Introducing the Kinley Marie backpack

As I mentioned in my last posting, I was working on creating and sewing a new backpack from scratch. It was inspired by a Pottery Barn Kid's backpack. I sketched my variation of it and then set to work on turning it into an actual pattern... my first ever attempt at making a pattern from scratch. Wow, what an endeavor it has been but also probably one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I have such an huge feeling of accomplishment right now as I finished sewing together the backpack tonight.

My calculations worked out. I had a minor adjustment to make after my mock up but once I did that, the actual backpack went together wonderfully. Everything lined up and worked out as intended. I was a bit worried as I hadn't used zippers, piping, binding or lining in my mock up so that left for a lot more layers of fabrics and finicky sewing. But... it WORKED!! sorry, like I said before, I have such a huge feeling of accomplishment right now :)

I still have to go through and see if my intermediate step photos turned out and write up the pattern instructions along with some tips I would keep in mind if I or someone else makes it again. My sewing isn't perfect and there are some areas I wish I had been able to do better but I was pushing the limits of my machine in a few tight areas with putting on binding and getting in tight corners. However, I am very pleased with how the backpack turned out. I think it came out looking really adorable.

It was sewn together with some left over fabrics I had from another project so not only did I accomplish a new endeavor, I worked on clearing out some of my fabric stash instead of adding to it. Bonus!

And I will now stop typing and leave you with the photos so... I would like to introduce to you the Kinley Marie backpack, named after the cutie who inspired making a backpack in the first place and started this endeavor down its road...