a new backpack for the new year!

well let's go back a step.  i'm taking time off from teaching and am professionally tutoring in the meanwhile.  i still needed a new backpack because the one i had been using was by that brand hershel, and man, that bag was not holding up.  i had bought it 3 years ago when i tore my acl because it was small and light.  the quality of the workmanship and of the materials ended up being terrible.  time for a new bag.  now i'd been eyeing taylor tailor's desmond rolltop backpack pattern for a couple years now.  the design is pretty fun, with a roll-top, webbing to keep the roll-top shut, a pop-out square pocket in front, small pockets on each side.  to be honest, i was waiting for the demise of my hershel because frankly, this desmond bag was just so much cooler.

most excitingly, all the materials are from eric and his dad.  eric had put aside some orange leather for me (i do love me some orange) and helped me dig around for all the hardware.  i'm a lucky girl, this brass hardware is some of the best on the market.  such great heft to each piece!

i used the grey canvas from eric's and dad's shorts. and for the lining, this thicker floral quilting cotton i had gotten from knittn' kitten, out in portland oregon, years ago with shirley.  i wanted to mix rugged with girly.  the pockets all have stitched triangle reinforcements in the corners.

eric helped prepare the leather for me to stitch on.  it was not easy.  he split the edges so they'd be thinner, used special incredibly strong double sided tape to fold edges over and to attach them to the bag.  i then used the heavy duty sewing machine that mom and dad got me for christmas a couple years ago, along with a leather needle, and stitched the edges up.  carefully, oh so carefully, because leather is not as forgiving as fabric in terms of ripping out threads and restitching.  the navy tag in the corner is from a set of bunny embossed tags that eric made for me one christmas/hanukkah.

the only item i had to buy for the project was nylon webbing.  i had never worked with webbing before.  it's magical how it swallows up stitches and hides them among its threads!

i had to add snaps to the sides of the roll-top so that when i rolled down the top, the top wouldn't flatten out to the sides like wings behind my back.  

this was eric's design addition.  he's crazy good at problem solving with projects.

see how the roll-top is now the same width as the bag itself?  genius!

the inside of the bag is pretty sweet.  2 side pockets and a 2-slot wide pocket along the back.

and now for the grand finale views!  i prefer to cross the front straps because i feel like they make the bag look less wide:

here's how they look not crossed:

the orange isn't as shiny as these pictures make them look.  it's more matte, although just as bright!  side view:

eric suggested that he try the bag on so one could see how the bag should fit a normal-sized person.

this was such a fun project to make!

fuzzfeed:  lil' fuzz was darn cute recently.  i caught him with his little front paws crossed!