My very own messenger bag

Back in March I became the very lucky recipient of a new-to-me laptop.  My dad bought himself a new one and gave me his old one (which was less than a year old).  I was one very happy girl.  I had been using a laptop at home, but it was a small old one I borrowed from work when I had surgery last year.  So to have a very nice big laptop was a wonderful thing for me.

Of course since I now had a laptop, I needed a bag for it.  So I went back through my purchased from etsy patterns and found the Aivilio Charlotte Messenger Bag.  I think this was one of the first batch of patterns I bought from etsy over a year ago.

This pattern is very well done - essentially it's just directions as the pattern pieces are all rectangles that she gives dimensions for.  This pattern offers a small, medium and large version.  I made the large.

The first thing I fell in love with is the fact that you do all the prep work in the early steps and then when you sit down to sew, you sit down for awhile.  No up-and-down with this pattern.  You cut it all out, interface and pin all you can before sitting down.

I did get confused a few times, but after reading it through once or twice more it made sense (this is more on me than on the pattern).

I think it came together very easy and well.  I love the finished product and think the fabrics I chose (cottons from wal-mart) made a nice bag.  The bag is sturdy with the DecorBond interfacing and it fit my laptop perfectly and has lots of pockets for various things.  I started this one around 5pm on Saturday and finished around 8pm - I fixed a simple supper during that time too, so it goes quick.  I did my cutting and prep work while watching some more of the first season of Glee.

I carried it to my parents on Sunday and they ooohed and ahhed appropriately and my husband said "that is a really nice bag" very sincerely so I think they all like it.  I know I do and can't wait to carry it around more.

front view

inside of bag - lots of pockets

back of the bag - more pockets

I have a bunch of Aivilo Charlotte Designs patterns and I believe this is the second I have made up.  The patterns are wonderful and I look forward to making more of them in the future.

You can find the Aivilo Charlotte etsy store here.
Check out her facebook page here.
The messenger bag pattern can also be found here.