Mama Mia Diaper Bag

Isn’t this Mama Mia Diaper Bag so CUTE!?

I got the pattern and fabric before Brady was born with full intentions of finishing it before his arrival.

Well, obviously that didn’t happen.

But it’s done now! And I think it’s perfect timing because he gets to help me model the cute bag!

Don’t you just love this fabric!? It had me at “Hello.”
It’s from Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda.

Mama Mia Diaper Bag Pattern

I am going to go through the pattern and tell you some tips and tricks to finishing the bag.
I’ve also included some changes you might want to make.

This pattern was a little more difficult for me to understand, considering this is the third pattern I’ve followed ever, so hopefully some of these suggestions can help beginning sewers.

- TIPS –

Fabric – I ran out of fabric for my outside and inside pockets. That is why you see two different fabrics for the inside pockets. You may want to get a little bit more.

Interlining (cotton fleece) – In the pattern it says to machine baste or use temporary adhesive spray. Interlining can come with a fusible backing (and we carry it! ). All you have to do is iron it onto the back of your fabric; much easier than sewing or spraying!

Rings – These are impossible to find! I was able to find a seller online, but I would have had to buy a lot of them instead of just six. I ended up just using D-Rings and they work great! We also now carry Grommets, which would work great with this bag!

Template Plastic – It really exists. I searched and searched for it. If you’re not sure where it would be in a craft store, just ask. It is just plastic and it will go in the bottom of the bag to keep it sturdy.

Step 3 – You will need to use your Vanishing Fabric Marker for this part. You need to put the lines of where you need to sew on the back of the fabric. Stitch down in both lines (remember to backstitch! This is very important!) and press them open as per instructions. I got really confused in this part because I didn’t have the pattern piece in front of me.

Step 11 – Stitching tucks is really easy! There are two notches next to each other on each side of the pocket. You just have to put one notch on top of the other. Make sure the fold is turned away from the center.

Step 10 and 12 – In step 10, the pattern has you press a line for the stitching line. Step 12 has you stitch through that line. I found the pockets to be kind of small. It’s hard to stick a diaper in it. It is great for bottles and lots of other things, but if you want bigger pockets, then you can move this stitching line over so one pocket is bigger and the other will now be smaller. If you want to make this change, press the stitching line over in step 10.

Step 14 – This step seems really weird and threw me off. But it really is exactly like the picture is saying. You will sew the two lining bases onto another lining base that has the interlining attached to it. Sew them onto the right side of the fabric, not the interlining side.

Step 22 – This is the step where you attach your handles to your bag. I read through it many times and made sure to put the handles on correctly. Then I finished and went to put on my bag when I realized I really didn’t put them on correctly.

There is a front handle and a back handle.
Not a right and left handle.
I’m spelling it out just in case you need this like I needed it.

- Lastly, this bag does open quite a bit. Adding some Magnetic Snaps would definitely help keep things intact.

Changing Pad

Step 5 – I kind of skipped a step and sewed my velcro on before I stitched the two sides together. Now I wish I hadn’t done that. My reasoning is that I wish instead of following the pattern on where to put the fuzzy part, I folded up my changing pad how I liked and marked where I wanted to attach the velcro. The pattern has you sew the velcro on after you’ve sewn the two sides and turned it around, so seeing the stitching through the inside wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.

This bag was really intimidating to me when I got the pattern, but now after having gone through it, it really wasn’t that bad. And if you’d like to try it, but you’re a little nervous, don’t worry! I’ve done it, so you can ask me any questions you’d like.

This bag would also be really cute as a normal bag. It’s really big for everything you might need.
You don’t need a baby to make this bag.