Simply Sewing Magazine City Backpack

Are you a fan of sewing magazines? I used to buy them quite regularly, but then started to feel like I was seeing the same (or very similar) projects repeatedly so it's been a while since I picked one up. Simply Sewing magazine issue 43 caught my attention though - it included the Sew Over It Silk Cami pattern, a pattern for a dress/top that I could see myself making and a useful looking backpack.

 

The City Backpack pattern was the project that I wanted to make most out of the three. I enjoy bag making as a bit of a break from garment sewing every now and then but haven't done much recently, and a summery backpack is always useful for day trips.

The backpack has a feature main fabric, a contrast base panel and matching contrast details, adjustable webbing straps, and is fastened with D-rings and webbing. It's also fully lined and has a zipped pocked on the inside. Press fasteners on either side of the side seams at the top of the bag are used to stop it gaping open.

I try to use bag making as an opportunity to use up bigger pieces of fabric left over from my dressmaking adventures, but I didn't have anything that was quite the right weight and print for the main fabric. I wanted something that had a bit of interest, whilst still being neutral enough not to clash horribly with too many of my dresses/tops. This lovely 'Relaxing on the beach' cotton canvas from Sew Me Sunshine fit the bill perfectly!

The base and contrast details are some denim from my stash left over from an unknown past project, and the lining is a piece of cotton twill which came from the remnant box in John Lewis ages ago (I knew that as it was a neutral spotty print it would come in useful for lining something at some point!). The hardware, notions and webbing were a mixture of things I had in stash or purchased from Jaycotts or Sew Hot.

The backpack was fairly straightforward to sew, but there were a few things about the pattern that I found slightly annoying. The main thing was that the seam allowances are 5 mm - for someone used to 1.5 cm or 1 cm in dressmaking, that seemed teeny tiny and fiddly on some steps.

I also thought it was a bit odd that the pattern had you cut out the iron-on wadding to be bigger than the pieces that you fuse it to, and then cut it down after it is fused. I'm far more used to garment sewing than bag making so maybe that's not uncommon, but I haven't had to do that in any other bags I've made, and having the wadding bigger than the fabric made it difficult not to get it stuck to either my ironing board or the iron.

There were also a couple of occasions where I felt like the pattern was relying on you having some vague idea about bag making. For example, it didn't give you any indication of how big to leave the turning gap when sewing the lining. That's the kind of thing that I would have wanted to have been given details about if this were the first bag I was making.

Having said all that, the bag turned out nicely and, as you can see, it has already been taken on its first outing on a day trip to the seaside (with my seaside print Emery dress, naturally!). I'm pleased to report that it was comfortable to wear and had plenty of space for all the essentials.

I've also already sewn up a Silk (or viscose in my case) Cami from the magazine, so I'm glad I bought this issue of Simply Sewing. Magazines can seem expensive at times, but they're worth it if you're going to make a few of the projects, don't you think?