Personalized Rag-Style Bag

A friend (whom I will allow to remain anonymous) requested an orange and blue rag-style bag for her Gator sister-in-law as a birthday gift. One of the benefits of being from another state is that I don't have any strong allegiances around these parts, so it didn't pain me to make it as much as it did her to order it. I think it turned out really cute. Fortunately it is the wrong orange and blue, so I wasn't tempted to keep it as an Illini purse for myself.
I made the tab closure wider than my previous purses and put the monogram on it (using Embird Alphabet #33).


The inside features several pockets. Each bag I've made is an improvement on the last, and I think I've finally settled on a standard set of pockets. One side has a 4" and an 8" pocket (the 8" is perfect for a checkbook, 4" can hold a cell phone, sunglasses case or keys). The other side has two 6" pockets (for wallet or whatever else fits). Both ends have a pocket as well, and for one of them I added two lines of stitching to create a place to store pens/pencils.

I've got another bag cut out to make for myself. Hopefully I'll have that done in the next couple of days.