The Princess Bag: A Lesson In Sewing Surprises

Oh this little princess bag.  Loved the idea of making it, love how much my daughter enjoys it, but it was a real lesson in being flexible, making mistakes and learning some sewing humility.  Here's its story:

Like most little girls, my daughter loves princess stuff.  I always said we wouldn't get sucked into the "princess marketing machine", but she had other ideas, so we're embracing it.  Like her collection of Disney figurines.  She plays with them every day.  Takes them everywhere too.  In the car, to people's homes, she even sleeps with them (and they're not exactly easy to cuddle).

The problem was she has 20+ figures and the tiny canvas tote bag we kept them in didn't really keep them inside most of the time.  I've had to keep a yardstick next to the bed to help coax out the dozen or so that would fall under it each night when the bag overturned. Not ideal.

So I imagined a little princess bag.  Custom made for her.  Small enough for her to carry, but with wide sides for dimension.  Something she could open wide, but zip-up, so things wouldn't tumble out.

A sturdy, but padded shape that could handle the growing number of characters she would be tossing in it. And for that reason, fully lined.  I even found the perfect fabric to match the look of her favorite movie, Sleeping Beauty.  And no way would I need a pattern - I know how to make bags....

Well everything everything was going according to plan. I installed purse feet for the first time:

Even the zipper went off without a hitch.

I thought what a great tutorial it was going to be.  Until I came to the last part, sewing the sides of the lining together to then pull it all right side out in one piece.  Like I'd done countless times before.  Except every time before I didn't have a zipper running down the sides of the bag, running into a short side piece and a lining attached to all of it.  

Plus several stabilizers which made the main sides pretty inflexible.  It refused to stay on my machine no matter how well I pinned or held it.  

I grumbled, swore, felt ready to throw in the towel, but picturing my little girl toting her princess bag reminded me that I wasn't in it for an easy project for me or an impressive tutorial for everyone else, but making something she truly needed and wanted.  So I slipstitched the side gaps by hand, turned it right side out and got over my perfection hang-up.  And learned a lesson in sewing overconfidence.

Now it's home to her beloved "Sleeping Duty" and Prince Phillip (her favorites), plus all the other characters she enjoys.  Every night in bed she says " I need my princess bag!" before she'll lie down, which makes me smile.

And she loves it.  Which is all that matters.