Tote Bag Tutorial {From Mrs. Sassy Crafter}

If you haven’t already visited the Sassy Crafter, you may want to. She is an awesome person with a great personality who creates and loves to share her work with all of us to see and make. Isn’t that awesome? Today she is sharing with us the awesome tote bag she made for the young girls at her church.

About Mrs. Sassy Crafter:
I love to learn, do, and make any type of craft. I'm the mom of two beautiful kids and the wife of an awesome man. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, love Jesus and accept Him as my Savior, best friend, and big brother. I recently started sewing and it has become my passion, but any craft will do with me. Please feel free to link and use my pictures, tutorials, etc. (except the ones with my kids) but please give credit to me, the same way I do when post somebody else's work. If you want to contact me, do so! send me an email. I hope with my blog I can teach you something or motivate you to create something pretty.

Tote Bag Tutorial

I've been making this cute tote bags for the young girls at church, they absolutely love them, and here is the tutorial so you can make one too....
Materials:
1 yard of fabric for the outside
1 yard of liner or any other fabric you want to use for the liner
Sewing machine
Scissors/rotary cutter
Thread (it can be matching or contrasting thread)
Iron and Ironing board
Let's start:

Cut your liner fabric (white in my case) on fold, measuring 16'' long x 18'' wide. Also cut two pieces for the straps, measuring 2'' x 18''


Repeat with outside fabric.

By now you should have two 16'' x 18'' pieces (liner and outside fabric) and four 2'' x 18'' pieces for the straps.


Lay one strap piece, right side down, and iron it in half (wrong sides together)

Open it up, and now you have a pressed line in fabric.

With the iron press outside edges towards the middle line you created before.

Repeat this with all four straps.

Pin together one outer and one liner pieces (wrong sides or folded sides together) right sides out


Sew the straps on both edges, 1/3-1/4 seam allowance is good.


Sew sides of bags up, right sides together.

Iron the seams of both liner and outside fabric.


Turn your outside fabric in, so you can't see the seam. Leave the liner with seams out. Fold the top seam out for the liner and in for the outside fabric, about 1-2 inches.

Place liner inside pretty bag, match up seams and pin in place. Leave a space between liner and pretty fabric to place the straps in between, repeat on the other side of strap.


Match other strap and pin in place. Sew around top of bag twice, so you have a double seam 1/3'' - 1/4'' from top of bag. Iron.


Turn your bag inside out and making sure your outside fabric is touching the liner, pin the corners and sew it, so you have a nice finish on the outside, like a "rectangular" base.

To finish your bag with an embellishment, cut two circles, one of 8 1/2'' in diameter and one of 6 1/2'' in diameter. Follow the steps of making a felt or fabric flower here add a button, jewel or beads to the center.
Add a safety pin on the back of the flower and place it anywhere on your tote bag.

Hope you enjoy this as much I did. Head on over and thank her for sharing an amazing tutorial.
We♥U Sassy'
♥Jess