This tutorial is perfect for beginners, and for anyone who wants to make a cute summer totebag. Free Sewing step-by-step Tutorial.
Supplies List:
main bag front (middle): 1/2 yard fabric
side bag front: 1/2 yard fabric
interior of bag: 1/2 yard fabric
pocket: 1/3 yard fabric ( a fat quarter or scrap will work just fine)
lining: 1/2 yard warm and natural batting
straps: 100" of 1-1/4" natural-colored webbing
Cutting list:
main bag front: 7-1/2" X 15-1/2" (cut 2 of these pieces)
side bag front: 5-1/4" X 15-1/2" (cut 4 of these pieces)
interior of bag: 17" X 15-1/2" (cut 2 of these pieces)
pocket: 10" X 7-3/4" (cut 2 of these pieces)
lining (warm and natural): 17" X 15-1/2 (cut 2 of these pieces)
straps (webbing): cut 2 pieces, 47"
Your pile of cut pieces will look something like this:
First up, we want to make the front panels. Lay out your bag front and sides to look like this:
Using a small seam (approx. 1/4") sew along each edge to connect the pieces. I generally don't use pins to anchor my fabric, but you certainly can. Iron your seams when you are finished and give the whole bag-front a going over with the iron to make it lay nice and flat. This photo shows the seam size to use:
To assemble your pocket you lay the two pocket pieces right sides together. Sew along all sides (using the same size seam as above), leaving a 2-1/2" opening on the bottom of the pocket. Clip the corners as shown in the right corner of the pocket below (but do not clip through the seam) to avoid bulkiness:
Along the top edge of your pocket, sew a top stitch along the top of the pocket. This makes the top of the pocket more durable as well providing a more finished look:
Pin your pocket to the middle of your bag interior, leaving the top open:
Picture of the pins:
Sew along the 2 sides as well as the bottom of the pocket (using the same 1/4" seam as above). This will also serve to close the opening in the bottom of your pocket:
When you are finished your bag interior should look like this:
Lay the bag exterior (the piece you made at the beginning of this post) on top of the warm and natural batting. Trim if necessary:
It's time to put together our pieces to create an interior and an exterior for our bags.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN YOU SEW ON YOUR STRAP, YOU WILL NOT SEW ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THE BAG. SEE PICS BELOW.
First make sure that your bag panel for the exterior is laying on top of your warm natural batting piece. Trim to make them even, if necessary:
I like to line up the straps along the center of the seams:
Pin into place with pins as shown (pins facing side to side):
Starting at the bottom, sew along the edge of the webbing until you reach 1-1/2" from the top of the strap (see the next photo):
Once you are 1-1/2" from the top of the strap, turn and sew across the strap:
Sew to the edge:
Turn and head for the bottom of the strap:
This is what your bag front will look like:
Note that the straps are not sewn all the way to the top:
Now will take your bag exterior pieces and place them right sides together and pin into place on the sides and bottom. Do the same with your bag interior pieces, making sure that your pocket is open towards the top when there are no pins:
Also, mark a 4" opening along the bottom of the bag interior piece so that you can leave it open for turning:
Now use a 5/8" seam to sew along the sides and bottom of both pinned sets of pieces. Remember to leave your opening along the bottom of the bag interior piece. I sew both of these sets twice to make them sturdier:
Once you have sewn your pieces, cut out a 1-1/2" square out of each corner on the bottom of the pieces:
To create a bag bottom, lay out your piece like this:
Pull the corner to create a seam like this (see right bottom corner of bag piece):
Pin it into place matching the seams (this is a close-up of the step above):
Sew along those seams to create this look on the bottom of your bag. Do this with both cut corners on the interior and the exterior of the bag:
Now we will pin down your strap pieces to get them ready for sewing:
Close-up of pin placement:
The first thing we are going to do is place the exterior of the bag (right side out) into the exterior of the bag (wrong side out):
Pin along the top edge to secure those pieces:
Use a 5/8" seam to sew along that top edge. I like to sew over the edge twice to secure it:
This is what you will end up with at this point:
Time to get a bag from all of this! Start to gently pull the bag through the opening on the bottom of the green piece of fabric:
You will end up with this:
Secure the opening on the bottom of the bag with pins:
Close the opening by sewing close to the edge:
Now pin along the top edge of your bag, and secure the tops of the straps with pins. PLEASE BE CAREFUL NOT TO POKE YOURSELF WITH ALL OF THESE PINS!:
Close-up of the pins:
Sew the tops of the straps by starting where you stopped sewing:
Turn to sew the top edge of the strap:
Now sew down the other side of the strap until you reach where you stopped sewing yesterday. Do this on all 4 strap pieces:
Topstitch all the way around the top edge of your bag. This creates a more finished look and adds to the durability of the bag:
This is what you should have at this point. Yee-haw! Mama's got a brand-new bag!:
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