Ask and you shall receive. Many of you feel in love with our “Quilter’s Think” tote bag. Here is the tutorial so you can make one for yourself.
Supplies:
- “Quilter’s Think” panel – we have a few different ones to pick from on our website
- 2 yards of Pink Polka dot fabric
- 2 yards of Blue Polka dot fabric
- 1 yard of Sewing Tools fabric
- Fat Quarter yard of accent trim fabric
- 1/2 yard of Quilter’s Grid
- 36″ x 58″ Soft & Stable – 1 package
- Basting Spray
- Rotary Cutter and Ruler
- Wonder Clips
Steps:
- Iron panel flat and cut out according to the lines. You will end up with (12) 3.5″ squares.
- Cut (12) 3/5″ squares of each of the polka dot fabrics.
- Iron onto piece of grid in the pattern shown in the picture. (I ironed both sides of the bag at the same time and will trim it after sewing.)
- Flip and sew each row, leaving the middle seam unsewn for trimming. (Check out our video HERE to see how to use the Quilter’s Grid).
- Cut down the middle, unsewn seam to separate into 2 equal pieces.
- Measure across the middle of each piece to determine the size of top and bottom borders.
- Cut (4) 4″ wide strips by the width of the main piece. If you are going to add the accent strip, you will want to cut (4) 1.5″ strips the width of the main piece as well.
- Fold accent piece in half and iron.
- You will now sandwich the accent piece, the 4″ border strip, and the main piece together, with right sides together and raw edges towards the seam. The Wonder Clips are great for this step – NO PINS NEEDED 🙂
- Sew and iron with the accent piece facing the desired direction.
- Repeat for 3 other seams.
- Measure you main body pieces and cut (2) squares of Soft & Stable to match. I used Basting Spray to attach the stabilizer to the main body piece. You can now quilt these pieces or just leave the way they are. I just ran a straight stitch across the seam of the border pieces.
- Cut out (2) 4″ x the height of the main body piece & stabilizer. Spray bast these pieces.
- Cut out (1) 4″ x the width of the main body piece & stabilizer for the bottom of the bag. Spray bast this piece.
- Sew the 2 side pieces to the main body pieces to create the body of the bag. Then carefully sew the bottom piece, making sure you get the corners attached.
- Cut out (2) pieces of the Pink Polka Dot fabric to the same size of the main body pieces.
- Cut out (2) 4″ x the height of the main body piece.
- Cut out (1) 4″ x the width of the main body piece.
- Cut out (1) 10″ x 12″ piece. Fold, right sides together, to create a 6″ x 10″ rectangle – press flat. Sew 3 open sides, leaving a small gap for turning.
- Turn right side out and press.
- Line up the pocket about 4″ from the top of the bag liner piece and centered, making sure the gap for turning is at the bottom.
- Sew on the pocket on 3 sides, leaving the top open. You can also add an additional seam in the middle of the pocket from top to bottom to create a double pocket.
- Sew all liner pieces together to create the bag lining.
- Insert liner into main body, matching seams. Sew a small hem to keep the liner in place.
- Create a “binding” for the top of the bag by cutting a 2″ strip and ironing it to create a double folded strip.
- Using the Wonder Clips, attach. the binding to the top of the bag. Machine stitch this on, covering all raw edges.
- Once done, you will hand stitch the leather handles on.
- The last step is to show off your beautiful new bag to your friends 🙂
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. I’m still new to writing directions, so please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for future tutorials.
~Happy Sewing!
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