I sewed my very first stitch on my mom’s Janome At Home sewing machine about a week before the Coronavirus pandemic started to shut everything down. A strap had broken on one of my tote bags, and I decided to repair it rather than purchase a new one. The stitches were crooked and the thread didn’t match, but hey, it’s still kickin’ today. From there I decided I would try my hand at sewing something from scratch. What better way to start than with face masks! I’ve made a few dozen, and at this point I could probably make one with my eyes closed if I had to.
Nowadays I have plenty of skills in my arsenal – reading and duplicating patterns, finishing seams and edges, attaching buttons and zippers, drafting my own designs, you name it. My favorite things to make are bags, and out of the six I’ve made so far I only used a pattern for one!
Today I decided to take inspiration from one of my favorite bags and make a laptop-friendly version. I always start by making a general plan of what I want the finished bag to look like.
After ironing my fabric and finding all the notions I need, I got to cutting the outer and lining fabric for my bag. It looked much the same, save for some small details. Let’s see if you can spot the difference:
In all the bag really only took me 4 hours to make from start to finsh. The hardest part was attaching the slide adjusters to the straps, but the zipper foot never fails to help me get into small nooks and crannies.
Here are a few preliminary photos of my bag!
Finished bag – side view 
These slide adjusters were almost the death of me. 
Thanks, it has pockets! 
I’m particularly proud of this inside zip pocket.