Banishing the UFO pile - Specimen Two

Following along from last weeks UFO triumph, here's another one that's finally been finished and therefore banished from the UFO pile!

I started making this backpack for Ms L around this time last year.

My original intention was to make her a fairly lightweight backpack that she could use for her Uni course. It just needed to be large enough to fit some A4 notebacks and some writing tools.

I wanted it to be quite sturdy so I used a dark denim and interfaced it with a layer of Vilene S320.

Cathy helped me to pick the cute penguins from her stash to make the front flap.

I'd previously made the backpack from Nikki's fab book You Sew Girl before making this one, so I used the technique from the book to make, and to place, the adjustable backpack straps.



Now, the outside of the backpack is totally functional..... but the magic happens when you see the inside...

 

Can you see those gorgeous bright stripes? The inside of the flap was cut from a piece of silk taken from a skirt that Ms L's Mum had made for her many moons ago....

But I've left the most romantic part til the end .........the light blue fabric for the inner part of the backpack was cut from the shirt that Ms L was wearing when she met Cathy, so every time she opens the backpack, there's a little reminder!