Back to school

School started again on Monday in our little town. All 3 kids are back in the routine now, and so are we! Miss C had the same book bag since she started pre-school a few years ago and it was starting to show marks of wear and tear so I had promised her a new bag at the end of last year. Of course, I had bought the fabric a while ago (in March) and picked the pattern in March too but I left it until the end of last week to get started. Not that she didn't pester me to get it done!

She loves horses so of course the new Derby collection from Riley Blake was perfect for her.

For the pattern I used the Camp Fire Messenger bag by Noodlehead which was part of the Bag Club earlier in the year (the only pattern of the 6 I have tried so far I must admit).
And I used Superior Thread King Tut 903 and 926 for the top stitch as well as the construction of the bag.
And for the interfacing I used Decovil which I like to give some body to the bag and make it more sturdy, perfect for school.

The pattern was good and easy to follow, despite the multiple pockets but I had an issue with the gusset. I am not sure why mine was too short by about 5'. Anyway, I added a piece in the middle of the gusset, which is located at the bottom of the bag so not really visible. One of the difficulty I found was that I had to really think about the cutting beforehand as I was using a directional fabric. I didn't want to end up with ponys upside down!

The bag has one zipped pocket and 2 pleated pockets at the front.

There is also an internal pocket and a back pocket so it is perfectly roomy.

And because it is finished with binding at the top, it isn't a case of sewing the exterior and interior bags together and passing it all through to a gap to turn it right side out which is extremely difficult when you are using Decovil or something more rigid for the interfacing. So I was glad of the choice of finishing,

So I finished the bag Sunday night. Miss C had to go to bed before it was finished but it was love at first sight in the morning. First thing she did when she got up was to look for it and then wouldn't take it off for breakfast! She came home from school cuddling her bag so I think it is fair to say this has been a great success!

I also very quickly on Monday morning before school made a pencil roll for her brother with some left-over Diary of a Wimpy Kid fabric from Robert Kaufman that I had bought with him. He was happy to take it to school with him and his teacher has already commented on it!

These are my 2 first OPAM for September. The school bag was also my goal for A lovely year of Finishes.

Linking to Let's Bee Social and Whoop Whoop Friday.
Celine