DIY tote bag : Beginners sewing tutorial

How to make a tote bag? 

Easy sew ideas to make tote bag for beginners. 

Diy tote bag design idea. 

Diy tote bag pattern. 

Hi everyone I'm Shyam's sister and I share sewing tutorials and inspiration here on  sews one thing I really lovemaking is bags and I will start a lots of different bag tutorials in this blog  and today I'm going to be sharing a new bag tutorial it is for a nice basic lined tote bag it is very beginner friendly and is a project that can be made in a single afternoon make sure to write a comment if you want more tutorials for easy projects.

 To make my bag I chose two lightweight decorator fabrics they are a little thicker than basic cotton but not too thick and I went ahead and pre wash them to make sure that the dye was set and that if they were gonna shrink at all it would be done before I made the project for the bag you will need a total of four body pieces measuring 16 by 16 inches to strap pieces measuring 28 by 4 inches and to stabilizer pieces for the straps. start by laying to bag body pieces right sides together matching up all the raw edges add craft clips to hold the layers together then sew around the sides and bottom with a half inch seam allowance repeat for the lining matching the pieces up right sides together and clipping this time sew the sides and bottom but remember to leave a 5 or 6 inch opening in one side for turning the bag through .

Later also make sure to back stitch at the beginning and ending of each seam that you sew this keeps the stitching from coming undone here are the bag outer and the bag lining pieces with the opening in the side now onto boxing the corners put your hand inside and flatten the corner so it forms a v-shape with the seam going down toward the center the seam allowance on the top side and the underside need togo in opposite directions so they can nest together and lay flat once everything is lined up add a couple of craft clips near the corner line an acrylic ruler up with the seam line and adjust until the corner of the bag takes up four inches along the side of the roller as shown use a pencil or other marking tool to draw a line along the rulers edge add a couple more clips and repeat this process for each corner on the bag outer and the lining . 

so directly on the marked line on each corner then trim off the corners leaving a half inch seam allowance next to the sewn line boxing the corners is what gives the bag depth in addition to height and width now on to the straps find the textured side of the stabilizer and lay it against the back side of the strap fabric this stabilizer is cut smaller so it needs to be centered as nicely as possible I go over all of this in depth including the stabilizer .

I like using in the corresponding blog posts linked below set your iron according to the stabilizer instructions and use it to fuse the two together when using the iron I'm setting it in one spot giving it several seconds picking it up and setting it down in the next spot .I am NOT sliding it around because that can stretch things out of shape once both straps have been fused begin to fold over the edges toward the inside use the edge of the stabilizer as a guide and as long as you cut it straight and centered it fairly well you'll get nice even edges this is a quick and easy way to make straps that doesn't involve having to turn a tube of fabric right sides out after both sides are folded over and pressed fold the entire thing in half lining up the folded edges and press again add craft clips along the open side if needed to keep it all lined up   sew down both long sides to close up the open side and to give the strap a really nice look turn the back outer right side out and we'll get the straps attached lay the strap down so the short ends are sticking up just above the top edge of the bag and the strap isn't twisted measure so each end is the same distance away from the side seam .

I like mine 3inches from the side clip or pin in place you can see that the ends of my straps stick up a little past the top that is to make sure they are securely sewn in and won't rip out easily after the first strap is in place flip the bag over and repeat on the other side take it to your sewing machine and sew across the strap ends to attach about a quarter inch away from the top edge of the bag here's how it looks so far your bag lining should still be turned inside-out you want to place the outer inside the lining so that they are right sides together match up the side seams and the top edges and clip them together   sew all the way around the top with a half inch seam allowance it should look like this and we are almost done remember the hole that was left in the side of the lining time to reach in and pull the entire bag right sides out through it then took the steam lines in at the opening line up the edges and sew a top stitch near the edge to close it up or you can hand sew a ladder stitch if you don't want any visible stitching there grab the lining and push it down inside the bag body make sure the corners of the lining are sitting correctly in the corners of the outer then adjust the top edges so they look nice. 

I ended up taking it over to my iron and pressing it sew the outer fabric actually wraps around to the inside just a small amount giving it a really nice look then sew atop stitch all the way around about 1/4 inch away from the edge this is such an easy tote bag to make .

It is very beginner friendly and perfect for everything from carrying groceries to library books to projects . 

 

If you want some other tote bag tutorials and ideas then please comment below.

 Thank you guys