I finally was able to really get started sewing the Chickadee Backpack.
As mentioned this has been on my list for a long time. It came up in the guild UFO challenge and I still put off working on it. In fairness, I was busy, out of town, thinking about other things.
The back was really pretty easy. I had used pre-quilted (by Colleen) fabric so I had to
The back of the backpack with the straps looks pretty impressive. However, I followed the pattern and first made the straps. I took a photo, because I thought this would be all I had to show you.
On Thursday and Friday of last week, I made a lot of progress. After starting with a bunch of cut pieces, I was pleased with how much I accomplished even though I didn’t finish.
Of course, I followed the pattern and watched the video as necessary. This pattern is a few years old and I found that Sara improves her patterns each time she releases new ones.
Next up was the front pocket. I was pleased I had everything cut.
This is super pink, I think, so it will be great for the Pink Project. The zipper tabs don’t go all the way to the sides of the pocket, so I might cut them larger next time and sew them so they are even with the edge of the pocket. There must be a reason Sara designs zipper tabs this way, but I don’t know what it is.
The front pocket eventually ended up looking pretty professional, if I do say so myself.
I used some castle zipper pulls on the front to make this cuter.
I also fussy cut a flower so that it was highlighted on the front pocket. I used more of the pink zipper by the yard I bought a Sewlarium awhile ago. I was glad I had it on hand.
I spent a lot of time on the handles. I didn’t want them to stick up all the time, so I added some hardware to make them fold down when not in use. I still had MaryC’s rivet press in my workroom, so I used that to add rives to the handles. It was a little exhausting to re-design and the execute these handles. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal.
I really, really wanted to finish, but I couldn’t. I made a huge amount of progress and am pleased with that. I still have the lining to assemble and install and the rest of the finishing. It was late on Friday night and I decided pulling an all-nighter didn’t work when I was an undergraduate and wasn’t going to work a few years down the road from those days. The bag looks good and I’ll be able to finish it before the meeting.
I did bring the exterior to show for the UFO challenge.
