Ash Ketchum's Pokémon Journeys Backpack • Recycled Materials Notes

 

Outer shell: 

Green material and carrying handles: $1.99 grocery tote

Black material: Leather from a broken office chair

Logo: Free rubbery fabric swatch that came with something I ordered

Inside lining: Black satiny fabric from an evening gown

Ash Ketchum Pokémon Journeys Costume

Here is a little guide I put together in case anyone wants to make an Ash Ketchum costume:

Ash Ketchum Outfit:

Cap

Ash has a red baseball cap with a white bill.

I used a red baseball cap and painted the bill white. For the logo I traced the image off my computer screen to make a pattern and then cut it out of black and green felt. I stitched it on with my sewing machine, which was a challenge, but it can easily be glued or hand-stitched to the front of the cap.  An embroidered logo would look great too! 

Shirt

White cotton t-shirt in a thicker weight with a painted red stripe.  Mask off the stripe with painter's tape and insert a piece of cardboard inside the shirt to prevent bleeding to the back of the shirt. 

Vest

Blue vest with yellow twill tape stitched on as a trim.

Gloves

Black fingerless gloves with stretchy red cuff fabric.

Shorts

Blue shorts with black stripe on side.  I just used jeans because it was chilly out, but blue shorts with a stripe of removable matte black tape or 2" black cotton twill tape added would work well during warmer seasons.

Footwear

Black sneakers with white string/shoelaces in an X and blue gaffer's tape for the blue details.

I haven't personally tried the gaffer's tape, but it is supposed to come off easily without leaving a residue unlike duct tape.

If you are going all in... I also saw that you can order custom shoes!

Ash Ketchum Backpack:

Outer shell: I cut apart a green bag that I purchased for $1.99 and upcycled black leather from a broken office chair seat.

This green canvas fabric looks like a good color match and weight and can be combined with black canvas/leather/faux leather for the base of the backpack.

For functionality I added a zippered front and side pockets and also added in the original shopping bag handles.

Lining: I used some black satiny material from a party dress that I had no chance of fitting back into. Black ripstop would be a good choice if I were going to make something similar again. 

Zipper: I used a 18" purse zipper in black. The on screen zipper looks light gray like the buckles and extends all the way down to the black part of the bag, so depending on the size of your backpack, you might be using something like a 27" zipper. 

Logo: I cut the logo from a black, non-fraying material using the same pattern pieces from the hat. I had a square sample of rubber-ish fabric in my stash that I was able to use. 

Black Straps and Silver Buckles: I used 1.25" cotton webbing but any 1"-2" polypropylene webbing will work fine too with coordinating silver slider buckles.

If you don't want to make the backpack from scratch, you can customize a green backpack like this one –

Extras:

This Pokémon Poké ball tin dents easily, but it still makes for a decent prop. 

...and don't forget your best buddy Pikachu!