The felted bags have really gotten me thinking lately. After finishing my "Flappable Handbag", I realized I was a little disappointed because I couldn't use the bag in my "everyday" life. Everyday life for me means toting a laptop around and my handbag, while roomy and sturdy is not roomy enough or sturdy enough to handle the dimensions or the mass of a ~5-8 lb laptop. (Yes, someday I hope for a Mac G4 PowerBook, but until that time I have to live with more conventional laptop proportions). So what's a girl to do?

Design her own, I think.

So the scan above is the result of my brainstorming. The idea here is a partitioned bag with a flap (have to protect the electronics from the elements) secured by a button or clasp. One of the partitions would hold the laptop, and that partition could be made more snug with a little strap (that I think would have to be attached to some velcro). The back of the bag would have an area like you find on many purses that could hold a few sheets of paper for easy access. The strap needs to be relatively wide and flat -- I don't think an I-cord would be the right solution, but I would like to hear people's opinions. To give it some visual interest, I think it would be a neat to have contrasting stripes about 1/3 of the way down the bag.

I think, after seeing Julie's Constant Companion bag that was done with a double thickness of Cascade 220, that I have found something that would add to the sturdiness category. I did John's hat with Lamb's Pride Bulky, which is probably thick enough without using double, but has a little more halo than I would like for this bag.My only remaining concern is static. So I might have to line the portion of the bag that contains the laptop with some nice cotton.

Now all I have got to do is take the left over Cascade 220 I have from the handbag (almost a whole skein) and start swatching and felting so I can get some idea of how big this thing needs to be in order to get to the proportions I need. I think I have a few good ideas about creating the inner partion, but I am going to play with that as part of the felting expedition before I say anything more about it.

Opinions and helpful comments are very welcome -- tonight I spend some time Googling to find out more detailed information and good guidelines for felting.