Bagmaking - The Motherload Tote (Cozy Nest Designs)

I was asked by Janelle of Cozy Nest designs, to pattern test her as yet unnamed sports tote (it has since been named!!)

When I saw the design, I absolutely said yes. 

I joined a gym a month ago and have been using an entirely impractical Cath Kidston tote, which is too small and only has one little pocket.

This baby has an outer zipped pocket, an inner zipped pocket. It has dual sections for your trainers/kit or you cossie/towels etc etc. It has a drinks bottle sling, and there is also the option to add straps to sling your yoga mat /towel underneath ( I didn't add these)

You can add a triangle clip to hang your car keys/sunnies from if you wish, and you can add anything else you want (I added this tiny pocket on the front for my gym card which I'm always losing - and it also fits my padlock)

I wanted something bright and cheery, so I went for this hello tokyo fabric on the outside, and a pre-laminated cotton on the inside because I wanted water resistant.

I used Lamifix on the outer cotton, which is an iron on laminate. It works, but it looks horribly creased all the time. I think I'd only use this on small projects in the future. The pre-laminated stuff is vastly superior looks-wise. 

However as this bag is for my personal use, I'm not too fussed! Its so flipping useful. I made the bottle sling slightly larger to accommodate my own bottle.

Sarahs instructions are always clear. I was slightly confused due to using directional fabric, however she has since added extra orientation details to her pattern to make this part easier to understand. This is not a beginners bag, but an intermediate sewer should tackle it easily. 

I also didn't make my top zip recessed. This is due to the bulk of having laminates on both in interior as well as exterior as well as interfacing. Also my seam allowances top and bottom were slightly larger than they should have been as the width of lamifix didn't quite reach (another reason not to use it on larger bags)

See more and purchase via CozyNestDesign here