Secret Garden Backpack

Since October I have been carting around a very big, very black bag. I love the bag. It’s a bulky mix of faux fur and leather with Edward Scissorhands type straps and buckles. Now that spring has come that bag seems to have gained 10 lbs. Along with shedding the heavy clothes it’s time to shed the heavy bag too.

With no plan other than to make something “light” and “springy” I poked around my local fabric shop. As soon as I laid eyes on this fabric with it's swirling vines and little birds my search was over. I bought 1/2 yard, took it home and proceeded to cut into it. With no pattern (and no patience to take my time and do it right) I cut out the general shape of my black bag. This technique rarely works out as well as it did this time. It was to be a shoulder bag, but after playing around with the straps I liked it better as a backpack. Once the bag was finished I thought it fitting to have an ornamental key as a closure. I found the perfect one on etsy. Once the whole thing was complete it reminded me of the book ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  In The Secret Garden a robin leads Mary (the main character) to a mysterious buried key and then to the door that fits the key. The door leads her to the overgrown “secret” garden which has been neglected for so many years. The restoration of the garden to it’s former glory leads the characters on a path to their own restoration and healing.