Tailgating bag

My friend's son CJ is a huge fan of our local professional soccer team, the Columbus Crew, and enjoys tailgating before games. He asked me to make him a bag to hold 2 small propane tanks for his portable gas grill. He wanted a pocket or two for other misc. items and it to be in black with yellow trim since black and yellow are the team colors of The Crew. Well, as with any other custom order, I had to mull it over for awhile to get the right pattern in my head.
This is what I came up with. I used black denim for the body of the bag. For a neat effect, I put in a zippered diagonal pocket on the flap. Yellow zipper of course. Parachute clasp for closure. Also adjustable web strap with another parachute clasp.

With the flap open, another zippered pocket with yellow trim. You can also see the key fob I sewed in the side.


This was the trickiest part of making up the pattern. How to include a divider so the 2 propane tanks don't bang against each other. This part really burned up some brain cells! (thanks Stephanie for helping me brainstorm!) First off, I used denim covered timtex stabilizer for the divider. Attached the divider to 2 seams in the front and back of the lining. The divider is not attached to the lining bottom. In fact, I left about a 1/2-inch space at the bottom. Enough space to put in a piece of plexiglass for stability (can you see light reflecting off the plexiglass?)

I installed a 3-D zippered pocket on the back of the bag.

Both sides of the bag have pockets with elastic tops and pleated bottoms. Great for carrying water bottles.

Whew! Well, I'm pleased at how it turned out. Hopefully, it will work out well.

That's all for today. Talk at you later. Rumi