). It's definitely HUGE--I should have taken a picture of me wearing it, but I think the model on the front of the pattern must be about 6 feet tall, comparing how the bag looks on me to how it looks on her. It would also make a good gym or random carryall bag--the only "diaper bag" things about it (other than my choice of material) are two bottle pockets, which I left off anyway, and the changing pad, which you can skip.

I used Alexander Henry Starling fabric in pink for the outside, and Amy Butler's Full Moon Polka Dot fabric in Lime for the lining (it was really hard to find and I needed a lot of it; I bought half of what I needed from an Etsy seller, and she sent me the rest when she got a new shipment in. The dye lots don't match perfectly, but I don't think it's too noticeable). It also calls for canvas as the interfacing for the bag, and terry cloth for the changing pad. FYI on canvas--do NOT prewash canvas. I found that out the hard way; the pattern says prewash all the fabrics, and after scouring the internet and conversing with Mama, I did just that. But the canvas wrinkled horribly--I spent 20 minutes on it with the iron, and eventually just chucked it and bought more (luckily it's pretty cheap). So I guess I will never be able to wash the bag...sigh. There is no canvas in the changing pad, thankfully, because I'm certain it will need to be washed in the future.

Here it is in progress. You attach the outer fabric to the canvas, then assemble the lining with all the pockets (the pockets use iron-on interfacing instead of canvas). I left off a cell phone pocket that went on the outside because it was too small for my phone, and because it was too thin (if I had to do it over again, I'd use a little interfacing or at least double up the fabric on the phone pocket, and make it wider). I also left out 2 bottle pockets that go on the inside, because when you add them you sew over four of the inner pockets, going from a 6 pocket bag to a 4 pocket bag which makes no sense to me. Finally, you sew the lining to the outside, do a little turn-and-topstitching (I looooove that, covers up a multitude of mistakes and uneven stitching) and then you get this:

This is the outside (ignore all of the pillows on our bed--I have 3-pillow-orthopnea from pregnancy, I'm not sure what John's excuse is), and...

here is the inside, showing some of the pockets. (I stuffed a few cloth diapers in one of the pockets--they are really deep.)

This is the accompanying changing pad inside its cover. (I think the cover is probably totally unnecessary, but I made it anyway.)

And this is the actual changing pad--it's terry cloth with some batting, and has an attached tie to hold it together once rolled up.

I was also really impressed with how well my little machine held up. Following advice on the internet, I made sure to use a heavy duty needle when sewing through all the layers; it started sounding a little ill while I was sewing up the changing pad, but it survived and finished the job.

So that's one more project down, and I even have enough fabric left over to maybe make a matching nursing cover.

After all that money invested in a real project, I went back to playing around. I found these instructions online to make a skirted onesie, and decided to make Anna and Will matching Gator duds. I decided halfway through to make a separate skirt, instead of attaching it to the onesie (in case the onesie gets pooped on, the skirt can be saved!). And I've only managed to applique the B on Will's shirt--it's slow-going with all those letters, I should probably do it by hand but I'm too lazy.

(I couldn't resist adding a little heart on the toosh.)

Okay, sorry for the overly detailed post. It's partly for me (to remember what I did in case I decide to make another bag) and partly in case anyone else wants to make the bag (I learn a lot from reading other people's opinions on a particular sewing project--how did we survive without the internet?!). To switch things up, I've got some people pictures from last week coming in the next post.