Making a tote bag is easy and fun, but no where near the fun you can have filling it up with vintage finds! When the mister sees me getting into the car with a tote bag, he groans so loud the Richter Scale moves. But truth be told, he doesn't mind one bit schlepping my bag for me, unless the bag is uber girly...then he protests, lest someone think he is less than manly! I'm going to show you my time-tested pattern so you can make yourself (and all of your friends) a great tote!
For Your Tote Bag, you will need:
2 pieces of fabric, one for the outside of the bag, one for the inside, to measure 22 x 36-inches
1 piece of batting, 22 x 36-inches
1 piece of fabric for binding, 2 1/2 x 36-inches
1 piece of trim, 36-inches, optional
2 yards of cotton webbing for handles
piece of scrap fabric, for inside bottom of bag, approximately 6 x 18-inches
piece of cardboard for inside bottom of bag, approximately 4 x 15-inches
glue gun and glue stick
For my tote bag I chose a Paris themed fabric (did I mention I'm going to France?!?!) and a black and white polka dot fabric for the lining. I folded my Paris fabric in half and realized that it was directional...so if your fabric is directional, too, then you need to cut your fabric in half, flip one side around, and sew it back together so when you hold your tote bag up, both sides of the fabric are going the right way. Capice? You can see the seam I made in the left and middle shot above (that seam will be on the bottom of the bag)...you want your fabric going the right direction!
Once you've taken care of that, it's time to layer the fabrics together, like you would a quilt, with batting in between your fabrics. Put in a few pins to hold in place and machine stipple, or cross-hatch or do whatever machine quilting you'd like. I just did a big random stipple.
Once your fabric is quilted, trim it up so it's all even (my batting was not cut exactly to the measurement I gave you, but even so, you might need a little trim.)
Next, fold your bag in half, with the lining on the inside. Stitch a generous 1/4-inch down both sides of the bag, (the top is open, the bottom is the fold, just in case you're wondering!) Turn the bag inside out, pushing out the corners and sides, and then stitch down the sides, using about a 1/2-inch seam allowance so you can completely cover the first seam you made. There, you have now made a French Seam. No raw edges showing, all finished nicely...French seam...did I mention I'm going to France?!?
Now we're going to make the bottom of the bag, with the bag still wrong side out, fold the corners flat, well, as flat as you can get them. Using a ruler, measure two inches from the point and draw a line with a pencil. This line is your stitching line.
Once you've stitched both corners, turn bag right side out and notice how perfectly flat it sits! We're almost done!
Binding the top of the bag is our next step. Fold your strip of binding in half lengthwise and press. Pin binding to top of bag, to the lining side and using a generous 1/4-inch seam, stitch into place. Turn right side out, fold binding over and stitch binding into place. Now, at this point you can add some decorative trim if you want, or leave the bag as is - your choice. I decided to add some trim:
If you're going to add trim, you can sew it on when you stitch down the binding, or sew it on after you sew down the binding, either way is fine. (On the bag above I used a shear black loop trim, on the bag pictured above and below, I used a pink gathered ribbon trim - there are SO many adorable trims to choose from that it's mind-boggling!) After the trim is sewn on, or just the binding if that's what you're doing, then you fold the bag over so 1 1/2-inches or so of the lining shows on the top of the bag.
Now come the straps/handles. Cut your straps to the length you want, I cut mine 18 inches long, but I had you purchase two yards of webbing so you could make them longer is you want. 18-inches is a good length - long enough to sling over your shoulder but still short enough to not drag the bag on the ground. Pin the handles where you want them, I prefer to have them 5-inches in from the sides of the bag. Stitch them down by sewing down each side, across top and bottom and then sewing a "X" in the center, click on the pic on the right above to see a larger version. Repeat with the other 3 pieces.
All three of the pics above might look the same, but look closely and you'll see I was "auditioning" different things on the straps...I didn't like the plain look, so I thought I would add buttons...or bows...I ended up with RED buttons - which I thought was so cute! You'll see below...but my point is, you can add whatever you like, something a little more fun and flashy or you can call it good and leave it plain.
The LAST step is to make the bottom the bag more sturdy. I cut a piece of cardboard, from a shoebox or a moving box, whatever I have on hand. Lay the cardboard on top of the scrap piece of fabric and pull the fabric up and over the cardboard and using a hot glue gun, glue into place. Only one side of the cardboard needs to be covered. Turn the cardboard wrong side up, add a few dots of glue to the edges and carefully put the covered cardboard in the bag and press into place along the bottom.
Your bag is now complete...oh, unless you want to sew some pretty ribbon to the top of your bag in the middle, between the handles, to you can tie it closed. I don't always do this, as I usually just like to have it open but these bags just screamed ribbon...so there you have it!
These tote bags were gifts for my dear friends on their birthdays...I wanted them to have something that would remind them of me...in FRANCE...eating macarons, bon-bons, croissants, eclairs and everything else...so I made them French totes and even put a little surprise inside for them:
Aren't these fabulous?!? Clear glass Eiffel Tower Salt and Pepper Shakers! I do hope they like them! The mister informed me that he is NOT toting my purchases all around France, no matter what the tote bag looks like, so when I found these Eiffle Tower salt and pepper shakers in Seattle I bought several sets - and I didn't have to tote them across the pond!