Flight Suit Diaper Bag: Round 3 (With Some Minor, Frustrating Mistakes)

I just finished my third flight suit diaper bag! This one is for my friend Stephanie. Her husband is in the same squadron as my husband and they just had their fourth kid, a boy named Griffin! (I say *just* had a kid, but he was born in September, so I feel a little guilty that I didn't finish this bag sooner. Oh well! They'll still get a lot of use out of it.)

She wanted an adjustable, clip-on messenger bag strap, so I used the D-ring hardware from another bag and she can add the strap later when she finds the right one.

She also wanted a pocket with a flap so she could keep her keys or phone in the outside pocket for easy access. I used the same flap installation method as my Noodlehead Cargo Duffle and it turned out great!

The magnet clasp was really strong, so I hope that doesn't make it too difficult to open.

There is a long pocket on the inside front of the bag for a changing pad.

The inside of the bag is lined with iron-on vinyl so it will be easy to wipe out if it gets wet.

Here are some pictures of the changing pad. I used the velcro from the wrists of the uniform for the closure.

If I'm being totally honest, there are some minor mistakes with this bag that I REALLY wish I could fix, but it was too late and I just have to live with them. It's just hard to deal with sometimes because you know your name is attached to this bag and you want it to look good.

The first mistake is here on the edge. When I was stitching the lining to the outside of the bag, I didn't catch the edge of the green fabric and you can see the black foam and the raw edge of the fabric. The topstitching should keep everything in place, but I'm frustrated that I didn't notice this until AFTER I had flipped everything right side out and stitched the lining closed. There's also a little folded over crease in the flap.

The other issue is here where the topstitching kind of got away from me and went crooked. Granted, it's hard to wrestle the bag through the machine when there's so much bulk, but I didn't realize just how far off it got until the bag was done. And again, it was too late to go back and fix it. Those stitches are so close together, it would be nearly impossible to rip them out. 

I realize these are minor mistakes that most people wouldn't notice, but I knew how much Stephanie wanted this bag customized to her needs, and again, it has my name on it, so I really wanted it to look good. As long as it's functional, I guess that's all that matters. I just have to remind myself of what my Dad always says: "Perfect is the enemy of good enough."