Diaper Bags and National Sewing Month!

I learned just yesterday that this is National Sewing Month.  I'm excited to have a whole month dedicated to my favorite hobby.  


To celebrate National Sewing Month, I plan to do even more sewing than usual.  Of course, it helps that NSM coincides with my increased orders for purses and my ever growing list of items to make for our new granddaughter who will make her appearance next month.  (I hope her parents are giving her the bedroom with the biggest closet.)

The happy "parents-to-be"

Now, back to sewing ....  This past week, I tried a new pattern for a diaper bag.  No, not a diaper bag for the new princess in the family, but a diaper bag for a friend of mine to give to a new little guy joining her family next month. 

I love the way the bag turned out.  It is large enough for most any new mother's needs.  My friend chose the fabric herself.  The airplane print is perfect since the new daddy is a pilot.  I love the way she chose to have me mix the stripes with the print and accent with the blue handles.

This is the pattern that I used, Simplicity 2713.  It's a nice pattern, but I learned something by using this pattern.  "If you want to make a bag, use a pattern designed by a bag maker."  That's what I learned.  The tissue pattern pieces and the instructions made this pattern much more complicated than most of the patterns that I use.

Like all the bags I make, this one has pockets on the inside.  The pocket you see in this picture is a large pocket with a gathered top and a velcro closure.  This pocket is big enough to hold a travel package of wipes or a diaper. 

The pockets on the other side of the diaper are smaller, and would be perfect for smaller items.

I do love the side pockets on this pattern.  They are big enough to hold a bottle or cup.  I love the stripe fabric that is ruffled.  Oops!  Did I say ruffled?  I mean gathered since boys don't do ruffles.

The top of the bag has a zipper closure which I love.  That means that if the bag falls off the car seat or is being investigated by a crawling infant, the items in side are secure--unless the infant has mastered zippers.

This final picture is the back of the bag which sports two smaller pockets.  All in all, this is a cute bag that I would be happy to carry if I needed a boys' diaper bag.  I hope the recipient likes it and gets a lot of use from this one!

Would I use this pattern again?  Probably not.  But I would not hesitate to adapt some parts of it and incorporate them into patterns that I use and love.