Mild-mannered kid... Or superhero?

Today is my practice grandson's 4th birthday, so of course I had to make him something. Since he has started at preschool, my daughter Diana suggested I make him a backpack. But not just any backpack... One with a secret!

I used McCalls 6410, view D (on the lower left), as my starting point:


Good grief, it had a lot of pieces! And two different interfacings! But once all the cutting and fusing was done, assembly wasn't that bad. And of course, I made a few changes.

Here's the finished product:

I used a brightly-colored canvas from JoAnns, and pre-washed it in case the final pack has to be laundered (If?!? This is a little boy. It's gonna need to be laundered!).

The pattern called for fixed-length straps, but I made them adjustable:

For the lining, I found a Superman-themed fabric, again at JoAnns:

Both the two zippered pockets and the snap-close flap pocket are lined with this fabric. Note: the only beef I have with this pattern is that you have to hand-sew the linings to the zipper tapes as the last step, so the lining isn't fastened at all to the body of the bag, meaning it doesn't help the bag keep its shape. But it's a minor quibble.

But wait... What's this little zipper pull doing along the front edge?

There's nothing in the pattern instructions about putting a zipper there... I wonder what's inside? Let's open it up and see...


Ooh! A secret compartment! And there's something inside...


It's what every well-dressed super hero is wearing: a cape! And it's got his initial on it to show he is SuperG!

The cape is sewn to the edge of the top band.

The birthday boy was so excited to get it this morning, he had to take it for a "test fly" right away!

 
Then he asked his mom, "Can I take it to Big Boy School today?" He's so proud of being in preschool, and I'm sure his friends will be envious of his new backpack!

It's so much fun sewing for him!

Comments

  1. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!!
    ...every little boy would love it...even this old man!

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  2. This is sooo wonderful! What a great idea.
    Sandy in the UK

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  3. Wonderful! What a way to make a kid's day, and yours too, I suspect.

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  4. Absolutely great, Welmoed! What a "super" idea!
    Jane in KC

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  5. Just wonderful! You hit it out of the ballpark with this gift...

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  6. is it in a pocket in there? because i think i am in love with this!

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    1. Justina, all I really did was add a zipper to the seam on the outer fabric. The cape just slides into the gap between the outer fabric and the lining. I thought about making a pocket for it, but figured that since the space was there, just use that. The cape was sewn to the seam allowance of the top of the bag, so it covers the opening when it's deployed.

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  7. Now THAT is brilliant! Can't find that at the store! :D Way to go! :D

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  8. Oh, what a spectacularly special birthday present. That's super indeed. It's going to be loved to death.

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  9. WOW! That is AMAZING!!!! As always, thank you for sharing!

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  10. Amazing, inspiring, and a beautiful job! As a surface design geek, I'm wondering how you got the G on there? And having never gotten over being picked on, my somewhat sad thought was that if the mean kids start to pull on Superman's cape, the itty bitty pull can be removed. And why on earth would they design it with straps that don't adjust!

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    1. Lisa, I created the logo in CorelDraw, then brought it into my Silhouette Studio program to create the cut file to send to my Silhouette Cameo. I cut it out of a fusible transfer material (sort of like iron-on vinyl) and ironed it onto the cape.
      And I totally agree about the straps!

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  11. How wonderful is that! Beautiful job, as usual and I'll bet the smile on his face was worth everything.
    Patti B

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  12. That is the Coolest. Thing. Ever!! You are so talented :)

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  13. Sewing for boys is the best. They are always so amazed at what you can do and so grateful that you thought of them. Glad your neat idea pleased G. I am sure he will enjoy it.

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  14. Wow, a cape, what a great idea. Thanks for sharing!, SueZ in Superior Twp, MI

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  15. what an amazing idea! You are an inspiration!!

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  16. Omgosh that is the cutest thing ever! I bet he loves that.

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  17. That's great!!! Love it. "Practice grandson"?

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  18. That backpack is BEYOND adorable! You rock!

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  19. The backpack is amazing!!! Awesome lining as well :)

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  20. Where has this idea been the last2 years?!? I need one for myself! I'm disabled and since I use crutches and a wheelchair, everything goes in backpacks. Even my purse is a Vera Bradley backpack. But now I totally want one of these.

    Actually, some of my readers have disabled kids in 'chairs. Would you mind if I featured this on my blog? I think they'd love the idea!

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  21. That ingenious and adorable!

    btw, what's a practice grandson?

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    1. I call him my "practice grandson" because my own kids aren't quite at the parenting stage yet. So I get to practice on him!

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  22. Oh, and did you silkscreen the design on?
    I found your blog via pinterest via a "google" search for silhouette cameo silkscreen.
    I pulled up your blog post about using starch for cutting fabric on a cameo, so that was very good news 'cause that was the only thing that I wasn't quite sure about using it for - don't have a Cameo yet, but it's on my Christmas wishlist, and I was a little leery that that application might not be quite doable, so THANK YOU, THANK YOU for imparting all your knowledge!

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