"Ephalant bag, Mummy!"

It would be fair to say that elephants are a firm favourite in our house - particularly with our three year old little girl. So when the postman came with this fabric, there was immediate interest from her, along with several suggestions of what to make (for her) out of it.

Urban Circus Elephants by Laurie Wisbrun

Sadly for her, this was already destined to be turned into a changing bag. A friend of mine is about to have her second baby - I'd promised her a bag of her choosing, and the lovely fabric above is what she came up with as my starting point.

Having been full of initial enthusiasm about making something new, I must admit I struggled to get into this project, and procrastinated over it a lot in the beginning stages. 

I think I was worried about mucking it up - and, after a few teething problems with iron on interfacing (not too unlike air bubbles on wall paper, or wrinkled sticky backed plastic) accompanied by frustrated cries to the effect of bin it and start again - these concerns weren't unfounded. 

That said, once I got going, I loved the making process - largely helped by the brilliant instructions in Lisa's book, which were clear and easy to follow, and enabled me to have a go at some new bag making techniques, including new types of pockets for me. (And yes, I am currently enjoying a finished project induced glow.)

Here's the finished bag!

Organised Office Bag from Lisa Lam's, The Bag Making Bible,
and Gathered Clutch from Anna at Noodlehead

And now for a few more gratuitous shots of the bag - if not just because I know my Mum will enjoy looking at them...

Nearly finished

`Bellows' pocket close up

View of the internal pockets before the lining was attached to the inside of the bag

I'm relieved the bag is finished before my friend has given birth. The matching clutch was an unexpected bonus, thanks to the combined forces of a bit of left over fabric and last night's rubbish bank holiday TV.  

And now for that `ephalant' dress...