DIY Mini Backpack

I've always wanted a mini backpack for day trips and festivals -- something not too bulky like a school backpack, but also something bigger than a purse to fit essentials such as a water bottle and sweater. Inspired by the adorable Fjallraven Kanken backpacks, and building off of instructions from withWendy's blog and video (which I probably rewatched a hundred times), I decided to make my own!


This was my first project using a (my new!!) sewing machine. Here's how I made it, in captions:

some materials

measuring fabric to cut

components of the outside of the green backpack

sewing the front zipper onto a small pocket

removing prongs from zipper to resize

creating a flap to hide the zipper

hidden zipper

back side of the front pocket

folding triangles to pop out the front pocket

front pocket flipped inside-out

detail of sewn triangles to pop out the front pocket

pinning down the pocket onto the front piece

sewn upper handle

sewn straps of handle

handle sewn in half

completed handle

inside lining and front piece

sewn together, inside-out

completed front piece of backpack

added matching lining to front pocket

lined front pocket

 

sewing the front pocket onto the front piece

using old pajama pants to create thick padding for back

padding cut to size and sewn onto back piece and inside lining

attached front handle to front piece, with zipper pocket

inside view of front piece

outside view of front piece

adding handle with long straps to back piece

secured straps

crossed back of handle

inside view of secured handle

adding backpack strap adjusters to bottom strap pieces

straps sewn in place

pinning the double zipper in place

top and sides panel of backpack

front of zipper sewn in place

adding the long side piece to other side of zipper

pinning side piece in place

zipper lined up

completely sewn parts to zipper

zipper lined up and fitted in place

pinning down flap to hide side zipper

sewing in place

bottom/inside view

adding the bottom piece of backpack

sewn in place with matching lining, careful to sew over straps

completed backpack

backpack held by handles

inside view of open backpack

clean inside lining

added snap buttons to hold backpack flat (but not strong enough)

added velcro to straps to hold closed

And that's my completed backpack project! It took about a week to make, with long hours put in. It's the perfect mini backpack for day trips or festivals, and actually fits a lot inside (including my water bottle)! The only problems I have with it are that the double-zipper actually doesn't work that smartly because there is a pull on either end of the zipper, so you can only open it from the left or right, rather than both pulls being together, to be able to open the backpack from anywhere along the sides or top. Also, if the bag is too full, it looks really big instead of being held flat, which is helped by the addition of the velcro strap, but at the same time I am afraid to overstuff it and break it. Overall, I'm proud of my work on my first sewing machine project, and had fun following withwendy's cute instructional video.

<3 Mandy

DIY Soda Tab Purse

Similar to my chip bag purse, soda tab bracelet, and Capri Sun backpack, I decided to make a purse out of soda tabs! My mom saw a woman with one in a museum one time and said she wanted one. My college roommate also had one. I studied different pictures of bags online and designed my own by crocheting columns of a increasing/decreasing number of tabs.

I collected 1184 tabs to make the purse, and rinsed them all in water to clean the stickiness off. I started by crocheting the base of the purse in columns. Keeping the bottom of the purse at the same level, I varied the number of tabs in each column to produce a wavy top to the purse. (26-26-26-26-25-24-24-23-22-21-20-20-20-20-21-22-23-24-24-25-26-26-26-26-25-24-24-23-22-21-20-20-20-20-21-22-23-24-24-25 = 924).

letting the clean tabs dry on a towel

outside of the bag

inside of the bag

complete flattened-out body piece

complete body piece

I made the strap with 55 rows of 2 tabs (110 total).

completed soda tab strap and crocheted lining strap

wrapping crocheted strip inside the fabric

holding soda tab strap and padded fabric in place with sewing pins

sewing each tab in place

The bottom has 77 tabs, assorted in a round, in order to make the bottom flat.

crocheted loop for the bottom of the bag

shaped and crocheted in place

using an embroidery needle and matching cream crochet yarn to sew the bottom to the bag

completed tab shell of purse

looking inside the soda tab shell

bottom view

After crocheting all the pieces together, I lined the inside of the purse with a chenille fabric of thin white and brown stripes. I cut the fabric to size and sewed the edges to make a bag to fit inside, and added a zipper to the fabric bag. I had originally planned on adding snap buttons to the sides of the purse to be able to remove the fabric to wash, but instead decided to sew the fabric to the bag permanently.

sewed edge to prevent fraying and create a clean edge

fabric lining inside tab shell 

added zipper

My college roommate had a similar purse, but said that her hair often gets caught in the soda tabs on the strap when it bends and the tabs move around. I decided to line the strap with matching brown and white striped fabric both for comfort and to hold the tabs in place. I also crocheted a strip of the same size of the strap, which I wrapped inside of the brown and white fabric for additional padding. Being able to secure the strap's lining fabric to the bag's lining fabric also helped to create a more uniform look for the finished product. I attached the strap to either end of the bag.

attached strap

I gave the purse to my mom, along with a coin purse composed of 36 rectangular soda tabs. Either side of the coin purse has 18 tabs (6 tabs in interior circle, with 12 tabs around those), and are crocheted together, with a zipper going around the outside edge. I wanted to keep the purse looking consistent, so I made sure to use the same shape/size of rounded tab, and ended up with a lot of leftover tabs in different shapes and sizes. I plan to keep collecting more tabs to see what other projects I can come up with.

completed rounds for either face of the coin purse

added contrasting pink zipper

crocheted bottom

interior view

completed coin purse, exterior view

<3 Mandy

Crochet Egg Coasters

I have a lot of old yarn that my mom found, and wanted to practice crocheting and design some new patterns. Using some leftover white and yellow yarn, I decided to make these cute egg coasters, which I gave as a White Elephant gift with a pair of breakfast socks and a mug.

yellow yolk circle

irregular shape for the egg white

set of 4 egg coasters

complete breakfast gift

With some leftover white yarn I had, I also made a little mouse toy for my friend's kitties, Pickles and Zeisel.

Zeisel playing with his new toy under the couch

<3 Mandy