Monarch Mini Crossbody Bag

I mentioned in my last post that we’d been to visit our daughter and hubby in the Cincinnati area. While we were there, their neighbors/friends got a new puppy, and we got to meet him before we left. He’s an aussiedoodle (a cross between an Australian shepherd and a poodle), and isn’t he just super cute?! He’s only 9 weeks old here, so he’s going to be a BIG dog!

Fast forward to our being back home again, and I got a new pattern to test from Dog Under My Desk. This was designed to be a dog-walking bag, but could also be useful for other things. I was just going to make it for myself and leave off the doggie parts, but then I remembered the puppy and thought it’d be fun to make it for his owners. I consulted with Jess about it, and she thought it was a great idea. The pup’s name is “Cowboy”, and she said they’re going all out with the western theme. She said it’d be fun to make it with some kind of western-type fabric, but then said “but why would you have any of that?”

Ha! I occasionally buy grab bags of fabric, and I remembered that I did indeed have a western print… of all things, cowboys! Perfect, right? So then I decided waxed canvas would be just right for a western-type bag. Here it is:

The front has a zipper pocket as well as a slip pocket behind that.The back has another slip pocket, plus triangle rings so that you can remove the strap from the crossbody position, shorten it, and clip it on to the rings to change the bag into a waist pack. 

There’s a mesh pocket on one side that holds a small water bottle (in case the dog gets thirsty), and on the other side is a pocket to hold poop pickup bags that come on a roll and can be fed out through the hole to be very handily accessible.

The inside of the bag opens wide with a recessed zipper and is big enough to hold treats and maybe a toy or two. I used as much of the cowboy fabric in there as I could, to get it used up, because I doubt I’ll ever have another appropriate project to use it for.

I did have just enough fabric left to make a bandana for Cowboy. I had my favorite model, Miss C, model the whole ensemble for me before I shipped it off to Jess to give to their friends.

(How did she ever grow up so fast?!)

So there you have it… the whole long-story-not-shortened. The bag was very happily received a couple of days ago. Jess said a photo would hopefully be coming of Cowboy modeling his own bandana… once they can get him to hold still long enough… and not try to eat it. LOL He is a puppy, after all. I hope they enjoy their walks in the future.

Now I’m considering making a bag for myself from the same pattern, minus the side pockets. The hardest part is always choosing fabrics. Meanwhile, if you’re interested in making one for yourself, it’s called the Monarch Mini Crossbody bag, and you can find it here. This new pattern and all the others in the shop are at a 20% discount through August 3rd!

In my last post, I also mentioned that I was helping Courtney with a 4-H sewing project. She finished that about a week ago, and it only took three very focused afternoons of sewing. She did a beautiful job, and I sure wish I could show it to you right away… but it’ll have to wait. Judging is August 6th, if I remember right, so not terribly long to wait. The fair starts on August 17th. Anyway, you can be sure I’ll show you and brag on how great her project turned out! ;)