Sidekick Tote

I made a purse for my mom for her birthday waaay back in 2010 and on her last visit, she said the clasp finally gave out.  She never asks me for anything so my plan is to replace it for her.  While I like the Pheobe Bag, I wanted to try something different and the Sidekick Tote with the recessed zipper and outside pocket seemed like a good option.  And since I need a new bag, too, I thought I would test drive the large size :).

I used a medium-ish weight twill I bought at Dressew in Vancouver.  If I'm shopping for RTW, I rarely buy patterned things so I'm learning to tone it down for things I make for myself.  There are so many gorgeous printed fabrics out there but if I'm not comfortable wearing/carrying something, it's not worth it!  The stripes going different directions are enough pattern for me :)

Speaking of patterned fabrics, one thing I will do differently next time is use the exterior fabric for the lining above the zipper.   Love, love, love the recessed zip but didn't think about the fact that the lining would be visible above it (duh!).

The pattern is great.  The only part I was a bit confused about was when it came to keeping the zipper end free when stitching up the lining.  I had sewed the zipper right to the end so how do you not catch it in the lining??  I just unpicked it a bit and was good to go but next time I'm going to have to follow the zipper insertion instructions a more carefully.

The only change I made was to add an interior pocket for my water bottle.  I carry water everywhere with me and I hate when the bottle ends up in the bottom of my bag (and then my bag drips all over my legs as I'm walking around, lol!).

The other thing I did which wasn't really on purpose was leaving off the adjustable part of the straps.  I could only find D-rings locally (not what was recommended in the pattern) and then couldn't figure out how to make them work.  And didn't have the patience to look it up.  So I just used the long strap and I'll have to see how it works.

I'm excited about having a bag (that's not a reusable grocery bag!) that I can carry my wallet, my water, my kobo and whatever else in.  It even fits my DSLR so my next project should be a padded caddy so I can use it as a camera bag . . . .

The details:
Fabric: 1/2 metre twill from Dressew $1.95, 1/2 yard cotton for the lining approx. $2.50
Pattern: Noodlehead Sidekick Tote $8.49
Notions: zipper $1.25
Total: $14.19