Oilcloth Diaper Bag- A lesson in trying again

I recently finished making my own diaper bag.  I had wanted one in green oilcloth and just couldn't find one for sale.  Since I'm pretty crafty, I thought I'd make my own :)  I'm THRILLED with the final product.

However, I definitely did not start out thrilled.  Here is my attempt number one:

I used a pattern that I bought online for this first one.   My sewing skills were not quite up to the challenge.  I had a really hard time putting it together.  In addition, I used PUL fabric for the interior lining and it was sooooo slippery.  The contrasting thread that I thought would be cute ended up showing all my mistakes.

When I finished this first bag, I was so upset.  Pregnancy hormones were not a help in this.  I felt like I had wasted so much money and time and would never be able to have a diaper bag I liked.  I was "in the depths of despair."  But time and sleep helped and I decided to try again.

This second time around, I used a pattern for a messenger bag from the book Sewing With Oilcloth.  I nixed the PUL fabric and used blue thread rather than white.  This helped hide all my crooked stitches.  I also used store-bought bias tape rather than trying to make my own.  Overall, this pattern was much easier for my current sewing skills and I found it easier to work with just oilcloth.

I wanted to share my craft fail to show that a project is always worth a second try.  Sometimes you just have to change it up a bit or try a different approach.  Have you ever had an experience like this?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win some awesome digital scrapbooking software.