Triplets: 3 Bags for 1 Baby

I love print fabrics and am drawn to them.  But that sometimes means a design has to work around the graphics and determine the size or shape of a bag.  So instead of trying to follow a bag pattern I just used some basic bag making concepts from the recently made 3-in-1 Betsy Bag and Bonnie Bucket Bag to sew this tote for my nieces' baby shower.

Inset Zipper

I took the bag for show and tell or should I say show and talk - goodness knows exactly what I was saying to get this expression!  Photo credit (or blame,ha ha) goes to Renee.

Guild Show and Tell

There was no way I was going to cut off the head of those adorable giraffes.  About half way through it dawned on me that maybe there was enough space for a welted pocket on the outside.  In my stash I found the ta dots.  Not only was it the perfect color but mimicked the spots.

Rather than wrap the present in paper, I jumbo sized the self lined drawstring bag large enough for the tote and other gifts.  Originally I had high hopes of sewing them a quilt out of the Birch Organic print and a reusable bag seemed like a nice alternative.

Gift Bag

Self Lined

The shower was amazing.  This baby is going to be surrounded by so much love and wonderful creative people. Both bags were a big hit.

You might have guessed by the blog title that the story doesn't end there.   The next morning I got up early and started on bag three.  With the help of this tutorial  post by Made by Marzipan, the all-in-one-changing mat.  I really appreciate the link to her youtube video: sew,pause,sew,rewind, sew...

Rolled up

Added a softer place to rest baby's head although the Tula is surprisingly soft.

Those Frogs!

No surprise that I also tweaked the dimensions.  After all the much coveted Prince Charming laminate ruled the design.  Centering the frog and slicing straight between his eyes (ouch) made it wider, giving the baby some more wiggle room.

The bag is two giraffes tall and the mat one.  She called to thank me the minute it arrived. 

Altering also threw off the fit of the pockets when folded but I think it still works with an offset fold. I chose the thinnest button to avoid a bump under baby's bum but not too small to annoy a mom juggling a dirty diaper.

compact fold with a tuck