Nautical Diaper Bag

A friend of mine, Amy, is pregnant with a baby boy, and she asked me to make her a diaper bag.  I made her a diaper bag for her last baby, so this time I made her a similar bag but with a few updates.

Both diaper bags are based on this great tutorial on Noodlehead.  For the first diaper bag, I added a couple pockets in the lining of the bag.  They turned out great, but they were very time consuming.  Amy said she'd be just as happy without the inside pockets.

I also noticed that Amy kept her last diaper bag pretty full, so I increased the size on this one.  :)

Amy wanted something nautical with a navy and yellow color scheme.  She also loves chevron.  She showed me lots of fabrics that she loved, and I chose 4 to use for this bag.

Without further ado, I give you...Amy's Nautical Diaper Bag!

This side has two pockets that seem to come in handy.  I like using contrasting fabric for the outer side of the pockets.  The inside of the pockets is lined with navy fabric with nautical ropes.  I used that same fabric to make my own bias tape for the top of the pockets.  The entire bag (including these external pockets) is made with fusible fleece between the layers of outer fabric and lining fabric.

Inside the external pockets

I added a bow with white rope trim just for fun:

The inside of the diaper bag is a white fabric with giant yellow anchors:

As you can see above, I used magnetic snaps for the bag closure.  A zipper is too annoying when you are in and out of the bag a lot, and leaving it completely open means something might accidentally fall out.  A big magnetic snap seemed like the way to go.

I also sewed in a little tag that says, "With Love in Every Thread."  Just a little message from me to Amy. :)

I didn't want the bag to have a plain backside (trust me, I've lived with a plain backside for far too long...), so I added an anchor applique to the side without pockets.  I cut the anchor from the leftover lining fabric, used Wonder Under to adhere the anchor to the bag, and topstitched (very carefully) around the anchor.  I left some white space around the anchor so it'll fray for a decorative effect.

The bottom corners of the bag are box corners for roominess:

For the straps, I bought navy blue webbing.  I also found yellow and white chevron ribbon, so I sewed the ribbon down the middle of the straps.  I used white bobbin thread to make white stripes down the backs of the straps, but that's the one detail of the bag that I didn't end up liking.  I didn't have the heart to rip it out and redo it.

Since I didn't put any pockets inside the diaper bag, I made two small accessory pouches for Amy.

One is a fully-lined zipper pouch that I made following this tutorial at Flossie Teacakes.

I love the covered ends of the zipper.

I used the yellow chevron for the lining.

The other accessory that I made was a pacifier pocket from this tutorial at Make It & Love It.

It snaps around the strap of the diaper bag so the baby's pacifier is easily accessible.

It's barely visible inside the bag.

Just wanted to share one of my latest projects!

Here are sources related to these items:

• Bag tutorial:  Summer Madras Tote at Noodlehead
• Zippered pouch tutorial at Flossie Teacakes
• Pacifier Pocket pattern and tutorial at Make It & Love It
• Navy anchor fabric:  Michael Miller Out to Sea Anchors Away Navy
• Yellow chevron fabric:  Premier Prints Zig Zag Slub Yellow/White
• Yellow anchor fabric:  Premier Prints Anchor Slub Corn Yellow
• Navy rope fabric:  Cabana II Sailors Knot Navy
• The navy blue webbing and chevron ribbon for the straps are both from Hobby Lobby.
• I also used fusible fleece, a navy zipper, magnetic snaps, and no-sew snaps.

Jessica