Quasi-Tutorial: Quick Access Card Holder

Just what my Eggsy Backpack needed...

I'm happy to report – for anyone who may have been concerned for me 😜 – that my Eggsy Backpack worked out quite well during my vacation. I had high hopes that it would, but one never knows how one might react to a new bag until it gets used.

For my part, I had been virtually attached at the hip to my crossbody sling bag for four years. Even though its smallish size precludes carrying much, I had gotten used to its distinctive elements of "convenience." Primarily, the flip up the flap to access credit cards in two seconds was something that I sorely missed in my new bag.

During the trip, I used one of my purse lanyards to keep my credit card within easy reach. It did the job adequately, but when I started using the backpack full time after I got home, I put cards in the gusset pocket. That wasn't entirely optimal as there was no way to separate the three cards that I needed to carry and I always worried that handling one would jeopardize the security of the others.

Meanwhile, I really liked the idea of the lanyard; it was just that the clear pocket at the end wasn't the best choice for storing credit cards (i.e., people probably shouldn't see credit cards hanging out in the open).

Attached to the inside of the bag and held in an exterior pocket...

Therefore, after one week of using my Eggsy full-time, I began to ruminate on a similar but better solution, the final result of which you see here.

You can call this a mini wallet, a card caddy, or a key chain; it's actually reminiscent of a biker wallet. It's a simple "sew" that can be put together in various ways depending on choice of materials.

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The underlying design of this card holder – one long strip of double sided fabric which is then folded and seamed as required – is one that I have used for at least two previous projects. Because this was meant to coordinate with my Eggsy, I fell back on the same two fabrics, which necessitated cutting two strips. (Thus can be made, however, with one single long strip – folded against itself – just as easily.) Depending on fabric, you may want to interface lightly with something like SF101; I didn't do anything with my selections as one was a cotton twill and the other was a high thread count quilting cotton.

In terms of hardware, I used a chain (taken from a $1 belt), a split ring, and a swivel clasp. (If you don't like the idea of a chain, go with ribbon or bias tape, like I did for this project and this.) After taking most of the photos for this post, I added a couple of rivets. You'll also need a small square (about 3/4") of hook and loop tape.

Fabric required for this quick access card holder...

The two large strips of fabric are 13.5" long x 2.75" wide*. (If using a single long strip, it should measure 26.5" x 2.75") The two smaller pieces are 2.5" long x 1" wide.

Start by making the tab at the top for the split ring. Take the two smaller pieces of fabric, put them right sides together and sew down the long edges. Turn right side out – be patient, it'll be tricky – press, fold in half and then press again.

Sew together the two small pieces to create the tab...

Center the folded tab against the right side of one of the short ends of the remaining strips of fabric and pin or clip. Lay the other strip right side down on top, pin and sew with a 1/4" seam allowance. (If using just one long strip of fabric, place the other end of it here.)

NOTE: ensure that the raw ends of the tab extend approximately 1/4" past the ends of the fabric, as shown below.

Sew together at both ends, encasing the tab at one end...

[By the way, it occurred to me after I finished this that I could have saved myself some time by using ribbon here. In that case, I would have doubled it – like I did for the hanging loop of the Eggsy itself – for extra strength and durability.]

Sew together the opposite ends of the two strips, creating a circular loop. (If you started with only a single strip of fabric, you won't need to sew a second seam.) Press open the two seams as best as you can, then open up the loop and rearrange it so that the two seams are stacked on top of each other.

Match both seams and pin, leaving a suitable turning gap (yellow pins above)... 

Pin as required. Sew along both sides with a small seam allowance (between 1/4" and 1/8"), being sure to leave a turning gap (about 2.5" should be sufficient).

Sew, leaving a turning gap...

Turn right side out and press well. Stitch in the ditch of the horizontal center seam.

Measure 2.25" from each end and fold them back onto the strip to create the pockets. Then fold the entire strip in half along the center seam. Verify that both sides are even and adjust as necessary; press well.

Pin the pockets in place.

Fold the two ends of the strip back onto itself to create the card pockets...

Check where the turning gap ended up; if it's within the folded area of one of the pockets, you can close it up later (simultaneously) when you stitch up the sides of the pockets. Otherwise, stitch it closed now.

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Use some double sided tape to stick the pieces of hook and loop tape into position on the pockets, centered about 1/2" away from the bottom edge. Unpin and unfold the pockets and sew the hook and loop tape in place. (Alternatively, you can probably make do with an adhesive hook and loop tape, which is what I did.)

View of interior...

Refold the ends to form pockets, pin and handstitch the sides closed. Why the hand sewing? To minimize width and to accommodate the cards tightly, I made this as narrow as possible. If you want to be able to sew these pocket edges by machine, cut the original fabric wider* (by at least a half inch).

A couple of days after taking the photos for this post, I went back and added two rivets to the top of the holder. They help the two sides "snap" back together and stay closed. (Rivets aren't the only way to achieve this; you can simply sew a line right across there, about a half inch down from the top.)

With rivets added...

I made this because I had gotten used to accessing my credit cards quickly and wanted a way to add that functionality to my new bag (and essentially to any bag I might carry). Those of you who still keep your cards in traditional wallets may not see any value in this project; however, it can serve other purposes. One thing that occurred to me is that transit users might find this handy for keeping a bus pass on a tether.

I'll finish off with a hardware sourcing tip: check your dollar stores for keychains. Along with the requisite split ring, some come with a matching swivel clasp, like this one here from Dollarama. For the chain, look into your closet or jewelry box for something to recycle. Otherwise, go to your nearest hardware store; they sell different types of chain by the foot (and that's about as much as you need for this project).

'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁

Recycled Creativity Revisited

Taking some time for surface design...

A couple of years ago, I recycled an old fabric design into a new entry for one of Spoonflower's design challenges.

It was also the last time I entered one of them, before the ones that I'm posting about right now.

  

Surprising, in a way, since I had thought – with not blogging regularly  – that I would have more time to fiddle with surface design as well. Turns out that a lot of things didn't pan out the way I anticipated that they might last year.

Which is not to say that I had actual plans that didn't get executed. I quite literally had no plans, so whatever got accomplished in 2024, I'm actually quite fine with it all.

Anyway, to get back to the topic at hand, the first Spoonflower challenge last December was called Cabincore Wallpaper. The aim was for designs "that encapsulate the essence of cabin life, blending comfort with a touch of the great outdoors." Even though I wasn't enthralled with the theme, I thought I could do something with it.

Growing up, I lived in two houses that actually had a bit of a cabin vibe to them. The first had a family room that featured wood shakes on two walls, which was put in by the original owners. In the second home, my parents were the ones who decided to panel the basement walls in quintessential faux woodgrain.

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Maybe because of all that "woody-ness" from my youth, I am loathe to feature brown wood anywhere in my own home. So for a design challenge that is supposed to invoke cabin life, what would I go with?

Wood, of course.

But this is a surface design for a wallpaper, so it doesn't have to look like real wood, in either colour or substance. With that in mind, I thought about concocting something with a stylized wood grain. My first attempt was tossed into the garbage bin after wrestling with it for a day. Truly, I am a big proponent of saving creative attempts – and in fact, doing so and taking advantage of that is the overall theme of this post – but this one wasn't up to snuff in so many ways.

I realized that part of the problem was that – not for the first time – I wasn't feeling totally "into" it and therefore did not have the requisite mojo. To address that, I decided to look back into my design archives for some inspo.

"Spin Me Good" wallpaper design...

Because this is a wallpaper challenge, the underlying elements have to be bigger. Therefore, my main sources of recycled creativity would likely come from previous wallpaper designs. I ended up here, from a 2018 black and white challenge... specifically, design #3.

I eventually named it, but it remained a private design and has never been proofed. I saw potential in how the concentric circles could be interpreted as the rings on a cross section of a tree.

With a little bit of help from PSP's deformations and tiling effects, I ended up with this seamless tile.

The genesis of my Whirling Wood Grain surface design...

And yes, the first colour that I chose was a reddish shade of brown. Eventually, it was lightened up and after a few iterations, I got this:

I thought I was done at this point...

Even though I worked with this lighter shade of tan for several days, I felt the urge to explore a different colour altogether.

The first one I tried was grey, which looked fine, but perhaps too sterile for the theme. No matter the season, I believe cabin life should always have a "warm" vibe, so it was back to the drawing board to choose some colour. I settled on an olive green shade for its close association with tan/brown. My first attempt is this one below.

Colorized to green...

I eventually deemed it still too dark. Apparently there is a trend towards dark wallpaper, but I cannot imagine it being a good choice for cabin life, with dim lighting often being prevalent in cabins as it is.

Taking a closer look, I decided that lightening up the background would suffice. I still wasn't totally sold on it, but I eventually ran out of time – not to mention interest – to make it different, so what you see below is what I eventually entered. It's called Whirling Wood Grain (Olive).

My eventual entry...

For a design that I personally wasn't in love with, it did about how I expected it would in the challenge. (Ironically, it has received more attention than my Ode to the Canadian Penny design, which I like much, much better and that would also make a terrific cabin wallpaper.)

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July 28- August 3 [affiliate link]

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Immediately following this design challenge was another wallpaper challenge to promote Pantone's colour for 2025: Mocha Mousse.

For this, I went back to 2021, when Pantone's colour of the year was actually two selections: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating Yellow. Shown on a pillow sham at right is my alternate entry – Almost Argyle – for that competition. (My actual entry was Feel Like Playing Jacks.) 

In the same manner as described for the previous design, I took the main elements and tweaked them with the colours that were permitted; Mocha Mousse was the main one, but the following shades of cream and brown were permitted alongside: Cannoli Cream, Cream Tan, Safari, Sirocco, Chanterelle, Baltic Amber, and Chocolate Martini.

Third attempt...

We were given the hex codes for the above, but no "paint chips" to see what they looked like, so it was a bit of a trial and error to arrive at what would be a pleasing mix for the existing design. My first attempt was too monochrome. I deemed it to be blah and reassigned the colours on the various shapes, settling on three others besides the Mocha Mousse: Chocolate Martini (the darkest shade shown above), Sirocco (the second lightest), and Cream Tan (the lightest).

Sixth attempt...

I worked my way up to a sixth iteration before deciding that I was mostly satisfied. Mostly. I had taken away stuff and added stuff and was still not entirely finished, but it was close. After being reminded that Mocha Mousse was supposed to be the dominant colour, I rejigged some elements and arrived at my eighth and final iteration.

If you haven't figured it out, Mocha Mousse is the colour of the interior of all the diamond shapes. (I ended up naming this Mocha Mousse & Friends Argyle.)

This was my entry...

Even though I had only had four days to work on this one before the deadline, I must say that I ended up liking this entry much more than the one for the previous challenge. (Must have been getting into my "vibe".)

After I submitted, I discovered that the next challenge had the same theme, only for fabric, with different complementary colours... so it was back to the drawing board once again. This time, I found myself diving into my 2020 archives, to a limited palette challenge from early that year involving shades of "classic blue". The alternate that I created for that competition was Yarn Cross Stitch in Classic Blue.

I won't bore you with details of the process, but what I did was revamp the "stitch" elements – to convert them into petals – and then replaced the shades of blue with Mocha Mousse, Laurel Oak (the bluey-gray one), Buffed Beige (the lightest one) and Coffee Quartz (the darkest).

Here is the design that eventually became my entry:

This one is called Mocha Mousse Blossoms...

In the two weeks that were allotted to the voting process, it got sufficiently "favourite-ed" by members of the Spoonflower community that it jumped into third place out of all the fabrics that I'd ever designed... right behind my Pride & Prejudice Text (in White) and Pride & Prejudice Text (in Black). (Voting-wise, the final number was disappointing by comparison, but I'm still learning the craft and have no expectations of challenging for any top spots!)

Entries were pictured thusly for voting purposes:

Fabric on a chair...

The themes of the next two challenges did not ring my bell, but the one after caught my attention: sophisticated stripes. The design prompt in this case was to "reinterpret a classic and create an entry that makes a sophisticated statement." 

I like stripes, even when they're as simple as this:

Yellow & Gray Stripes Spoonflower sheet set...

Back in February of 2016, I came up with the following stripe-y pattern, the inspiration for which was discussed in this post:

Inspiration design...

I liked the distribution of stripes in terms of number and size, and wanted to put some different colours to it to create something new. However, knowing that I have no talent for creating beautifully coordinated palettes, I had to consult visme for inspiration.

I can honestly say that I had forgotten the official name of the design challenge at this point, but when I scrolled through the colour palettes, the one that spoke to me was actually called "Sophisticated and Calm"... coincidence or what?

image courtesy of visme.com...

My first design using those five colours, called Sophisticated Stripes & Dots, is shown below. It's simple and has a 3D vibe to it.

Design #1...

I liked it enough to keep it as an actual design, but with time to play with the concept, it evolved. A couple of days later, I had the beginnings of my eventual entry.

The beginnings of my final design..

Similar to how the cross-stitches were employed, I drew a small slash and put some dots underneath at both ends to create the illusion of eyelets. Through the magic of a mirrored pattern repeat, it looks like ribbons joined with laces. Over the next hours of playing with it, I added another row of dots to the black "ribbon" and narrowed the beige trim along its edge. The final step was to add some contrast detail to the eyelets, all of which you can clearly see below.

Final design shown on wallpaper...

For voting purposes, entries were shown as wallpaper, but I think the design makes a striking fabric choice as well. (It's called Laced Up Ribbons.) Here it is as part of a bedding ensemble.

Pillow sham & sheet set (all mockups courtesy of Spoonflower)...

This time, favourite-ing by the Spoonflower community boosted this design above my black P&P fabric into second place. (It was eventually supplanted by my entry into the Novelty Paisley challenge, which was subsequently exceeded by yet another, Egyptian Inspired Art Deco.)

I hadn't entered one of these competitions in over a year, and then suddenly it was five within three months. All of it possible because I had ready made inspiration to draw from... which is a reminder once again that we should never toss away our creative efforts. You never know what circumstance might arise to make something relevant and useful.

'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁

My Months Long Aloe Vera Project

Fabric aloe vera plant...

It's been mentioned here that hubby and I have houseplants that are over thirty years old. Over the years, I've grown quite weary of watering and tending to them (particularly vexing when we go on holidays, although I must say that during our recent two week absence, my watering setup worked quite well on everything) and have welcomed the fact that several have reached their natural lifespan and given up the ghost, so to speak.

Late last summer, I happily threw out the remains of an asparagus fern that had been dangling from the top of our second floor staircase for twenty-nine years. It had been a housewarming gift and although some people love these things, it was not a favourite of mine. Little leaf "blades" fell from it onto our (carpeted) stairs constantly and the long fronds were actually very thorny and difficult to handle in terms of arranging or pruning.

Of course, once it was gone, the spot where it used to sit seemed like a lonely, empty space. I decided an artificial plant would its place; specifically, one that I had previously deemed something I would never make. From the YouTube channel of Retales de Mil Colores, my choice was an aloe vera plant that would require me to make forty-two leaves!

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Deciding – I made the decision last September – and executing were two distinct phases of this project.

As I found out when I made tulips from that same YouTube channel, I don't have a lot of green fabric. I considered making a denim version for a time, but I ended up searching through my closet for something more suitable to recycle.

A jacket that can be sacrificed for crafting...

Again (as I found out when I made the tulips), I don't have a lot of green clothing. But I did find this little jacket that's a light shade of sage green. (It was part of my work wardrobe and like my pant suits and blazers, this type of clothing just doesn't get much wear from me these days.)

Also – since it's a size 00 – I figure it would have limited appeal as a donated item. So in mid-October, I took my scissors to it and harvested enough fabric to make up over half of the required forty-two leaves.

It's a bit of a time-consuming process no matter what...

The remainder of the leaves would later come from blue/green selections from my Lily and Loom purchase. By the end of October, I had the above plate of leaves all traced out and mostly cut.

At some point in mid November, I gathered up some of my larger fusible fleece scraps and pinned them patchwork style onto the smaller leaves.

Fabric leaves sewn together and turned out with fusible fleece interfacing inside each...

It was December before I pinned the remainder of the fabric to fusible fleece. The pieces were then sewn together along the edges, pinked, turned right side out and pressed.

Doing that for forty-two leaves is a bit of a process no matter how you look at it. Over the course of the first week of December, it got done, slowly.

Pressed and ready for more sewing...

This is one of the few projects I've done that's required an assembly line style of construction, although I didn't quite follow it to the "t". I assembly-lined three groups of leaves. (There are four different sizes, ranging from six small ones to fourteen large ones.) As it turned out, it was a good decision, since my fingers got sore from using the hemostats to turn and the pinking shears to trim.

I did, however, stop after they were all turned and pressed, leaving the final "sewing down the center of each leaf" to be done all at once.

Centers sewn and stacked in "order"...

I harvested fabric from both the inside and outside of the jacket, meaning that some of the leaves had one side that was made out of a (fairly sturdy) nylon satin from the lining. Seven of the leaves feature this fabric on the top side.

The start of the hot gluing process...

The gluing process took place on the weekend of December 7 & 8.

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Here is the finished plant, with all forty-two leaves hot glued together.

Top view...

Even though I scaled the pattern up by 25%, it's nowhere near the size of the old asparagus fern. But it has taken its old place at the top of the stairs. (I imagine that I could add another layer of leaves to make this plant more of a statement piece, but that's a thought for another day.)

I won't have to water this one...

I found a square wooden box that had previously held a fresh flower arrangement as the container.

And it won't drop anything down onto the stairs...

I appreciate the fact that I took another of my unwanted garments and turned it into something else that will give me pleasure.

But for something so inherently simple, this took a long time to complete... not to mention a long time to post! (And further proof that we should never say "never"!)

'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁

Customized "Eggsy" Backpack

My new Eggsy backpack...

Several weeks ago, I posted about a new (to me) YouTube channel that had captured my attention: Miko Craft.

This talented Indonesian bag maker freely offers up quality patterns for our consumption, and it's all done to a level that equals or surpasses many "paid" designers. If you're looking to make a bag and you learn best by video, I highly recommend you check him out.

The project that I'm about to show you was mentioned in that previous post: the Eggsy Backpack. (I'm making the rare move of actually providing a link here.) Under the details section of the video, you can access a PDF containing all required templates.

I chose this design out of his vast catalog of backpack patterns for its sleek, oval, curvy shape. Also, the way it's constructed immediately gave me ideas for how I could allocate my intended fabric selections (which included my own Canadiana Tiled & Mirrored and the Emma & Mila (Field Carbon) that I first used for my eReader case).

Black, white and red would rule the day for this project!

It's a good size...

For the lining, it's a blast from the past: a 2002 release called Black and White and Read Allover by Cindy Taylor Oates. It came from Jake's care package that I received ten years ago. I've said this before, but it's literally the gift that keeps on giving!

Whimsical eye chart fabric (front lining)...

I believe this is only the second time I've used this fabric for a bag; the first was one of my bodaciously basic bucket bag testers. As so many others often do with certain fabrics in their stash, I guess I've always been saving it for something perfect. This is a perfect colour match for my black, white and red Eggsy. (And I still had/have a lot left!)

Further about the fabric, my Canadiana pieces are a lightweight cotton twill, while the Emma & Mila is a high quality (read "higher thread count") quilting cotton. I left the twill as is, but interfaced the quilting cotton with SF101. I contemplated adding some fusible fleece to some of the pieces but ultimately decided against it. None of the lining was interfaced.

This was a lightly interfaced bag...

The end result is a soft finish that holds its shape, but is definitely squishable for packing or squeezing into small spaces. (I mean, don't you just hate it when someone's backpack is sticking in your face while on a bus or in a lineup?) In these photos where you see the bag standing up by itself, it's doing so without any "stuffing" or extra help.

By the way, as I was looking at the photos of the finished project, it also occurred to me that in the absence of the Emma & Mila fabric, I could have used my own Healthy, Hopeful, Happy design to produce a similar item.

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Miko's tutorial revealed a new (to me) technique for making a zippered pocket with a "clean" interior, i.e., no exposed zipper tape under the opening. The existence of this method is not unknown to me; I've just never cared enough to learn how to do it. I guess what I'm reiterating is that he doesn't cut corners in how his projects are designed.

That said, the process for making this pocket is covered – generically – in a different video, so you'll have refer to a second tutorial when you get to this step. I chose to add a second zippered pocket to the back side of the bag, so that's where I used this more professional method. For the interior lining pocket, I actually did two things differently. I used the basic method (with exposed zipper tape), but I also left the bottom of the lining open – actually cut it open since it began as a single piece – and turned (this half of) the bag right side out through that opening.

Using the bottom of a pocket to turn right side out...

This modification let me skip having to hand sew along the gusset to close up an alternate opening for turning (as indicated at 24:17 of the video). Less hand sewing is always a win in my book!

While we're on the subject of pockets, let me describe the other two that I added. One is right along the gusset and the other is attached to one of the side panels of the rounded front part. The latter was a last minute addition, decided on when I saw how wide that area actually was. It will certainly carry sunglasses and will even fit my cellphone in a pinch.

Simple slip pocket added to gusset...

The gusset pocket is similar to the one I added to my Seth bag. It's even more simple here as it's just one long single piece of fabric, seamed to create a tube (to make the pocket self-lined). It's then sewn to the bottom and basted along the sides of the gusset. I created the illusion of a flap by folding the top part of the fabric over and adding a rivet.

Size-wise, you might think it's hardly big enough to be useful, but not only can cards fit in it (it's deep enough that they won't fall out), it'll also accommodate reading glasses – even sunglasses if they're not the big chunky kind – or a tube of insect repellent, lotion, sunscreen, or hand sanitizer.

Water bottle harness attached to gusset piece...

Staying with the gusset for a moment, one of the things I wanted to add – since the bag didn't have an exterior pocket designed for it – was a water bottle harness.

I used a piece of heavy duty wide elastic for this purpose. (Same stuff that I used for our shinto stool cushions, which are still functioning well, five and a half years later.) I measured to make sure that it would have to stretch just a tiny bit to hold a basic 500ml bottle. If it's not snug, it will just slide out.

On the opposite side of the interior gusset, I added a couple of mini straps. I figured they could hold pens or sunglasses (although in the finished bag, they are positioned a little lower than I'd like).

I eventually attached my red and white key card lanyard to one of them.

By the way, I was quite happy to discover that even though a bottle of water takes away from the amount of room (width-wise) inside the bag, the area in front still offers up a lot of room for things like a pouch or some other organizer. (You can't see it in this photo, but my 3 pocket red and white ribbon pouch is inside.)

Two multi-purpose mini straps attached to opposite side of gusset...

Okay, back to the subject of the other pocket. After completing the front part of the bag (12:52 of the video), I noticed that the sides were actually pretty substantial. Substantial enough to add a slip pocket if I could somehow manage to add it artfully.

For ease of access, the pocket would need to be angled; for overall looks, fussy cutting the piece would be best. Having a noticeable break in the fabric's print would call attention to the pocket unnecessarily.

Luckily, I had a big enough matching remnant to work with, one that would allow for seams along three sides – the pocket is unlined – so that it could be sewn on top of the existing panel.

Pressing is important, to ensure that the fussy cut stays true after adding the seam allowances. (While Miko doesn't seem to press anything during his construction process, it's always a good thing to press as you go when you're making a bag like this.)

Adding another slip pocket...

This last minute addition turned out reasonably well, all things considered. One could try to add this pocket to the original panel D, but having extra thickness in that zipper area might not turn out so well.

Speaking of piece D, when I was sewing it up, I somehow got it turned backwards and couldn't figure out for the life of me how to make it fit. (This is 9:57 of the video.) I think it was because the image I captured in my Word doc didn't show precisely the extreme curvy edge being matched up with the zipper tape. For some reason, I just assumed it was the other side.

Anyway, one of the commenters on the video apparently had the same problem and when I read it, it occurred to me that I had done the exact same thing!

Straps done my way...

I pondered for a long time about how to make the straps, knowing that I only had so much webbing (recycled from an old duffle bag) and also that I didn't want to buy gold toned hardware to make them as designed. The reality was that this is my bag. As long as I can use it comfortably, having the straps be adjustable seemed unnecessary.

Then there's the fact that I'm not a big fan of using just webbing; it seems like such a utilitarian choice. It's already a backpack – which is utilitarian in style – so why can't it be jazzed up a tad?

That's how I ended up with my fabric trimmed straps. Once I determined that I had enough fabric to cover one side of the webbing, it was an easy decision. And because I didn't have the perfect amount of webbing (slightly short), I used some of the fabric to make anchors at both ends. The raw ends of the straps were inserted into those anchors, which were then secured by topstitching along both edges of the straps.

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If you've been a regular reader for awhile, you may know that I love to make use of recycled bits and discount store purchases for my projects. This one was no different. (I already said that the webbing for the straps came from an old duffle.) The zipper pulls on the front pocket came from a pair of suede boots that I tossed a few years ago.

Never toss old zipper pulls... especially when they look like this!

Other "danglers" that I added to the remaining three exterior zippers – a red handbag and a lock and key – came from my old cell phone charm and from a pair of shoes (that you can see here).

The gold slider buckle that I threaded through one of the straps came from the same $10 thrift store purse that gave up all of the golden hardware for my customized Goddess of the Sea bag. (If you're wondering what the buckle's for, it's a handy place to hang a pair of sunglasses for quick access.) It's free to slide up and down the strap to whatever location.

Can't have too many places from which to hang bling!

The accent ribbon that's used to trim the ends of the main zipper came from a Michael's discount bin (for a buck). The colour match is spot on. The ribbon was sewn back to back to form the hanging loop at the top of the backpack (instead of using more webbing).

A necessity for every bag I own!

Because most of my hardware is silver toned, I had to pay a visit to my local Dollarama to find a gold keychain. I needed a split ring to thread through one of those ribbon zipper ends so I could attach a lip balm carrier. Usually made with non-fraying materials, I zigzagged stitched my Canadiana fabric to resolve that issue.

For those who want to add a label to the front of the bag, do so at 5:00 or 6:42 of the video.

I typically forget (and really don't much care) to add a designer tag to my creations, but when the bag was finished, the front panel just seemed to be lacking something. I decided to make a maple leaf patch and attach it with double sided tape and rivets. Thankfully, the dual access front pocket made that easy to accomplish, even after the fact. (Oh, and by the way, the maple leaf on this patch came from a different version of my Canadiana fabric; it's a fleece used for these mittens.)

FINALLY – and I do mean finally – I wanted a way to turn this into more of a sling bag. Unless I'm really seriously trekking, I'm probably going to carry this bag on one shoulder with one strap. However, I don't like an unused backpack strap hanging loose; it just makes it easier for someone to come along and snatch it.

An example of a simple but extremely functional modification...

With the help of hook and loop tape and some sturdy black elastic – saved from one of my $1 belts – I sewed up the contraption shown here to help keep the two straps together.

And yes, that was the final addition that I made to this Eggsy. (However, it's not the end of the saga — I'll be back with another of Miko's Eggsy projects before the end of summer.)

'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁