Backpack Upgrade

Preschool backpack still used for 1st grade?! It worked for a while but as soon as they were assigned laptops to bring home, I knew Lilli needed an upgrade. After a good deal of scouring for patterns, I found the right one for her needs. I’ll show you how I made it and what changes I made, including painting a galaxy. Keep reading!

The Pattern

I searched and searched for a kids backpack with a side Accessories water bottle pocket and a laptop sleeve. And after multiple days (this is how I research anything) I found the Flosstyle Bazinga Backpack. It’s got:

• A contoured design on the front.
• Lining for everything.
• Front zip pocket and option slip pocket
• Laptop sleeve
• Internal slip pocket for phone
• A nice tall water bottle pocket – this was a must because the previous backpack, the water bottle would just fall out when you bent down.

The instructions are detailed with pictures for all the steps. The one thing I wished for was some of the steps to be broken down just a bit more. But nothing a highlighter can’t fix.

The pattern pieces are named with a color and referred to by that color in the instructions, making it simple to follow.

The fabric

I had cotton duck canvas from both Lilli’s previous backpack and from mask making. It is a great fabric to use for soft bags – as they get softer over time.

However, I wanted some water protection since electronics were going into it. I used Odicoat gel to make it water resistant. From everything I read or watched, it works best with lighter weight fabrics, or ones without texture. And if you know duck canvas, you know it is super textured. There is a trick to applying it – use a credit card or hard squeegee type tool to apply it more finely. It’s best to do a couple of thin coats than one thick one. Trust me. It doesn’t look good.

The fabric colors I chose were a midnight blue and purple – and because my daughter doesn’t like solid colors I figured I could jazz it up with some glitter. As I applied the gel, I also added some glitter paint to it and spread it out. The effect? It looks like the glitter is baked into the fabric.

The pieces were cut first and water proofed after. This helped so that I could layer more gel on certain pieces and have just one coat on others.

The modifications

Laptop sleeve

The original sleeve is the same size as the back piece and is attached directly to the back. However, I wanted some depth to it, so I added fabric strips to the side of the laptop piece, and used binding to finish it off. The strips were 1.75″ pieces of rip stop nylon, allowing just enough room for a laptop, and the ability to collapse when not in use. These strips only went on the sides, not the bottom.

Another thing was to use foam in between the two laptop sleeve fabrics to give it extra projection. I quilted the foam down with simple vertical lines.

Inner Pockets

Instead of creating a slip pocket for the phone, I made an elasticated lining pocket, then sewed down the middle to create two sections.

Lining

The instructions told me to line some of the pieces but I omitted some – I knew from before, that the less layers I had, the better success I would have on the sewing machine.

The front section has 4 pieces (Pink, Royal Blue, and 2 Green) and each piece had a separate lining. I did not line the 4 front pieces, instead I topstitched the seam allowance down.

I even put in a piece of vinyl as a name tag area.

Bottom (Red piece)

Added padding between the lining and outer pieces, of the bottom of the backpack, to give some more protection for the laptop. Padding was scrap batting – I’m telling you, the only things I bought for this bag were the straps and buckles! I added some more quilting in diamond shapes to attach the outer fabric to the lining.

straps

Like in my last backpack, I used scrap threads, that I’ve been collecting, as the padding inside. I tucked them all in, and quilted the straps. To finish it off, I attached the twill tape high up. The plan was to later buy sternum straps to add on. The extra twill tape will allow for that and to to customize the height.

I found sternum buckles that you can slip on and also a smaller buckle for the front with it’s associated nylon strap. All from various sellers on Amazon. Click the links to see each one.

The extra details

Here’s the fun part!

Backside Galaxy

I mentioned earlier that Lilli does not care for solid colors, and the back was going to be a solid midnight blue that really looks black. And since this was a surprise for her, I couldn’t risk her rejecting it for a small reason. Sooo I brought out my fabric paint and followed a YouTube tutorial on how to paint a galaxy. Honestly, I think it turned out better than I had hoped. It’s all cured so it can be washed without any issues.

Some embroidery here and there helped to attach the outside to the lining.

Butterfly

The front got an iron-on butterfly that I bought, way before I knew how to create them myself. However, the edges weren’t sticking to the fabric so I had to go in and stitch it down by hand.

Zippers

Aren’t these zippers and zipper pulls adorable? I got the rainbow zipper by the yard from Sew Sweetness, as well as the, two different types of pulls. For the main pocket, I remembered how convenient two zipper pulls were from my school days – so this one got two as well.

That was a lot of stuff huh? I just have one more thing to mention – wear and tear. I was Lilli’s backpack every Friday and since making this backpack, I have washed it multiple times in the washer and hung it to dry. No issues so far.🤞 When the Odicoat gets too wet, it makes the fabric look white washed. But drys back to normal. It did freak me out the first time, which is why I am mentioning it here.

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