I would probably make a slot in the front and sew the zipper into the slot (OH, good grief, what is that technically called? Sew it like a zip pocket inside a bag lining, you cut out a long, skinny rectangle and so on...I've been staring at clip art all day and my brain is fried, sorry!).

That's how I would go about doing it, too.  I can't think of the technical name for it, either.  But something like  this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2007/07/tutorial-zippered-and-slip-pocket-tutorial/
 Follow the instructions in the tutorial for inserting the zipper, but not finishing the pocket. 

The other way I could see this being done would be to sew the zipper only to the exterior fabric, sew the exterior part of the bag together.  Sew the lining portion separately.  Cut and press the same opening for the zipper in the lining, then stitch around the zipper again to attach the lining to the exterior/zipper.

I'm calling this the Back to Basics Backpack because it is deceptively simple.  No zippers or crazy gimmicks.  Just nice fabric and lots of space, making this backpack both cute and usable. 

The story behind this bag: Last spring, I made myself a backpack.  Just a big drawstring backpack in nice home decor fabric, with suede details.  I got tons of compliments on it, because it easily held all of the books that college English majors need to carry to class each day.  Most professors required specific editions of each book (and not electronic ones), so all those books add up and over-fill most cute store-bought bags.  One of my friends saw it and loved it, so when I saw this challenge, she and this backpack were the first things I thought of. 



I have a stash of home decor fabric samples from a great organization in California that takes fabric samples bound for landfills and redistributes them to teachers, local organizations, and general crafters.  I took one of those, and folded it until I got enough pieces to make the bag with no scraps leftover.  Then added some suede (or faux suede, as it may be) that my mom found at the flea market several years ago to fill in the gaps.  The back, bottom, straps, drawstring, and drawstring casing are suede).  I used a layer of fleece and neoprene to lightly pad the back of the backpack so it is comfortable to walk and bike with, since my friend bikes to school most days.  The backpack wound up  around 12 inches tall, 13 inches wide, and 5 inches deep, the same size as the one I had made that she originally liked.  There are small open pockets on either side, and several pockets on the inside for small things like keys, a wallet, and pens.  The flap has a magnetic snap with two choices to snap with on the body, for snug closure with different amounts of stuff in the bag.

Some detail photos:

The snaps, drawstring, and casing


The lining and inner pockets


I put the bag in the mail a few days ago, so she should have it before classes start.  Hope she likes it as much as I do.  My friend is lucky I graduated, or the backpack would have become mine.  One can never have too many bags, after all.

I've seen some cute printed canvas type materials at fabric.com before.  Not spiderman, but certainly stripes, nautical themes, animals and things like that, if that helps at all.

I don't have a very good mental image of the bag, but I would take the bag to a fabric store and get fabric that matches or coordinates with the zippers then make a patch (embroidered, painted, otherwise decorated with something that is more meaningful to you) to cover the logo. 

My first thought was those kids' needle craft kits.  They often have plastic mesh in star shapes, which could help to give you a stiff star. 

I used carpet underlay/mats as padding in a netbook case a few months ago.  It worked very well for me. 

There are stores (or websites) where you can buy neoprene similar to the stuff that is used in most commercial laptop bags, but I found it harder to work with.

Denim, duck, or twill.

I agree with all three of these suggestions.  You could also use a sturdy interfacing with cotton or any of the previously mentioned fabrics for additional durability.

Thanks for posting this!  I've been trying to find stuff other than cookies to mail to my brother who is in a college dorm.

I made this caramel corn tonight.  It's still in the oven, but the few pieces I snitched while stirring were really good. 

How cute!

Do I see a new nickname in your nephew's future?  I love that story with the design. 

If you hadn't mentioned that you chose the colors based on what you had, I wouldn't have given the choices any thought.  The flower works great with that pale pink jacket.