the sewing gods were smiling ...

and the thread and needles were willing - so hey presto I have a new bag.It is based on the Lotta Jansdotter All Day Tote from her Simple Sewing book but with some changes. I had previously made one in denim following the directions in the book but there were some elements of it I wasn't totally happy with.So this time I added some heavyweight interfacing to make the bag slightly sturdier. It still has a slouchy feel to it which I like, it is just not too slouchy.

I also added a magnetic fastening to help keep the bag shut and to hopefully make it harder to dip.
The internal pocket has been made larger so that it can hold my mobile phone and iPod quite happily - I found the internal pocket on the original to be too small to be really useful. I also used iron-on interfacing on the inside of this pocket so that it holds its contents without flopping and dropping them into the bottom of the bag.
The water bottle pocket is still there as I find it very useful and also the key thingy is still there as I just love not having to scrabble around in the bottom of the bag trying to find my keys. There's nothing worse in the pouring rain than not being able to find your keys.

But gone is the funny pocket at the front of the bag which only seemed useful for carrying a strategically folded newspaper. In its place I have just added a large pocket that will quite happily take a paperback book.The bag is made from very bright pink cord that looks a lot more subdued in these photos - trust me you would certainly see me coming. It is all lined in a fabric from the Heather Bailey 'Freshcut' range. So there it is my 'Stand out in a Crowd' bag.