Embroidered in the Japanese sashiko style, the front panel displays a stylised lotus flower and leaves. I hand-stitched it with red and green cotton thread, then used my sewing machine to free-motion quilt inside the stems and around the flowers and leaves, to highlight them. Then I constructed the bag. It is a good size to fit, for example, a laptop or tablet, a packed lunch and a drink.
The outer fabric is either cotton or linen or a mix (I’m not sure) and is heavier (and thus stronger) than the usual dress cotton fabrics. The panel is a cotton-linen mix, and the lining is cotton. All sewing threads, and the padding, are cotton. As a result, the bag can be washed on cold in a washing machine and dried in the shade.
The bag is 36 x 30 x 8 cm and the straps are 50 x 4 cm.
