Pikachu Backpack | McCall’s 2512

Things used :

About a month ago, someone posted in the Vintage Pokemon Collectors group that I’m a part of in Facebook about the McCall’s sewing patterns that were released in the 90s and I was so excited to learn of their existence (they were never released here in New Zealand), that I immediately went on eBay and brought the Pikachu backpack one. I finally got around to sewing it up this week and I LOVE how he turned out. Just as chunky as his OG bros, though he does look like a shiny next to them!

I had to dye the minky fleece and the zip from white to yellow because it only came in white. I used the Rit dyemore synthetic in daffodil and it worked a treat and I used chocolate brown on a small scrap to get it brown. I think next time (because I plan to make more, I’ll use half the yellow so he’s not so saturated). This is the part where I also would have dyed the buttons that I got for the cheeks as well but I didn’t want to fork out another $20 for something so small and instead coloured them in with copic markers. They bleed a bit but I rubbed them down with a paper towel until they stopped transferring so much.

After dying, I traced out the pattern pieces onto fresh paper as I wanted to keep the original pattern in it’s factory condition, and cut them out of the corresponding fabrics. Though I did make one change to the tail, it said to cut 1x from an interfacing however I ended cut cutting 1x from a stiffened sheet of felt to use that to reinforce the tail instead. I had to cut it fractionally smaller than the tail pattern piece (after it had been sewn together) so that I could stuff it inside the tail before it got attached to the back.

I made very minimal changes to the pattern, like the tail, another was using a tight, small satin stitch for the mouth and the edges of the stripes and tail spikes, just to get it a more professional look. I also found the most perfect triangle teddy bear nose which I used instead of hand embroidering, this was to match my original Pikachu backpacks from the 90s. I cut another piece from the Pokemon fabric for the bottom to line it with because the pattern only called for 1 piece to be cut from the minky fabric and I wanted it to be fully lined. The final change was using d-rings and double d-rings (I actually have no idea what those bits are called now come to think of it), instead of the parachute clips. This was mainly for personal preference because I thought the parachute clips were ugly.

This was a tricky pattern to assemble purely because of how small the pieces that you’re working with are and how tedious it is to put them together. I do absolutely plan on making it again but there are some changes I would make – First of all, lengthening the straps. I totally forgot that this was drafted for a child and as such, it has child sized straps that means I can’t wear it over both shoulders. Secondly, I would cover all the raw seams that are on the inside of the bag. I’ve thought about doing it using bias tape. Finally, I don’t think I’ll use quite as much stuffing of the body, just so I can fit more junk inside of it.

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Difficulty : *** It’s very fiddly. Very much not beginner friendly
Time : just under 2 days