Hiiiii! Are you ready to sew some things?
Today we’re making the ultimate tote bag, with a hat strap and pockets. I made this tote bag for my mother-in-law back in December. I knew I wanted to make her some kind of bag, but wasn’t exactly sure what special things I wanted to add to it until I did some scrolling on Pinterest. Which was exciting and overwhelming at the same time. There are so many tote bag options out there!
I finally decided to create a tote that included a strap for carrying your hat on the outside of the bag, because my mother-in-law wears sun hats a lot, so I knew she’d get a lot of use out of it. Similar bags I was seeing online were priced as high as $160.00! I figured we could do better than that, so off we go!
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Approximate time put into this project: 1 day, 2-3 hours
What You’ll Need:
- Fabric about 1 yard, depending on the size bag you’re making
- I made this bag completely out of fabric scraps, piecing together different colors as I went to create my desired look. I used mostly lightweight, cotton materials, e.g. an old button-up shirt, a bed sheet, and a pillowcase. You could use a thicker material like canvas
- Matching thread
- Sewing machine
- Iron and ironing board
- Sewing pins
- Scissors
- Fabric tape measure
- Fabric chalk
Disclaimer: I am trying to teach myself the Metric System, I will always try to include both measurements in my tutorials, i.e. centimeters and inches, meters, and yards. Though I have been using them interchangeably in my everyday sewing life lately, I apologize if I miss including both or switch between the two too often.
Cutting Your Fabric
To make the ultimate tote bag, you’re going to need to cut the following pieces.
- 20″ x 12″ – cut two of your outer fabric and two of your inner fabric
- 20″ x 6″ – cut two on fold, one of your inner fabric and one of your outer fabric
- 62″ x 3.5″ – cut two, this is for the bag straps
- 22″ x 3.5″ – cut two, this is for the hat straps
- 8″ x 8″ – cut two, for your outer pockets, optionally cut one more for an interior pocket
- 4″ x 6″ – cut one for your pen pocket
Because sewing is customizable to you and your desired look, feel free to adjust the sizing or add or change the pockets if this isn’t to your liking.
Prep Work
If you’re working with fabric scraps, I recommend you give everything a good press with your iron before you get started. While you have your iron on, prep your pockets and straps too.
Iron and fold down the top edge of your pocket twice and pin it in place so you can sew it down. Iron each of the sides and bottom edges .50″ (1cm). Repeat this step on all of your pockets, including the pen pocket.
Iron your straps to fold in half lengthwise, then open it up and fold in the edges like you would with bias tape, finish by folding the straps in half once again, this time with all raw edges enclosed inside. Stitch along the open edge to secure everything in place. Or you can use something like a bias tape maker for this.
Because I was working with fabric scraps, I started by sewing my strips of fabric together to create the original needed sizes listed above. This step is as simple as pinning each of the pieces right sides facing, sewing, and finishing the raw edge with a zig-zag stitch or overclocking it. Once you’ve got all of the original needed sizes for your ultimate tote bag, we can begin to assemble it.
Sewing the Outer Shell
Fold your front panel in half and mark the center with a pin. Fold your pocket in half and line the center up with the pin on your front panel. Make sure you tuck all folded edges in and line the bottom of your pocket up with the bottom edge of the front panel. Repeat this with the other front panel piece, then sew two rows of stitches along the sides and bottom edge to secure the pockets in place.
Pin your straps in place along the bottom edge of the front panel, lining it up so it rests next to the pocket. Pin only the bottom edge and the spot that touches the very top edge of the back. I would recommend sewing the strap .50″ (1cm) below the top edge. Sew at these four spots on both panel pieces.
Pin the bottom piece of the bag to each side of the front piece, with good sides facing, and sew. Finish with a zig-zag stitch or overlock the raw edge. Iron your seams
Place your side straps 2″ (5cm) above the seam of the bottom panel and pin the straps in place along the edge. Secure with a little straight stitch on each side.
You can ignore the tape measure in the photo on the right. I thought it would be relevant to show you how long you need to cut the straps, but I ended up making another bag with a bigger size (the measurements listed in this post) and I found that to be a better end result. I forgot to take a picture without the tape measure.
Fold your bag in half, with good sides facing. Pin and sew the side seams. Zig-zag stitch or overlock the raw edges.
Turn the bottom edge of the bag to create a triangle. Draw a straight line at 3.50″ (9cm) and sew. You can make this a little bigger if you want the base of your bag to be wider. Maybe pin it and flip it right sides out before you sew it to see if you like it. I probably wouldn’t go bigger than 5″ (13cm).
Trim off the tip of the triangle and zig-zag stitch or overlock the raw edge.
Sewing The Lining
Determine where, on the inside of your bag, you want the pen pocket to sit. I decided to put it just off-center closer to the top so it would be easy to grab the pens. I may move it down another inch on my next bag.
Pin and sew your pen pocket in place. Use some sewing pins to determine where you want the spacing for the pens to be. If you need to, draw lines using your fabric chalk. My material had stripes already, I used that as my reference when sewing. Sew four or five straight lines to complete the pen pocket.
Continue to sew the lining the same way you did with the outer shell. Pin and sew the bottom piece, then the side seams. Make sure you leave a gap unsewn about 2″ (5cm) wide in the side seam of the lining so we can turn it right side out later.
Sew the triangles in the bottom corners of the bag.
Sewing the Lining to the Tote Bag
Once you have the lining ready, place your two bags, the lining, and outer shell, inside each other, with good sides facing. Pin the top edges together, starting with the side seams. Make sure you tuck the straps out of the way.
Sew along the top edge and zig-zag stitch or overlock to finish off the raw edges.
Pull the lining and bag out through the hole in the side. Before you neatly settle them one inside the other, pin the side panel where the hole is and sew it closed with a straight stitch.
Next, push the lining into the bag and make sure it settles nicely and there are no lumps. Pin the top edge and sew a top stitch so the lining and bag don’t slide anywhere.
With that, you’ve created your very own ultimate tote bag! Featuring a hat strap, pen pocket and two front pockets. Congratulations!
I hope you found this ultimate tote bag tutorial helpful! If you decide to give it a go, tag me on Instagram @doorsandfloorsblog and use the hashtag #DoorsAndFloorsBlog so I can see what you make! Do you think you’d use scrap fabrics for your project?
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