Colorblocking the Out and About backpack ByAnnie turns out SO good! I adore this backpack.
Here's a video tour:
SUPPLIES
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Take a look at the ByAnnie Out and About sewing pattern for all the required supplies, but I thought I’d call out a few:
RAINBOW VALUE THREE 6 FQ BUNDLE
I love the range of values in our highly-curated bundles of Kona Cotton. The rainbow tints in this Rainbow Value Three 6FQ bundle are so fresh and spring-y, but choose among all our other rainbow bundles.
I chose 5 of my favorite colors in this bundle, and added 2 fat quarters of grey and 2 yards of black.
SOFT AND STABLE
It would be a shame to end up with a floppy backback after all your time and effort. Avoid that by using the right stuff: Soft and Stable [Amazon].
ZIPPERS BY THE YARD AND ZIPPER PULLS
I used Zippers by the Yard - Black Multi, which is basically a long length of zipper tape and separate multi-colored zipper pulls.
I was so surprised that some of the zipper pulls matched my fabrics almost exactly!
Pick out a few colors of zipper pulls and slide them onto the zipper tape. I was worried about that process, but it was WAY easier than I thought it would be. Just watch this quick video I made:
INSTRUCTIONS
I pieced together large strips of Sassy Pink + Buttercup and Cypress + Peacock, used Amethyst for the straps, grey for the lining, and black for the rest.
I quilted the pieces with a semi-grid of straight line quilting using Aurifil 40wt thread in Medium Grey (#1158). The only other thread I used was Aurifil 40wt in Black (#2692), which is hidden nicely in the black fabric and zipper tape. Sometimes stitches are less than stellar, and you want them to not stand out, you know?! I used a walking foot and 14 Topstitch needle for the entire project.
So get the ByAnnie Out and About sewing pattern, pick out your favorite rainbow bundles, and have fun sewing! And don't miss our helpful post about the Out and About pattern.
2 comments
Hi there, Susan! To tell you the truth, if it were me, I would remove those stitches and start that step fresh. In the grand scheme of making that bag, that’s just one step, and it’s likely worth re-doing. Believe me, I don’t like unsewing, either, but I’m sure you are going to be so happy with the result.
Hello, You did a beautiful job on this backpack! Thank you for the great look at the bag.
I am in the middle of making this bag. I realized after sewing the Bag Zipper Strip (step V.A.1.), I had sewed the zipper to the TOP edge of the Bag Zipper Strip 1, and the other part of the zipper to the BOTTOM edge of the Bag Zipper Strip 2. What I now have is a mirror image of that in figure 31—with the wider strip on top and the fabric right side up, my zipper pulls are on the right instead of the left. Do you think that this will matter, given that all steps will be done symmetrically to the Bag Zipper Strip? I REALLY don’t want to rip out all the stitching, including the top stitching! I could use the strip wrong side out, I guess, if I had to. The other option, perhaps, is to move the pulls to the other end (I used zipper by the yard)? Sigh. Any thoughts would be MOST appreciated! Thank you!!