I had seen terrific, easy to make duffel bags on the Carol Duvall show many months ago. I bought some fabric, tried to sew based on directions I printed on line...but couldn't figure it out! I finally waited for the show to re-air and videotaped it and then it made sense! Alas, it was not what I really wanted for ease of use for my children. Theirs only opened at one skinny end and used a drawstring at that end. That would be difficult and more stressful (especially while vacationing in new situations) with my Sensory Integration challenged children. So I reinvented the wheel...I mean duffel bag. We used these for the first time on our trip to Colorado (you didn't think I could get away from the Colorado topic that easily did you?;) and they were wonderful. They are colorful, durable, roomy, easy to haul around, and most fabulous, they are easy to squish into nooks and crannies of the van!

The next photo shows how I made this.  I think it looks straightforward. I'm not very good at describing, since I don't remember all the dimensions; I trust that a picture is worth a thousand words!  =) I bought 54" wide decorator fabric (because it's wide and easy to find durable fabric) on sale, in a pattern each of my kids like.  DD was easy, but taking an idea from the Carol Duvall show, I could have stamped purple butterflies throughout the fabric, but I was running out of time.  For my son, there was nothing boyish to be found.  So I bought a solid navy blue and painted the baseballs on.  I sewed it so that the wide part opens.  And it hooks up with velcro that I sewed on.  Done!

Time for another trip...