Pattern Review: The Working Girl Laptop Bag from charmedLiebling

Check out this beautiful laptop bag I made! I’m so stinkin’ proud of it. When Anna of charmedLiebling asked me if I’d like to review one of her patterns, it was hard to pick only one until I fell in love with the shape of this bag.

The outer fabric is from a piece I’ve been saving for a while now. I also have my table-top ironing board, sewing chair, and cupboard doors covered in it {see here}. Now whenever I travel with my laptop, I’ll have a bit of my studio coming with me. It’s called Sew Now! Sew Wow! from Alexander Henry. Mine was canvas, but I’ve also seen it in quilting cotton.

This bag fits my 15” laptop so perfectly without any changes to the dimensions at all. I was so pleased to see it slide right in there. My lining fabric is some Japanese Nani-Iro double gauze. It’s kind of too nice for a lining probably but it matched the exterior so perfectly and I used plenty of interfacing so it will hold up. Regular quilting cotton would also work fine in the lining.

Plus there 4 more pockets. If I wanted to I could fit my Samsung tablet, a note book, and my phone – all in their own pockets. There’s even a zipper pocket that’s perfect for securing your jump drive or other valuable items.

With all the extra features, I’d still call this bag easy to make, especially if you have a piping foot for your sewing machine.

Anna’s instructions are impeccably written. She covers every technique with lots of tips.

I do have a piping foot (at least that’s what I think this foot is, it worked, lol!) so making and sewing the piping on was a breeze. You could also use a zipper foot or simply buy pre-made piping. Or leave off the piping totally. But I wouldn’t. It’s so cute.

I only made a two changes to the pattern and they were minor. First I used a magnetic snap instead of a twist-lock. It was an easy switch and I’m glad I did because the twist lock might have disturbed the pretty print on the front flap.

Then I used these fun O-rings instead of d-rings. Hardware really adds personality to a bag, don’t you think?

Visit the Working Girl Laptop Bag product page on Craftsy to learn more about this pattern and see lots more photos. There are lots more charmedLiebling bag and wallet patterns available in the pattern store {here}. Follow charmedLiebling on facebook to see all the sweet things Anna is stitching up. Thank you Anna for my beautiful new bag! xoxo