Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Man Bags

Sometime last year, after finding out that my brother John and his wife were expecting their first baby, I realized that the retail industry was lacking in baby things fit for a man to use/carry. I have seen far too many men at church carrying their babies and the lacy pink toile diaper bag that apparently came with them. Recently I've been trying to sew more and do more homemade gifts to save money, etc... so this year at Christmas when I made burp clothes and matching paci clips for all the babies in the family - naturally I made a skull and crossbones burp cloth for John. Then I decided I should make John a 'man' diaper bag as well. But Abby came early and I've been busy so I just now got around to getting it done. Anyway I found a pattern that I liked and thought could easily be adjusted for a man's bag, but I wanted to make it following the pattern first so that I could be sure how I should alter it to fit a guy.

So I made one for my boss, since she's due in November.












The bag called for a flower appliqué on the flap, but I thought that was a little boring and generic, so since Dr Jenny is a dog lover I made a puppy with a butterfly on it's nose instead and I think it turned out pretty dang cute, if I do say so myself!

And in general I just really like the combo of three random fabrics combining to make a pretty nifty little diaper bag.

***Spoiler alert - John if you don't want to see your bag before I give it to you look away now!***

So I added two inches to the length, one inch to the depth, 20 inches to the strap (since John wears bags across his chest) and side pockets to the outside of the bag.









And, yes you are seeing that correctly, it's a Star Trek diaper bag. (Don't be jealous!) I actually put some thought into this bag - you see I made it like the engineering Star Trek uniform. Red and black with the engineering logo. I had an especially fun time choosing the lining fabric and think it's about the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Plus (and please excuse the totally nerdy comment I'm about to make here) since it's the universe inside it makes it a bag of holding! Which is just too cool. (OK, there I said it, I promise only normal comments from now on.)

Anyway I think I may just have to make a little side business of man diaper bags - so let me know when your husbands need one. Oh and in case you're wondering if John will like this diaper bag, here is all I have to say:

6 comments:

Lisa said...

That was totally awesome! Good job...you need to open your own etsy shop and be the next 'it' thing!

Catherine said...

Omigosh I totally love it, Heather! You are so talented. I will definitely need you fill an order whenever the day comes (if it ever does) that Bryan will need one!

Embrace your inner Trekkie!

Unknown said...

Heather, Those bags are amazing. You should sell them for sure. I love it!

Elisa Barnes said...

Forget the boys, make ME one!! Ok, a little premature, but I totally want a bag that I can say "Auntie Heather made that for you!" And yes, you should definitely be taking orders... you could make some serious $$.

Elisa Barnes said...

....oh yeah, and I forgot to tell you. Love the Star Trek one. And Daron would love it too. Because he's dead set on naming a kid Tiberius. As in Captain James Tiberius Kirk. So yeah, I totally understand the Trekkie thing.

Heather McKeon said...

Elisa - you oughtta know that I was totally already planning on making you one! I was thinking Hello Kitty... but of course I could do whatever you want. Or I could just make it a surprise. Also for the boys I can do anything, I'm not limited to Star Trek. I ordered some awesome Beatles fabric for the lining of Mark's bag. (And so you see who cares if it's a little premature?? Clearly not me since I've already bought all the fabric for mine and Mark's! haha! Actually I was thinking of going ahead and making mine and using it as a purse until I get preggers...)