Seven Seas Gym Bag

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
Warp & Weft Sewing Society
A Warp & Weft Sewing Society project

This year I did quite a bit of back-to-school sewing. With two kids in school there is just so much to buy, so it’s nice to be able to make something as well.

The Fabric

I started off with six fat quarters from the Seven Seas collection by Michéle Brummer Everett for Cloud9 Fabrics, courtesy Warp & Weft Exquisite Textiles. The prints I chose are Laddies Poppets, Sea Critters, and The Fleet in Grey. These are just so darn cute! When my little boy saw them he was over the moon. These are really fun prints and the fabric is organic, which is always nice.

Laddies Poppets, Sea Critters, and The Fleet in Gray from the Seven Seas collection by Michéle Brummer Everett for Cloud9 Fabrics, courtesy Warp & Weft Exquisite Textiles.
The Before shot: Laddies Poppets, Sea Critters, and The Fleet in Grey from the Seven Seas collection by Michéle Brummer Everett for Cloud9 Fabrics, courtesy Warp & Weft Exquisite Textiles.

The Pattern

I used the Jeni Gym Bag tutorial by Katy Jones of I’m A GingerMonkey.

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I’m A GingerMonkey

This is a free online tutorial (with a super convenient PDF download). The directions are very clear and easy to follow.

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
Looks a bit like a superhero cape when it’s empty.

The tutorial makes a lined drawstring bag that is kid-sized. It’s a little big on my 5-year-old but not so big it looks silly. Just big enough that it will last a while though.

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
I used The Fleet in Grey to line the bag.

I used white cording for the drawstring, but you could also use ribbon, homemade bias binding stitched closed, etc.

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
Easy for little hands to open.

There is plenty of room inside for sneakers and a change of clothes.

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
Love how one of the little poppets appears to have already walked the plank!

The toughest part of the pattern was installing grommets (which really were not that hard to install). Much easier than eyelets, if you’ve ever had to use those, because the grommets are so much larger and more stable when you whack them with a hammer. You do need a special grommet tool though.

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
Another shot of my awesome grommet.

My son really likes the sea creatures and the colours. It’s really hard to find fabric for boys that isn’t too babyish, or too serious, or too dark. These prints are bright and fun and and the bag was a big hit.

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
Just one more grommet pic. Really though, check out that great grommet!

I’m really happy with this bag. It’s just so much cuter than anything I could buy in the store. And it was super quick to make. In case, ahem, you have to make one the day before school starts because your summer was just too crazy (just saying).

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I’m A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment

Summary

Pattern Review: Jeni Gym Bag tutorial by Katy Jones of I’m A GingerMonkey.

Fabric: Laddies Poppets, Sea Critters, and The Fleet in Grey from the Seven Seas collection by Michéle Brummer Everett for Cloud9 Fabrics, courtesy Warp & Weft Exquisite Textiles.

Sizes: One size fits most. The finished bag is 14″ x 17″.

Sewing Level: Beginner.

Modifications: None.

Results: Great.

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
Well now, what could this be?

Once the rightful owner was conveniently out of the way, there was some unauthorized testing. (And no, I do not normally allow my infant children to play with drawstring bags for obvious reasons).

The Jeni Gym Bag sewing pattern by I'm A GingerMonkey, sewn by The Finished Garment
“Mine!”

Author: Shannon Smith

Data scientist, journalist, sewist, hiker, modern quilter, slam poet, and mum of four. My best friends are trees and my favourite food is granola.

5 thoughts on “Seven Seas Gym Bag”

  1. Oh my!! That is flipping adorable!! LOVE that print! lol! I need it! I’ve used grommets before and you’re so right on the money, not something i’d want to do all the time. haha!! I have a friend who wanted one of these, so thanks for sharing the link! 🙂

    Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: