Diaper bag: Ellen

This bag is from The Diaper Bag pattern by Craft Apple. It's quite a nice pattern - good size, relatively easy to sew. I am going to modify it in a number of small ways, then make some for the Etsy shop. I don't like how the exterior pocket is made, so I'm going to alter that, and make a few other changes like adding a key/toy loop and probably altering the construction of the closure a bit.

Interior. I LOVE the cell phone pocket so much. The other interior pockets are kind of eh to me, I may alter those a bit for the next one.

The fabrics here are IKEA, yet again. FREDRIKA (the blue) and DITTE (the orange). This colour combo is really growing on me - much louder than I would normally like, but kind of fun!

Circle Mei Tai

Another Mei Tai - this one is lighter weight for summer, plus the colours and pattern seem spring and summery to me, and after a long winter stuck inside with a crazy three year old and a newborn, I am READY for spring!

Body fabric is IKEA FREDRIKA. Mei Tai is a basic design, this time with the bottom straps sewn in X-box style rather than my more usual method of sewing the bottom straps as a continuous panel. Hidden layer of canvas, as usual, with a plain blue lightweight inner layer.

Action shot!
I also had her on my back in this one, but forgot to take pictures. I like the wider lightly padded straps for front carries, but they don't work as well for back carries. I'm not big on the back stuff right now anyway, it makes me too nervous not to be able to keep a hand on her and see what she's up to. Plus the last time I had her on my back she started licking my neck. Ewwwwwww.

I'm thinking of trying a buckle-tai if I can get my hands on some reasonably priced webbing and buckles - I love my Mei Tais but for things like quick trips into the grocery store messing around with the straps is kind of a pain.

I have a few other completed projects waiting for photographs. Diaper bag for the Etsy shop, the prototype for the doll Mei Tais (that one I need a willing model, but alas my model has been a bit under the weather and uncooperative!). And very soon I think I need to start sewing larger diapers for the baby. For some reason she just keeps growing...

B's Mei Tai

Mei Tai for a friend! IKEA fabric again for the body (Elisabet); heavy twill inner, twill fabric from Fabricland for the straps. Straps are lightly padded with fleece.

First, the interior - the straps are attached to the hidden inner layer with triple-stitched X-boxes. This is very important in a Mei Tai - the stress of the weight of the baby shouldn't all be on the outer seams, these hidden inner seams provide strength and safety.


Testing it out with Maggie; she prefers to ride arms out:


And the reverse, demonstrating arms in. Maggie HATES this position, she's actually yelling at me. Loudly.


Slightly better view of the colours:



I hope she likes it!

Edit: Thank you B for these pictures - I forgot to take photos of the carrying bag! I love this bag pattern, it's a free pattern you can find on the Burda website for a reversible messenger bag. I've made a bunch of these for various purposes, and I've found they are a good size for Mei Tai storage.

Old Stuff

Did a few things this weekend. I made a sort of carrying bag for one of my Mei Tais, but it really didn't turn out that well. The proportions are all wrong. So back to the drawing board on that one!

I'm working on a pattern for a Mei Tai style child's doll carrier. The pieces for prototype #2 have been cut out and hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to sew them together. I made my first doll carrier after DD started demanding I help her use one of mine:
So I made her this:
It's a pretty standard Mei Tai, just her size. So cute! But I have to help her into this one, since she can't tie it herself. So I want to design something that a small child might be able to manage independently. I have a few ideas in mind and will be trying out the first one tomorrow.

I also cleaned and reorganized DD1s room, and I'm thinking it's time to clear out the Winnie the Pooh pictures and come up with some kind of actual theme for her. I have a few ideas on that subject that if they work will create a really neat room environment for her, stay tuned!

The Cube

A while ago I stumbled on a tutorial for creating a patchwork cube.
I decided to give it a try.

Cutting out the squares:


Putting it together:


The next step is a doozy. Alcohol may be required as you rip out mis-sewn seams:


THE CUBE! These things take a LOT of stuffing, it's crazy:


The girls, fortunately, love it!


I'd like to make slightly smaller ones in black/white/red as baby gifts...but I'm not sure I'm up for the stress of getting more done!

Diaper bag: Daphne

I adore this fabric (GUNILLA from IKEA). I wanted to experiment with my bag pattern and work out a few kinks. I now have a completed pattern and will be making bags for my Etsy shop, as soon as the bag hardware I ordered arrives!

I wanted a nice big bag for those times we're out of the house all day and need to carry lots of stuff (since we use cloth diapers, just the diapers for a day out of the house take up a lot of space!). I'm very pleased with how this turned out, although I'm not sure I'll use home decor fabric for a lining again! Doing the top corners turned into a bit of a nightmare due to too many layers of heavy fabric. And I was too impatient to wait for my triglides to arrive so the strap on this one isn't adjustable - not a big deal since I was able to size it specifically for me, but the bags I'll hopefully be selling will have adjustable straps.

Side view. I have external pockets on both sides for holding cell phones, keys, water bottles, sippy cups, and all the other junk I might need quick access to. There's a toy/key loop hidden in one of the pockets; I meant to add more loops in various other places but, um, kind of completely forgot!


Back zippered pocket. I use this for my wallet:


Inside, showing the lining. There are a couple of basic internal pockets the picture doesn't show. Diaper bags always seem to have a bunch of pockets inside, but honestly I've never actually found those inner pockets all that useful, so this time I just did two and I probably won't even use them!

When I go back to work in the fall (boo) I think I might use it as my laptop bag, if I make a protective sleeve for the laptop. Or maybe I'll design a new bag for that...

I have to make a change pad and a wet bag, and then it's done!

Mei Tai - Black and Orange birds

New reversible Mei Tai from IKEA Gunilla fabric. At some point I may make a sleep hood for it, I may not.

Diaper bag: Margaret

This is the diaper bag I made for myself before the birth of my second daughter. Both the baby and the bag are named Margaret (yes, I name all my completed diaper bags).

I made a few test bags before this one, to perfect my pattern. It's a messenger style bag with outer pockets for holding sippy cups, keys, cell phones, and whatever else might need to be easily accessible. There is one hidden toy loop. The flap was created by doing something called 'fabric weaving', which is time consuming but the end result is so pretty!

Margaret:

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