A Rifle Paper Laptop Bag

I love making presents for friend’s birthdays…..it is an excuse to get the good fabric out and try out a pattern I have been itching to get to!

My friend Di’s birthday was just the reason to get my Rifle Paper Co fabric out and I selected these two for the external and lining fabrics

And that gorgeous pink is from Sky Reflections by Jennifer Sampou – it was just the pop I was looking for!

The pattern I wanted to make is the Grab and Go Sleeve by Sew Sweetness and was part of the Minikins Season 1 bag pattern bundle I bought recently. A very sweet laptop bag that can be tailored to the specific size of your laptop (or whatever device you want).

As I was looking at the pattern I realised there wasn’t any space for the charger/cable for the laptop…. so I made up my own expanding pocket for one side!

I did kick myself a few times with that decision, as it made things a lot harder and I had to work out maths and lots of bits and there wasn’t much time to make a test one, so I was doing it with the real fabric!

Side 1 turned out beautifully and I was loving the Rifle Paper Co fabric! Sarah Lawson’s pattern instructions are very light on but there is a fully detailed video for each of the Minikins patterns, so I set up my laptop in my sewing room and watched / sewed / watched / sewed and it was great.

Side 2 has an expandable pocket with a fold down flap (that will have velcro attached) and that pop of Sky Reflections is just gorgeous!

Some careful sewing (there were a lot of layers but my Janome 9400 just went through them all no problems!) around the corners and over multiple layers and then voila! A laptop bag appeared!

There was just the velcro and some additional stiff interfacing (peltex) to insert between the lining and the exterior before I sew up the last openings and send it on off to my friend!

And here she is all finished! There will even be room for a notebook as well as the laptop and charger/cables!

And my friend has opened her present and loves it! So much prettier than the black laptop bag she has been using up until now : )