'Out-to-lunch' Bag!

I have been swamped with work these past few weeks, with very little time for much else.

I did manage to get this little piece done though, before all craftwork had to be put aside :)

I was in sort of a blue funk some time back, anticipating the lack of sewing time I'd have due to my day-job projects. I had time to work on something, but for some reason I didn't want to make the usual bags or even try out some new patchwork design (even though I had plans to try an appliquéd bag!), so I started flipping through my mom's collection of Chinese craft books.

Have you got one? There are a bunch of them in most bookstores, and quite a few are actually translated from Japanese craft books. So even if you can't read or understand the writing, the picture directions are pretty easy to follow. This is, of course, more applicable to the translated ones. Those that were originally published in Mandarin can have pretty obscure directions (they assume you already know the basic construction of most items, so they skip ahead to the design parts).

Anyway, I digress... After sifting through some possibilities, I ended up with this one. I did make a few modifications to the handles (I went with cotton webbing, so the original instructions didn't quite work with that), but otherwise stuck to the design.

I love it!! I call this my 'out-to-lunch' bag, cos it fits my extremely bulky wallet/pouch, my phone, & some odds and ends too... Perfect for a quick lunch outing!

I've got 3 others made (only finishing touches required) right after I made this one, and I'll put those up as soon as I can tie up all the loose threads & take a decent pic :) This is a really great, quick project to make, and easy to customize!