The pattern for this bag was in our mother’s sewing stash; she had made a version of it to carry her sewing supplies to classes and Karla always admired it. When Karla found the pattern after Mom died, she wanted to make a version for herself but thought it was too difficult. She already chose the fabrics and she asked me to make it for her after I started on my bag construction journey, and I was happy to give it a try. The bag has multiple pockets both interior and exterior, and is a nice large size suitable for carrying a laptop or other large electronics or books.

On the exterior, there are 2 drawstring pockets, one on each side panel, that work well for a water bottle. On the front, there’s a zipper pocket with a slip pocket behind. On the back, there’s another slip pocket and a luggage sleeve so the bag can be carried on the handle of your roll-aboard bag. The top closes with a recessed zipper. On the interior, there’s a padded zipper pocket dividing the interior into 2 sections.

This bag presented some new challenges for me: drawstring pockets, side panels along with boxed corners (hybrid gusset), and the zipper padded pocket were all new techniques for me to try. Overall I think the bag turned out well. I especially like the zipper pocket with slip pocket behind and have added that feature to other bags, most notably to Michelle’s tote. This is also the first tote I made from paper instructions with no video to follow along.