My latest 'make'

Every week I look after my grand daughter, who's now just turned 13 months for the day.  When carrying her and my handbag I don't have a free hand.  

 So I thought it would be a good idea to use a rucksack as a handbag in order to leave both hands free.  But it was difficult to find one the right size and shape, so I decided to make one.

Several years ago a friend had a gastric band fitted - and promptly lost 11st!  She gave me lots of her larger-sized clothes to use as fabric, including two of her nearly new pairs of Deal shorts (http://www.joscasuals.co.uk/).  The fabric is strong, stable and easy to sew so has been great for this project.

I cut off all the seams and laid out the fabric flat in order to assess what would be possible.  Then I trawled the internet for pictures of suitable rucksacks, eventually settling on this design.

One of the pairs of shorts was used for the outside of the rucksack and the other, thinner, pair for the lining.  

The pockets were really useful as I've incorporated them into the new design, and the waist cord is now used to pull the bag closed.