my friend carrie needed a specialized backpack. and then later she didn't need a specialized backpack, but by then she had already bought fabric so she brought me a sketch and left me alone with the goodies. this is what i came up with. i drafted the body using the free wild things accessories drafting program from wild ginger software, and added some custom features.
(click on any image to see an enlarged view.)
for the front, i drafted a patch pocket and flap from the program and lined them with contrast fabric. i used the same contrast fabric for a full interior lining. i also added a suede bottom to the whole bag, using leather i "harvested" from a skirt i got at a thrift store. (NOTE: the bag isn't actually lopsided, as it appears in the picture--but it was 3am when i took these shots, so my "get the bag to hang straight on the chair" ability was somewhat impaired.)
i built each face of the bag separately, then instead of joining the bag and lining by sewing together inside out and turning, i layed all the edges together and bound them with extra wide bias binding. this meant that at around the bottom of the bag i was stitching thru 6 layers of fabric and 2 layers of leather. thanks to my trusty singer 401A, several leather needles and a package of fresh strawberry twizzlers, nobody got hurt. :)
the wild things pattern calls for nylon webbing straps, but i made padded fabric straps with webbing adjusters just on the bottom.
on each side of the bag, i added loops to thread a cord thru, essentially making a corset side which allows the bag to expand to 8" deep.
i put grommets all around the opening of the bag and laced a cord thru, this allows the bag to hold a lot of stuff but close very flat at the top. there is a cord lock to hold the cord in place.
since the specifications for the bag changed so much from the original design, there was a lot of fabric left over, so when carrie gets back from her vacation, i'm going to make a matching backpack for her little girl.
and now, back to my originally scheduled stash reduction, already in progress.
