Dance bag!

 My daughter just started dance classes on Tuesday at a studio in our town.  I was thinking about how our week would go, what we'd need to have ready each day, and made a note that we'd have to find a bag to bring her tap and ballet shoes to class.

I was going to throw them in a tote bag we have, but then started thinking about how it would be nice if there were room for her street clothes to fit while she was in class.  And parents don't stick around during class, so I wanted something she'd notice as her own so that she'd find her stuff.  Of course, as I thought about how she's a first grader now, doing stuff on her own, I wanted it to be cute and have room to grow.  It didn't take long for me to pull down my Sew What! Bags book!

I used the City Satchel pattern and the measurements listed in the book.  The whole bag was made from fabric scraps.  The dark blue fabric is heavy and cut from a curtain we had used in an apartment a few years ago.  The dragonfly material was scavenged from an apron I'd been meaning to finish for about 4 years.  The pocket on the flap was really the apron pocket!  The lining of the bag was cut from a twin sheet my mom gave me for sewing projects.  I did purchase a zipper and some fusible interfacing.

I like having this bag book as a reference on my shelf and have used in in quite a few projects now.  It gives me just enough guidance to quickly create the bag I need, but it also gives a lot of room for creative touches. 

I spent a really long time figuring out this water bottle pocket with elastic. Too long, probably, but I did not want to let it go.

I created the bag with an adult length shoulder strap, but then tacked it down to size.  I hope she enjoys the bag enough that in a few years I can lengthen and re-tack as needed.

The bag pattern suggested pockets on the back of the bag and on the bag front under the flap.  I put a row of 3 pockets on the inside instead.  I also added a zipper pocket inside for any really important things.  Making little interior zipper pockets is a small bit of sewing magic.  (I used two links for guidance, zipper1 and zipper2.)

I am always excited to use this dot fabric.  The dots are spaced in rows that are an inch apart.  Cutting and sewing is a breeze when you can just pick a row of dots to follow!