Almost four years ago I made this Lola Bea diaper bag for my sister-in-law, who was expecting her second child–a girl. It turned out absolutely gorgeous, and I knew if we ever had a baby I’d want to make one for myself too.
My sister-in-law’s bag
Shortly after we found out we were pregnant with Patrick I found purple stamped ladybug Kokka canvas fabric. I bought a yard, not knowing what I’d want to do with it. A week later, I went back to the shop to buy more, because I’d decided it was the perfect main fabric for my diaper bag.
After Patrick died, my mom and I packed up all of my handmade projects. I set them aside in case we got pregnant again and I felt up to making any of them for our next baby. When we got pregnant with Stitch, the diaper bag was high on my list of projects I wanted to complete. But the pregnancy was difficult and anxiety-producing. After a hospitalization at 32 weeks, I realized that only one project was going to get finished–baby’s quilt. Everything else got packed away again.
Fortunately, we got a backpack diaper bag at our baby shower. I had (smartly) registered for it to be a back-up diaper bag for my husband and to carry when we traveled. It worked well, but the older Stitch got, the more I found the bag difficult to organize. I had to practically empty it to find anything when I was out for a whole day. After one particularly frustrating day, I pulled out the supplies I had bought in 2014 and set aside a weekend to get it made.
In progress–ruffle sewn on front of bag. Aren’t the ladybug’s fabulous?
My cutie helper!
When I originally made this bag for my sister-in-law, it took me three solid days of work. I’d hoped that since I’d made it before and that I was using a different (hopefully easier) stabilizer that it would be done even more quickly. I didn’t factor in the time that my baby would need me, though–or at least enough of it. Instead of taking me three solid days, it took me three off-and-on weeks. But I was determined to have it finished before we traveled for Thanksgiving.
The final seam, finishing the construction, was sewn the morning before we left. Finished just in time! And since I had to switch my focus to packing for the trip, I decided photos would have to wait. Which worked out perfectly, because it meant I could take them at the beach on vacation.
I could not be more thrilled with the bag. It’s gorgeous. It’s SO me. It’s functional. It’s well-made. It’s just what I needed. Absolute perfection.
The bag contains multiple pockets, inside and out. I particularly like the middle divider pocket, which is both functional and splits the bag for even better organization. I should have taken a picture of the bag stuffed to the max. We cloth diaper, and it can be challenging to find a bag that accommodates cloth diapers along with everything else you “need” to lug around.
The bag also has a pocket on each side of the bag. I use one for a water bottle and one for my phone so both are easily accessible at all times.
The bag was completely broken in on vacation, and I’ve deemed it the perfect diaper bag.
Project Details:
- Pattern: Lola Bea Diaper Bag by Sew Much Ado
- Main Fabric: Purple ladybugs from the Stamped collection by Ellen Luckett Baker for Kokka Fabrics
- Contrast Fabric: Purple swirls from Bear Essentials 2 collection from P&B Textiles
- Stabilizer: Annie’s Soft and Stable (highly recommend using this instead of the fusible fleece and Decor Bond. It was so much easier to stitch through!)
- Thread: AuriFIL 50 wt. #2582 (a special thanks for Donna at Follow that Thread for saving my butt when I realized I’d “borrowed” the thread I purchased for this project for another project and ended up with a little thread emergency.)
So pretty! Cute picture of you and your baby too!