My new baby

 There may be an overload of posts over the next week or so (well, at least by my standards), as I try to catch up on everything that's been keeping us busy.  Today is a tribute to my new sewing machine.  I love 'my baby' that Brett gave me for Mother's Day.  It runs SOO smoothly, it's quiet, it has a ton of stitches that I've been experimenting with, and the best part is that it does great on heavy fabrics!  I have a confession to make:  I am slightly addicted to home decor fabric, and especially outdoor fabrics.  I just love their toughness and LOVE that outdoor fabric can be spilled on, beat up, and survive a storm(literally) of other abuse and still look great.  I can't help but be drawn to the outdoor fabric whenever I'm in any kind of fabric store.  I love it!  It takes all of my restraint to not just buy up yards of it whenever I go to Joannes. I picked up some outdoor fabric a little while ago and knew it was a match made in heaven.  As soon as I got my machine I began brainstorming patterns and designs for a new heavy-duty day bag/diaper bag. I bought a pattern for a basic diaper bag with the flap and a few pockets.  I liked the functionality of it, but it lacked style and cuteness.  So, when I saw my mother-in-laws bag I decided I would attempt a fair replica.  This is my first pattern re-creation, so it took me a while of just staring at my fabric and back and forth at pictures, also keeping in mind that I wanted to add in the functionality of the diaper bag pattern I already had.

Here's the inspiration piece: (and thank you Cheryl for taking the extra trip back so I could take pictures and draw up sizes)

and here's my final product:

The exterior has two side pockets with elastic just the right size for two large bottles, or two thermos-style water bottles for the boys.  I was too afraid to attempt the zipper, so I did a snap (much easier).

I made the bag reversible (although the snap and key ring on the yellow side really should stay on the inside, so I'll probably keep the in on the in:)  Anyway, the interior has two large pockets on one side (don't let the picture fool you - each pocket can hold 4 diapers and a small wipes container easily).  On the opposite side there is a single huge pocket that I can keep a three ring-binder in and a book or two just for me.   And like I said, the best part is that it's not going to stain, or easily wear. . . man I love outdoor fabric.  Anyway, I'm glad to have this project done because I need to get working on the next:)