Alter-Egos... what we wish we were

I'm back. Where have I been? Well, New Orleans for one. !!!! Best trip ever- hands down. What an incredible place! That was a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I've been LAZY. With a capital everything. Maybe it is the rain (hello? Um... Mother Nature? I don't mean to be critical, but the saying is "April showers bring May FLOWERS," not "April Showers bring even more rain in May." Sigh. I suppose that's what you get for living in a rainforest climate. Whatever the reason, I've been finding motivation and time hard to come by.

But really, what is more motivating for someone who is "thrifty" (like my euphemism for cheap?) than a school supply list? See, Matteo is beginning kindergarten. I'm not sure when or how that happened, but it did. So we begin getting ready for school.

(Insert old lady voice here) Back in the day when I was in elementary school, you were sent a list of every item you needed for the year, from kleenex to pencil crayons. Now however, at least at Matteo's school, you get a list of cheques you need to write. One of these is for the bulk of his school supplies. They order them and deal with them right at school now. I have to say, that seems to take some of the fun out of it... what was more exciting in late August than laying out all your new gear for school and labelling it all? However, I have stupidly ventured into Staples in August, and have seen what that is like, so probably from a mother's perspective this is a much more appealing method of purchasing supplies. The school did, however send a list of additional items that each child needs that can either be purchased from them, or brought on one's own. On that list was a gym bag. $15 for a gym bag?? Or was it $10? I can't remember now, but I thought it was outrageous. My husband clearly must be rubbing off on me. He goes down in infamy in our house for having, when our toilet was causing us issues, responded to my suggestion that we should call a plumber with "What? Pay a plumber $75 an hour to scratch his keister?... I'm not paying someone to scratch their keister, I can scratch my own keister for free!!". He was 27 at the time. It was a shocking glimpse into our senior years for me. And he didn't really say keister. He said something else which only made him sound more curmudgeonly.

Anyways, I decided that I could make a gym bag for less, and it would be cooler than the standard issue. When I was a kid my mum made me a gym bag too. It had an appliqued running shoe on it with laces that actually tied. The only thing I liked about gym was that bag. Off Matteo and I went to the fabric store to pick something out. He immediately chose hideous Toy Story fabric which was so bright an obnoxious it could induce a seizure. I immediately used my power of veto. It was $16.98 a metre. Defeats the purpose. But I did have to come up with a suitable, even more fun, alternative. Matteo thinks he's Batman. For a while there, when I asked him what he want to be when he grew up, he responded with "Batman". So another thought occurred to me. We settled instead for some PLAIN and cheap broadcloth, and a promise we could make this a cool Batman bag if I made him a Bat patch for it.

Here's how it went:

 First I found a colouring page (online of course) with the Batman emblem on it. I cut that out of yellow and black broadcloth and fused it together using paper-backed fusible webbing. Matteo was impressed and sold as soon as he saw this- forget the rest of the bag. I managed to convince him that his favourite colour (brown) was a really yucky choice for bag colour, so he humoured me and chose green (Kermit green to be exact), his second favourite colour.

I used a newspaper page as my size template and cut out 4 pieces for the bag (two for the outside, two for the lining). I fused the emblem onto one of those pieces (the front of the outside).

 Next I appliqued around it. It looks ok and is necessary to prevent it peeling off or fraying. I really wish satin stitch didn't ripple, because I know I'd be happier with the look of that, but it does ripple, so this blanket-like applique stitch is the better choice.

 I cut two tabs of gros-grain ribbon about 2 inches long. Each was folded in half and sewn (zigzag for strength) on the open edge. I place these about an inch or so up from the bottom of the bag on either side.

 I sewed the bag up on the sides and bottom, reversing several times over where I was sewing the tabs in the seams. The tabs will take some strain as this is where the straps of the bag will be attached, and I really didn't want them to pull out or fray.

 Here is the outside of the bag sewn up. Next job was to sew the lining in the same way I did for the outside, but this time, leaving a 2 inch opening on the bottom edge (you will pull the back right side out through this hole). I turned the outside of the bag right side out (as in the picture), and I left the lining inside out. I inserted the outside bag, inside the lining matching the raw top edge. Make sure the right sides are facing or you will have a date with your stitch ripper (ask me how I know that... go on, ask me...). Sew through both the lining and the outside bag on the top edge.

 Pull the whole thing through the opening you left. Then hand sew the opening closed. Now, push the lining into place so you've got a lined bag. Next I ironed the thing. On each side of the bag, about half an inch from the top, I made a button hole. This will be where the strings come out. I did this rather than leaving slits in the bag top, it seemed simpler to me.

 Next I made a casing on top side (front and back) on the inside by sewing on wide gros-grain ribbon along both the top and bottom edges.

 Finally, I cut two lengths of cording about 58 inches long each. I fed one through both casings from the right side, with loose ends coming out the right side buttonhole, and one from the left side, with its loose ends coming out the left buttonhole. Each side's loose ends were tide to the corresponding tab, creating a little drawstring back pack. The cording unfortunately frays like crazy, and isn't meltable, so I had to use clear nail polish to sort of seal the raw edge.

All that you do is pull each sides cords and it gathers shut. It is now waiting for some smelly little gym clothes to carry.











Voila! A bag fit for Batman (and his strange little sidekick Dish Towel Boy).

We are one step closer to being Kindergarten ready. I suppose the next step will be buying his uniform in June. As much as I hate that time flies so darned fast, it is pretty exciting all the same.

Happy Trails!