I have been meaning to make myself a new laptop bag for work for so many months. My current bag does not fit my laptop because it is a large size (13″ wide). I also wanted the bag to fit some work for bringing home, if needed. I have needed it several years, but just had not gotten around to making one. Not sure why, since bags are generally fairly simple to construct…unless you add lots of extra features.
I found this fabric in the uphostery remnants at my local fabric store, and luckily had a pretty lining fabric that matched. It is a nice neutral color, but still rather cool looking. It is kind of a off color, between a metallic gray and tan.
I only put one pocket in on the interior, so this was a pretty simple bag to construct. Well, it would have been if I had remembered to put the interfacing on the interior piece before sewing it up. Seam ripper to the rescue! You really need to have some structure on these bags. I used some stiff Peltex interfacing I had on hand.
If you notice, I could not get both of the handle flaps into the seam on the bag. It was toooo thick. Even if the foot was all the way up, there was no way it would all fit under there. I had to compromise and only put one section into the seam.
I also added feet to the bottom of the bag, reinforced with some cardboard and 1″ foam padding. The laptop will probably need some cushion in the bottom, so I added the foam to that end.
The exterior is that “sticky” plastic fabric. Knowing that I was going to make more things with this type of fabric, I found a teflon foot on Amazon for my machine. It doesn’t work perfect for my machine, but it fits good enough. It sewed up really well, and totally worth the $20 it cost.
The hardware was definitely the most expensive part of this bag. I need to go stock up on this stuff at Joann’s because my local fabric store charges a lot for bag hardware. I’m sure they don’t get bulk goods discounts like Joann’s does.
I still need to make a wristlet that matches the laptop bag. Hopefully, I will have some time over the week to make it. I have been working a fair bit and then working out when I can, so my sewing time is pretty sparse right now.
I need to get a handle on trying to fit everything in, as Spring is just around the corner…right???
Great laptop bag, you will really enjoy using it. You are so right, I stock up on purse/bag hardware from ebay and etsy.
I have a purse in the works, but have only found time to work in tiny increments. I hope to finish it eventually. Your bag turned out awesome. It’s so professional looking and very versatile.
Spring?????? Where???? supposed to have blizzard like conditions around here tonight and tomorrow 😉 hope I can make it to the hospital LOL
not much of a critic but it is a nice looking bag:o) the picture of the food on the last post was probably more up my alley *snort*
AWESOME!! Not only is it a professional looking, cool bag…but you made it yourself!!!!! I was going to ask you if you had an industrial machine because there is no way my machine could handle that type of fabric. No wonder you had to compromise on the handle flaps. I had never heard of a teflon foot either. I learn so much from your site :-)Great job!!
That’s awesome! Did you see on FB that I got a new sewing machine!? Yeah. I’ll never rock it like you rock yours, but I’m so happy to have one again!
THAT is cool. I love the outer fabric/upholstery. And the feet!! It really does look so professional and stylish. I might need to check out a teflon foot…or a walking foot…I am thinking about redoing some pillows for chairs and have a suspicion that my machine would not like the thick stuff I need it to go through. It barely likes the messenger bags I do.