Name That PackSack Contest!!
I finished making Glen's bookbag/backpack today and it came out great. So great in fact that I decided I needed to give these bags a nifty name. I only came up with half of the name - "PackSack." I like it. But, I need something before the "PackSack." Some-thing Packsack.
(If you look at the picture above, you will see that the bag has a zippered pocket on the front.)
I took elements from several backpacks the children already had, and elements from some patterns and altered them to create my own design.
I worked for a week making this bag for Glen. He picked out the fabric and was so excited when I finally got started making it. Today when I finished it, he couldn't wait to put it on and walk around the house with it on his shoulders. That is why I love to sew and make things for my children and grandchildren - because of their smiles. They're priceless.
Although it looks like most school backpacks out there, I have double seams, reinforcement stitching, heavyweight fabric and heavy interfacing, sturdy zippers, adjustable straps with quality hardware (not that plastic crap that snaps together) and plenty of room for books, folder pocket, and 4 additional pockets for car phone, ipod, pencils.
(In the picture above you will notice that it has an exterior pocket on the side, both sides in fact, and an adjustable shoulder strap.)
So I finished this bag and I thought I would make some more and sell them in my Etsy shoppe, and I thought I would also sell the pattern, fully featured with step-by-step instructions and images to go with it. All in all it comes with about 30 pages or more I think. I have all the instructions typed, I just need to add the images - over 200! Then, I would publish it as a .pdf and sell the pattern for anyone out there who is daring enough to want to try their creative hand at making their own packsack.
As you can see, there is a big interior pocket for a folder or something, and it has 2 interior side pockets as well, for pencils, cell phone, ipod, or a cold drink!
So here's the deal - help me name these packsacks. If I use your choice of name, I will send you the instructions and pattern for the packsack for free!
The back of the packsack is padded. This was my idea because I think backpacks are bad on the spine, and since I have a bad back, I want to protect my kids. However, they refuse to take those book bags on wheels to school, so I came up with the idea of making a backpack with padding against the spine
The interior has binding around the edges that added an additional 2 reinforcement seams to the exterior seams of the bag for a total of 3 stitching seams around the perimeter of the bag, so that even if the weight of heavy books were to compromise it, it won't be at the seams!
My kids go through backpacks like crazy and when I took a good look at their construction I winced. They're probably made in some sweat shop in China. No sweating here, just time and lots of love. I actually enjoyed making these backpacks for Sarah and Glen and now their friends are inquiring about how they can get one. That is what inspired me to make some for sale and also to create a fully-featured pattern and instructions for sale as well.
So how about it? What would you call them? "........?........ PackSack"
(I even made pull tabs out of the remaining bias binding I made from the interior fabric. Pretty cool, eh?)
Give them a name people!!
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So, seriously, reading the comments has been funny, but I need a name for these backpacks. My daughter thought DTK PackSack, I like the DTK and think it sounds great for marketing, but it stands for "Dressed to Kill" and I'm not sure I like that. So keep up the suggestions! I need something that a teenage boy wouldn't be embarrassed to say if asked who made his backpack. Ha ha.
Susan