Kids' Messenger Bags

Just in time for our trip next week, managed to finished the messenger bags for my twins. This is based on a fantastic easy-to-follow tutorial from mmmcrafts.

When I printed out the blog post and showed to my twins what design they would like to have, Samuel immediately told me he wanted a blue guitar and Audrey said she wants a pink butterfly. So the easiest was to draw a these icons and use felt to cut them up and applique them onto the flap. Followed the great tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew! blog on how to do machine appliqués. As this was only my second time to do appliqués on my sewing machine, you can see there is still room for improvement. The little pieces and details were sewn in first onto the main body and then used the sewing machine to appliqué the entire design onto the flap.

I've reduced the size for these bags as the size specified was a bit big. I think I reduced the width of the bag by 4 inches. The pink one uses cotton canvas and the blue is denim linen. For the latter, I had to add some batting to give it body as it ended up a bit too soft even after the lining was added.

The greatest feeling was the big smile they had when I showed them their bags and immediately wanted to put stuff in. They didn't want me to take pictures of it as they just wanted to walk around the house with their bags.