• Pattern: Butterick 5005 diaper bag (also comes with a changing pad and pacifier case, which I didn’t make)
• Fabric:  Cotton (Birch Mod Fabrics, Abacus) from Purl Soho; cotton lining from The City Quilter; hair canvas basted to all outer pattern pieces as per instructions (leftover from my A Fashionable Stitch purchase for my tailored coat last year!)
• Notions: From Botani: 1″ white cotton webbing for the straps, gunmetal finish 20″ zipper, and magnetic snap for the outside pocket (pattern calls for Velcro); plastic canvas from Pearl Paint on Canal Street (pattern calls for cardboard) to add structure to the bottom of the bag.
• Alterations:  None. Three cheers for one-size-fits all accessory patterns!
• News Flash!  Step 34 seems to have an error. See below for my notes on how I fixed it.

Yay, a new-ish creation to share with you! I sent it off to my cousin in San Diego and she just received it earlier this week, so now I can come out of hiding and splash some photos of it here on the blog. Good times, indeed.

I heard about this pattern through Clio of Clio & Phineas, aka the Queen of B5005 – she’s made three already! When my cousin was expecting the first time around I made her Kwik Sew 3749, which I’ve made more times than I can count though I’ve only featured a miniature version here a couple of years ago.

In comparison to the Kwik Sew pattern (which is just a tote bag), I love that this one has big pockets, and lots of ’em.  It also comes with a zipper placket. Perfect for keeping things looking tidy!

I used a cotton print that’s a little thinner than I had hoped, but I think the sew-in hair canvas interfacing helps to stiffen things up a bit. I was careful to trim away the hair canvas after sewing seams together in order to reduce bulk. Sewing the bottom of the bag to the side pieces proved to be a little tricky for my sewing machine (lots of layers coming together), so I ended up hand-sewing those corners. I love my Janome Sewist 500, a great mid-range machine, but she was skipping stitches with all that bulk – poor lass!

I liked Clio’s use of hardware on her third bag so I thought I’d try some for the first time. I bought this magnetic snap (popper, dome, press stud, what have you) from Botani Trimming. Wow, they have every kind of hardware piece imaginable there! I felt like Scrooge McDuck diving into his vault of gold coins — ooo, hardware. I used this YouTube video from Indygo Junction to figure out how to attach the snap properly.

I bought feet for the bottom of the bag and a lobster claw for a lanyard inside the bag. I decided to nix the feet because they felt too heavy for this fabric (wasn’t sure if it would hold properly). And the lobster claw I just forgot to add. Whoops.

The inside of the bag has lots of room and four big pockets. The instructions have you cut out one piece for each pocket and then turn in the seams before sewing the pockets to the lining. In the future, I think I’d cut two pieces for each pocket, sew them right sides together, turn them right side out, and then attach them to the lining. I had been taught this method in a class at Sew L.A. a few years ago to help strengthen the pocket, and I also think it makes for a cleaner finish inside.

Plastic canvas from Pearl Paint gives structure to the bottom of the bag (also something I copied from Clio). I swear, does that store have everything? Amazingness! Since its dimensions weren’t the same as the bottom piece I cut it to size and then zig-zagged the pieces together (I used two layers one on top of the other for added support).

I read a comment somewhere that the instructions were written in such a way that the zipper comes out upside down when all is said and done. I’m so glad I read that. Can’t even imagine the tears of being at the final stages only to flip the bag inside out and discover I’d have to rip it all out again. Disaster zone! So just make sure you place the zipper tab face up when you’re pinning the zipper placket/top to the facings when you get to step 34 (the drawing makes it look like you put the tab face down).

So here she is! Paired with my “blueprint” mug for size comparison. I think this is a great bag, and it would make a terrific weekender bag for any ol’ person, preggers or not.

Do you have thoughts on what makes a good diaper bag? Do you like prints that scream “baby” or ones that are more “grown up”?

Have a great weekend all. It’s supposed to be a good one! My Sew Sexy Sew-Along dress is coming up next. :)