Vera knock-off

Did you ever go walk into a store and immediately know it was a bad idea? Well yesterday I had such an experience. There is this neat little nursery in Smithfield, NC that looks quite ordinary on the outside...but inside holds untold treasures! There were SHOES! There were BAGS! There was jewelry and monogrammed nick-nacks far as the eye can see! They even had.....VERA:

I became completely enamored with this messenger bag. I've been saying for a while that I wanted one and this one was just way too cute. And so convenient. And $70. Crap.

The inside was this awesome dahlia print. *Sigh*

So what did I do? As soon as I got home I ran up to my sewing room and tried to find fabric to make one! The Vera bag has oilcloth, but I didn't have any, so I used the leftover Amy Butler fabric from my book sling. The colors and graphic print are pretty similar! Here is my version:

So for the inside I had a few fabrics that would have matched better with the outside, but they just didn't have the spunk Vera's dahlia pattern, so I took some creative liberty:

I really love it! To make it coordinate better I appliqued some pink flower from the inside pattern to the front flap.

Oh, and I added a front pocket to the inside (under the flap) for my keys because with 3 kiddos I don't have time to fish for them. The inside has 4 pockets, including one that fits my phone perfectly :-)

The best part? Everything was on hand. Vera Bradley may make cute bags, but with that price tag I much prefer mine!