03 September 08
Boy BFF Bag
This bag is currently for sale.
Or you can order it directly from this post through Paypal. By ordering it through this site you can specify the strap length you wish.
After making an explosion of pink fabric dots turn into a schoolbag, I felt the need to soothe my eyes with something more calming. I was also reminded that I did in fact know a young boy headed to kindergarten. Ella’s Boy BFF is starting kindergarten on the same day she is, and since I’ve been fortunate enough to meet his very, very cool parents and wickedly sassy sis, I knew I would likely have someone else who would be interested in having a new schoolbag.
Ella came by so I could measure her strap and make sure it fit well. I mentioned that I was considering making a bag for him. “He likes blue,” was her instant response. “Dark blue, light blue, purple that is almost blue, but mostly just plain blue. Do you want me to pick out the fabric for him?” (Girlfriend just doesn’t hesitate when it comes to the gift giving for herself or someone she cares about, lemmetellya.)
I agreed that her design consultancy would be helpful, and she agreed to help me pull fabric out to look at. Just as I was starting to realize how my fabric color palette pointed away from boy-friendly colors, Ella made the astute realization with me. “You make a lot of bags for girls and women. Have you ever made a bag for a boy?”
“Well, I’m making a bag for Naz and I made one for Andrew and a few other guys we know.”
“Yeah, but they’re not boys. They’re grown-ups. They don’t count.”
And indeed, she is right.
Well, I said, I do have this fabric that is waterproof and blue. I really like it. Let me know what you think of it. I pulled out the fabric shown in the picture above on a roll.
“Hmm. I’m not sure. It looks, kinda, I dunno”, and then she shrugged her shoulders. I unrolled it a bit and she held it between her hands. “Oh, but it feels smooth. It feels good.”
“Well, its cotton fabric, like yours, but the fabric was soaked in wax so it makes it smooth and it makes it kinda waterproof.”
“So if he drops the bag and it gets in a puddle it won’t get wet?”
“Well, the bag will get wet, but hopefully the stuff in his bag will stay dry. And all he’ll have to do is wipe it off if he spills something on it.”
“Hmm. You know, I think this has to be the bag. Cause boys get dirty and he’s going to be with a lot of boys at school. Yep, I think I like this. But what color will his strap be?”
I didn’t have anything in stock that was suitable so I explained that I could make a strap out of the fabric used in the bag as well. She liked the idea because then the fabric would match the bag exactly. “Are you going to give him a zipper, too?”
“Yeah, I said. He’ll need some place to put his lunch money.”
“Oh, okay. Cause I’m going to put my lip stuff in my pocket, but he doesn’t wear lip stuff. But he might get money and if its zipped he won’t lose it.”
And then we debated gold snap or silver snap and decided on silver. Whew. Designing with five-year-olds is exhausting.
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