Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Princess Bag: A Lesson In Sewing Surprises

Oh this little princess bag.  Loved the idea of making it, love how much my daughter enjoys it, but it was a real lesson in being flexible, making mistakes and learning some sewing humility.  Here's its story:

Like most little girls, my daughter loves princess stuff.  I always said we wouldn't get sucked into the "princess marketing machine", but she had other ideas, so we're embracing it.  Like her collection of Disney figurines.  She plays with them every day.  Takes them everywhere too.  In the car, to people's homes, she even sleeps with them (and they're not exactly easy to cuddle).
The problem was she has 20+ figures and the tiny canvas tote bag we kept them in didn't really keep them inside most of the time.  I've had to keep a yardstick next to the bed to help coax out the dozen or so that would fall under it each night when the bag overturned. Not ideal.

So I imagined a little princess bag.  Custom made for her.  Small enough for her to carry, but with wide sides for dimension.  Something she could open wide, but zip-up, so things wouldn't tumble out.
A sturdy, but padded shape that could handle the growing number of characters she would be tossing in it. And for that reason, fully lined.  I even found the perfect fabric to match the look of her favorite movie, Sleeping Beauty.  And no way would I need a pattern - I know how to make bags....

Well everything everything was going according to plan. I installed purse feet for the first time:
Even the zipper went off without a hitch.
I thought what a great tutorial it was going to be.  Until I came to the last part, sewing the sides of the lining together to then pull it all right side out in one piece.  Like I'd done countless times before.  Except every time before I didn't have a zipper running down the sides of the bag, running into a short side piece and a lining attached to all of it.  
Plus several stabilizers which made the main sides pretty inflexible.  It refused to stay on my machine no matter how well I pinned or held it.  

I grumbled, swore, felt ready to throw in the towel, but picturing my little girl toting her princess bag reminded me that I wasn't in it for an easy project for me or an impressive tutorial for everyone else, but making something she truly needed and wanted.  So I slipstitched the side gaps by hand, turned it right side out and got over my perfection hang-up.  And learned a lesson in sewing overconfidence.
Now it's home to her beloved "Sleeping Duty" and Prince Phillip (her favorites), plus all the other characters she enjoys.  Every night in bed she says " I need my princess bag!" before she'll lie down, which makes me smile.
And she loves it.  Which is all that matters.


19 comments:

  1. Oh that is so cute and perfect for a little princess. Great job! Janelle

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  2. What a fabulous bag to hold all the little figurines. I can't see any imperfections from where I'm sitting. I bet it becomes a very well loved and used bag..

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    1. Thanks so much Pam. And you are right - it's already been all over town with her:)

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  3. OMG!! You are MY hero!!!! What a project & to ME it looks very professional, even, dare I say, store bought!! I am so very sorry for all your troubles & looking at the final result, if YOU had issues, I may as well just go buy one or pay you to make one for me!!!!! And to think I was on TOP of the world, 21 some odd years ago when I made sleeping bags & pillows for a collection of Moulder & Scully figurines. Yes, even the aliens had sleeping quarters complete w/ beds, pillows & sleeping bags in case they all wanted to go camping. We, as a family went camping all the time so if we went, Moulder, Scullly, the Smoking Man & Friends all had to go w/ us. Which certainly meant, characters, hosp beds, any misc X-Files equipment & all their camping gear was in tow. Gosh, I long for those days. Thanks for sharing your troubles but your bag looks Mah-Vel-OUS!!!! kweenbee_612@yahoo.com

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    1. You are beyond sweet and really made my day, so thank you! I love the sound of your X-Files creations - sometimes I wish it was as natural and easy to be creative as it was as a kid. Why not give it a go again - definitely sounds fun!

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  4. I love this! With toys being dragged everywhere we go and often lost, to be collected later, I could definitely use some custom zipped bags for their favorite toys.. Oh well, one day I may get the time ;-)
    It looks beautiful on the pics, so whatever imperfections there may be they don't show!

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  5. Just amazing bag for a little princess and her Disney toys ;-) Bravo !

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  6. Wow! This is so fabulous, Cheryl! I can't see any of the imperfections you talked about, I see a wonderful bag that I bet is already well-loved! Beautiful!!

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  7. Adorable! Perfect fabric choice!

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  8. What a great bag! Perfect fabric, just the right size and looks like it's already a big hit!


    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  9. That is so prefect for all the princess figures. We loss ours all the time and I think this bag will be on the todo list soon! Thanks for sharing

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    1. We've got 22 of them now and so far none lost thanks to this bag. Definitely recommend the zipper!

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  10. Very sweet bag, thanks for sharing!

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  11. That turned out great! Bags are so hard to do. I love that fabric and I know my daughter would be thrilled to have that. Nice work :)

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    1. Thanks Mandy. And you're right about bags - they always seem so easy (they're just bags, right?), but a lot of the time much more tricky than people think. Makes us crafters grateful when they are appreciated!

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  12. how cute are you!
    it is so sweet!...my girls still have all their figurines, but my 6 yr old told me the other day she's in 1st grade and that's too big for princesses :( sniff
    you got skills girl!
    ♥ much love

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    1. Thanks so much Jaime. You should tell her you're never too old for princesses!

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  13. really cute too!!
    Thank you for linking it up at http://www.FineCraftGuild.com
    Hope to see you again later today with something else fabulous!!
    Rose

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Getting your comments brightens my day. I'd love if you left one:)

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