Laptop Bag

If you've ever gone shopping for a laptop bag, chances are you've found yourself in an aisle at Staples, staring at a wall of black nylon illuminated by bad flourecsent lighting. Why do 98% of laptop bags have to be black?? They're dark and boring and you can't see anything once you put it inside.

So what are you supposed to do if you want a cute computer bag? Make one, I guess. This was a Christmas gift for my mom this year. The outside is made from Echino laminated cotton/linen, and the inside is lined with another Echino print from the same collection. I love the big scale tiger on the inside, smiling craftily over his shoulder.

I used some batting (thank you quilting scraps) to make the bag soft and padded, and a big red button keeps the top flap of the bag closed.

A little tip for any laptop bag makers out there - I had the dimensions of the computer but wasn't quite sure how big to cut the fabric, so I just made it 2" bigger all around. When it was all finished it was just barely too small for the computer to fit. That's right, this custom made bag doesn't actually fit the computer it was intended for. Let's not talk about that too much. The good news is that my mom had another computer that did fit, so all was not lost. But the next time I make a laptop bag I'll be older and wiser and I'll (hopefully) make it the right size.