first day of preschool + a new backpack

three weeks ago, the bee attended her first full day of preschool. prior to that, she’d gone to two phase-in days of an hour and a half each, but no other day care or school. we have been lucky enough to be able to have one parent at home with her since she was born, but boy! was it time for her to start interacting with some other kids. away from us.

don’t get me wrong… i love this kid more than, well, anything really. but after a year and a half of being a stay at home mom, and after having taken on two part-time jobs already, i am ready for the help. and she’s so smart, i feel like she’s become bored with what i can offer her here. plus, and maybe most importantly, she desperately needs to learn how to interact with other kids! do other parents of only children go through this? are your kids super-attached and shy, and really need to learn how to play with others?

anyway, a first day of school requires a new backpack, right? i made this one with owls, which is still rockin’ a display in the shop, but i didn’t particularly love those owls. the bee’s favorite color is orange, and i had a few yards of a super-bright orange canvas in my stash from my last job. so…

my crazy-talented friend ann did the appliqué with her free-motion embroidery (is that right?) foot and her sewing machine. i effin’ love it! the pattern is the oliver + s penguin backpack, sans penguin, from little things to sew. it’s a pretty great pattern, and went together even easier the second time.

i fell in love with this glasses and pencils fabric by julia rothman (actually, i think i’m in love with EVERYTHING that she does.. i learned the names of most of the farm equipment we see out here from her book, farm anatomy. maybe a few things from richard scary too.) i also bought the last few yards we had of this typewriter print from the shop, and ann used both of these plus this typewriter key fabric to appliqué the front. i think i might use some of the typewriter print to line a laptop bag. clever? i think so!