a few months ago, G. asked me to make her a backpack, something I had never done before, but she was so enthusiastic about it that I accepted the challenge. When I'm about to start something new, I always struggle with the design for a long time. And backpacks are something not that easy to make, if you're looking for something different than the usual. I eventually found inspiration in this cute little design over at Flickr, and just made a couple of changes, like patchworking the body for more resistance, and adding an extra button for better closure and balance. G. loved it, so it's now on its way to Germany where I hope it will get a lot of use.
Still on inspiration, I'm still thinking about this post from Manda, on which I totally agree. I always try to name where my inspiration comes from, but sometimes I don't remember (not intentionally, of course, just really bad memory and forgetfulness which comes from trying to make too many things at the same time) so I apologize if I ever offended anyone in that way. That said, a lot of what inspires me does come from japanese crafts books and other magazines, like Manda has said, so I sometimes find it inevitable that I might make something similar to what another crafter has done (on concept, anyway), so for now I've stopped worrying so much about it.
