Tote Bag Page 1 of 12

Tote Bag
How-to provided by www.jcarolinecreative.com

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I love a tote bag, because I seem to always have lots of non-purse suitable items to carry-
children's toys, files, magazines and books, liters of vodka. (Just seeing if you were paying
attention.)

This tote is a 14" x 11" x 3-1/2" deep tote with one exterior pocket and two interior pockets- one
zippered. It is designed for hard wear with two layers of fabric at the bottom and straps that won't
rip off. Fabric shown on the exterior of the bags above is Brown Sunflower and Black/White
Victoria. The totes below are made from fabrics in the Modern Flora Collection.

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Materials Needed:

1 yard fabric for exterior of bag

1 yard fabric for interior of bag

1/3 yard fabric for contrast bottom

1 yard of heavy stabilizer (I used Pellon 70)

piece of closed cell foam 3-1/2" x 13-1/4" (I use 3/16" to 1/4" thick- see footnote 1)

2-1/2 yards of 1-1/4" heavy duty cotton webbing

1 8" long zipper (if inside pocket is desired)

Pieces to Cut:

Exterior Fabric:

Body- Cut 1 piece 15" wide x 25-1/2" long (if a one-way fabric, see Note 2)

Sides- Cut 2 pieces 4-1/2" wide x 11-1/2" long

Exterior Pocket- Cut 1 piece 8-1/2" wide x 7" long (If you are persnickety about
matching the fabric, the pocket should match one side of the body 1-1/2" from the
top, 3-1/4" from the side.)

Bias Trim- Cut a piece 2" wide x 37" long

Contrast Fabric:

Body- Cut 1 piece 15" wide x 10-1/2" long

Sides- Cut 2 pieces 4-1/2" wide x 4" long

Interior Fabric:

Body- Cut 1 piece 18-1/2" wide x 25" long

Patch Pocket- Cut 1 piece 9" wide x 13" tall

Zipper Pocket (won't be visible so use any fabric)- cut 1 piece 10" wide x 12" tall.

Foam cover (again- won't be seen, so use anything)- cut 1 piece 9" wide x 16" long.

Interfacing:

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Body- Cut 1 piece 14-1/2" wide x 25" long

Sides- Cut 2 pieces 4" wide x 11" tall

Exterior Pocket- Cut 1 piece 8-1/2" wide by 5-1/2" long

Step 1:

Cut the material following the dimensions

above.

Step 2:

Press down top of exterior pocket 1/2".

Press down another 1/2" to hide raw edges.
Place interfacing on the wrong side of the
fabric and top stitch across top of the
pocket.

Step 3:

Working with the largest piece of

contrasting fabric (the bottom), press under
1/2" on each of the long sides. For the
contrasting sides, press under 1/2" on the
top edge along the longest side.

Step 4:

Cut two pieces of webbing each to 38" long.

If you want to cover your webbing, see Note
3.

Step 5:

Place the exterior body fabric right side

down on a flat surface and center the

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interfacing on the fabric. Pin the interfacing

to the fabric. Do the same with the sides. If
being poked with pins drives you crazy, you
can baste all around the interfacing to
achieve the same thing. I like to baste with
the interfacing side up as it seems to feed
through my machine more evenly.

Step 6:

Place the exterior fabric pieces right side up.

For the sides, pin the contrasting piece to the
bottom of the sides. For the body, place and
pin the contrasting bottom 8" from the top
of one side.

Step 7:

Position and pin the exterior pocket on one

side of the body, 3-1/4" from the edge and
2-1/2" from the top.

Step 8:

Now position the outer edge of the webbing

2-3/4" from the edge of the body, tucking
the bottom raw edge under the contrast
fabric by 1". Pin in place. Repeat for the
other side of the bag. Mark the webbing 2"
from the top to mark where you will stop
stitching.

Step 9:

Now you can stitch the entire

conglomeration together, securing the
interfacing at the same time. Stitch the
contrast fabric to the bottom, catching the

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ends of the webbing. Then stitch both edges

of the webbing and across the top 2" from
the top (where you marked). For the sides,
topstitch the contrasting fabric. If you
pinned the interfacing in Step 5, you may
also want to baste the edges of the sides to
keep the interfacing in place.

Step 10:

Find the center of the long edge of the body

piece and mark on both sides. The center is
12-3/4" from each edge-- I mark it with a
nip of the scissors within the seam
allowance.

Step 11

Find the center of the bottom edge of both

side pieces. The center is 2-1/4" from each
edge-- nip with the scissors.

Step 12:

Place the side pieces face down on the right

side of the body and match the center marks
you made. Pin the sides and body together.
Mark 1/2" from each edge of the side pieces.

Step 13:

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Stitch between the marks on each side piece.

Step 14:

Clip the body piece where the side stitching

ends, being careful to clip just up to the
seam. Repeat for the other side.

Step 15:

Starting at the bottom of a side, pin the side

piece to the body piece. Stitch from the
bottom to the top. Repeat for the three other
seams. I prefer to stitch from the bottom to
the top because if your cutting was off or if
your machine feeds the layers unevenly, it is
easier to clean up the top of the bag that any
gunches created at the bottom.

Step 16:

Take your piece of fabric for the foam cover

and fold around the foam. Stitch the fabric
to the foam on three sides. The zipper foot
on your machine will help you get close to
the edge of the foam.

Step 17:

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On what will be the inside of the bag, pin

and then stitch the fabric "tail" of the foam
piece to the seam allowance at the bottom of
the bag. Again, you might find it helpful to
use your zipper foot to stay close to the
foam. Repeat for the other side of the bag.

Step 18:

Turn the bag right side out. Use your fingers

or a pointy object to get the corners pushed
out. If your bag isn't straight around the top,
trim it down to meet the piece. Don't panic
about little wrinkles ("gunches") around the
corners- I haven't made one yet that didn't
have a little of that.

Step 19:

Now you're working in the interior of the

bag. Take the patch pocket piece and fold in
half lengthwise. Pin and stitch around all
three open sides, leaving an opening on the
top of about 3". Clip the corners. Turn the

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pocket right side out, using a pointy object

to push out your corners. Tuck in the raw
edges at the opening and press.

Step 20:

Position and pin the pocket 3" from the

lining top, 5-1/4" from each side. Make sure
the unsewn opening is at the bottom of the
pocket (the top of the pocket will be the
folded edge). Stitch around all three sides.
Be sure to backstitch at the top to enforce
the pocket. If you want to divide your
pocket into sections, you can stitch vertical
lines on your pocket.

Step 21:

On the other side of the lining, you will

place a zippered pocket. Take the piece of
fabric for the zippered pocket and place it
wrong side up on your table. (10" is the
width, 12" is your height.) 2" from the top,
mark a rectangle (centered width-wise) that
is 8-1/4" long and 1/2" wide. Now pin the
pocket fabric to the lining piece, right sides
together, placing the pocket approximately
1/2" from the top and 4-1/4" from the sides.
Stitch around all sides of your marks, using
a shorter stitch length at the ends and about
1" from the corners.

Step 22:

Carefully cut down the center of the

rectangle and about 1/2" from the ends, clip
toward the corners as close as you can
without clipping the stitching. That corner
clip determines how smooth the zipper
rectangle will be.

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Step 23:

Turn the pocket material right side out

through the zipper hole you just cut. Using
your iron and steam, press the rectangle flat,
working the pocket fabric until it is hidden
when viewed from the front side.

Step 24:

Flip back the sides of the interior fabric,

revealing the little triangle formed by your
clipping. Stitch across the triangle to secure
as shown by the black line.

Step 25:

Place the zipper under the rectangular hole

and pin. Stitch around the rectangle (about
1/8" from the edge) to secure the zipper.

Step 26:

Fold the pocket fabric in half (parallel with

the zipper) and pin on three sides. Stitch to
form the pocket.

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Step 27:

Fold the lining piece in half lengthwise,

right sides together. Stitch both sides.

Step 28:

Form the bottom and sides of the lining by

creating a triangle at the bottom of the side
seam and stitching a 3-1/2" seam 1-3/4"
from point. Repeat for the other side.

Step 29:

Place inside the bag exterior and pin around

the top. Open up your seam allowances as
you pin- I find it helps to trim as much
interfacing from the seam allowance as you
can (just down the seam about 1"). Adjust
the side seams of your lining, if necessary,
to get a nice fit. Baste the interior and
exterior pieces together.

Step 30:

I like to use a Clover Bias Tape maker to

make my bias tape- it eliminates another
variable. Starting 2 to 3" inches into your
bias tape, keep the seam allowances even
(of the tape and the bag top) and stitch just
inside of the fold created by the bias tape
maker. If you didn't use a bias tape maker,

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stitch 3/8" from the edge as straight as you

possibly can. Stitch all the around the bag,
stopping 4-5" from where you started.

Step 31:

Position your bias tape around the bag and

pin or mark where the bias tapes will meet.
Stitch together. Trim the seam and press
flat.

Step 32:

Finish stitching the bias tape to the bag.

Step 33:

Let me just preface with I am not a good

bias tape sewer, so if I can get this to work,
you can too. Fold the bias tape over to the

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inside of the bag and pin in place. Do your

best to keep the same amount OR MORE
bias tape on the inside. Stitch around the
outside of the bag on the edge of the bias
tape, making sure you also catch the inside
bias tape.

1
Closed cell foam is a dense, thin foam that doesn't compress much. It is usually black, blue or
white. It is not the cushy yellowish foam you find in your seat cushions. Where do you find
closed cell foam? The easiest solution if you want just a little is to buy Foamies or another brand
of foam sheets at a craft store and glue them together to get a thickness of a 1/4" or so. If you
want closed cell foam in bulk, find a marine or auto upholstery business. If you're lucky, maybe
they will give you a small piece to play with before you commit to a 10 yard roll! I'm sure you
could also find it on the internet, but it is bulky (and thus expensive) to ship.

If you can't find any closed cell foam, your next best option is chair cushion foam or cardboard.
The disadvantage of chair cushion foam is it has to be thicker (like 1") to provide any rigidity.
The disadvantage of cardboard is if it gets crushed or bent, it doesn't recover. It also disintegrates
when wet.
2
If you have a one-way fabric (the design definitely has a right side up), you want to cut the body
in two pieces and stitch at the bottom. Cut 2 pieces 15" wide x 13-1/4" long. Stitch the bottoms
together using a 1/2" seam allowance.
3
If you prefer to cover your webbing to better match the bag, just cut two 2" wide strips 38"
long. Press under 1/2" along each edge (a bias tape maker makes this really fast). Apply Heat 'n
Bond to the bias tape and then press to the webbing. Topstitch along both sides of the bias tape.
Repeat for the other piece of webbing.
copyright 2009 j. caroline designs, l.p.
Feel free to use this pattern and instructions for personal or commercial use. Please do not reprint
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