It's the Guardian backpack by Linds Handmade Designs which keeps the pickpockets at bay by having the only opening on the side that sits against the wearer's back. My SIL has long been looking for this type in a modest size but most RTW seem to be on the big side.
Finally, it's not in that purple fabric unlike my previous 4 bags! This one is in a polyester (?) knit furnishing fabric (hurrah for Immanuel's again) with quilting cotton front & back while the lining is actually cotton with a bit of stretch that's been tamed with woven interfacing.
Soooo many changes most noticeably by adding a pocket to the front! Other changes included using removable backstraps rather than fixed, a removable pad for the optional shoulder strap, extra stabiliser in the sides, back and front and
most of all (having seen how much people struggled with those side pieces in the online tutorials) I bound all the internal seams - not just the base. Finally I added a rigid separate drop-in base so the bag wouldn't touch the ground between the feet even with a bit of weight in it.
I'm still pretty new to bag making - this is my 5th in as many months but this pattern isn't an easy sew. Certainly mine isn't perfect by a long way but I think it's presentable enough to give her and I'm sure she'll forgive the odd wobbly stitching here and there.
The Red Herring pocket – a good place for smart water perhaps?
Couldn't get another pair of the wider snap hooks in time so ended up with unconventional D rings on the straps
May be a pain to flip the backstraps over the top every time to access that big zip opening (this is the shoulder strap in the photo) but there's great visibility of the contents when you do. And a bit of comfort for the old gals with bony shoulders...
Extra rigidity added to the grab handle and below it to stop the bag slouching when lifted there and a close up of the terror of this pattern - the top of the side panels!