His "hat back"

On Friday night, with the costume sewing behind me, I decided to try Melissa's Not-So-Big Backpack pattern from the most recent issue of Stitch Magazine.

When I say that this came together like a dream, I'm not kidding. The instructions were extremely clear and easy to follow. There were notches on the pattern pieces! (I love notches. Have I ever mentioned that? Well, I do.) There was no guessing about seam allowance or supplies or anything else. Altogether, it took me about two hours and forty-five minutes to make it (from start to finish), but I sew pretty slowly, so I'm sure a normal person could crank it out in about two hours. That's my kind of quick project! I am super satisfied with this pattern, and this little backpack. One note: I did end up having to buy longer zippers and cut them. I used pliers to remove the zipper teeth at the seam line, and that was fairly difficult. I'm not saying it wasn't worth it or anything, but it took a fair amount of time to get the first on loose. Once I got one of the teeth free, the other few that I removed in the same area were much easier.

James calls backpacks "hat backs". He's called them that for a long time, and it's one of the few stray "baby" phrases that he still says. I would like to hold onto it forever and ever.

He is so excited about his new "hat back". He's been carrying it around all day, with all kinds of stuff in it (it may be not-so-big, but it can hold a good amount of stuff!), figuring out fancy ways of flipping it onto himself ... ah, the simple satisfaction of a new mama-made pack.

I'm excited that it came together so quickly and easily, and that he has ended up loving it so much. As a project, this is just the kind of winner I'm looking for!