Krista Maurer is a writer, photographer, seamstress and boutique owner. She loves fresh flowers, Christmas lights, good seafood, wrapping presents, and hostessing parties. You can find more of her ideas and tutorials at KristaMaurer.com.
Whether it’s the dog-days of summer or the start of a new school year, every child needs their very own library tote! Here is a simple step-by-step guide for how to make one in a single afternoon.
This project is also a great way to repurpose old clothes or linens from the back of the closet. In fact, I created the one pictured in this tutorial from an old canvas curtain. Or, your children can choose their own fabric so it’s exactly what they want!
As a sidenote, once I finished sewing, I realized that this darling tote would also make a fantastic overnight or pool/beach bag. And in fact, yesterday I loaded mine up with my favorite book, a delicious sandwich, and my camera for a wonderfully peaceful picnic in the park. It’s extremely multi-purposeful!
Good luck and enjoy!
Supplies: Fabric . Rotary Cutter* . Rotary Cutting Mat* . Rotary Ruler Guide* . Sewing Machine . Thread
*If you don’t have rotary tools, a pencil, tape measure, and a pair of scissors will work just fine.
Step 1
Cut your fabric. You will need two 14” x 18” rectangles and two 4” x 24” strips. (If you want a larger or smaller tote, simply decide what size you’d like your bag to be and add 2 ½ inches to the length and 1 inch to the width. Keep the width of your straps 4” but lengthen or shorten as desired.)
Step 2
Take the two rectangles and with wrong sides together, pin sides and bottom edges. Leave top open.
Step 3
Sew a ¼ seam along pinned sides and bottom.
Step 4
Trim bottom corners, being careful not to cut seam.
Step 5
Turn bag inside out and iron seams flat.
Step 6
Sew just over ¼ inch from edge along sides and bottom. The purpose of sewing your seam like this is to give you a nice finished edge on the inside of the bag rather than a raw fabric edge that would fray.
Step 7
Turn down top edge 1” and iron flat.
Step 8
Turn down top edge again 1” and iron flat. Again, this is to give you a nice finished edge with no fraying.
Step 9
Take one of your long fabric strips and fold right sides together length-wise. Pin.
Step 10
Sew 1/8” seam along long edge. This will create a long tube.
Step 11
Turn tube right-side-out and iron flat. Repeat Steps 9 through 11 for 2nd fabric strip.
Step 12
Tuck the ends of fabric strips under the top folded edge (photo 12a) of the bag 2 ½” from side seams (photo 12b).
Pin in place (photo 12c). Note: Make sure that your handle strap is not twisted.
Step 13
Sew around top of bag lip ¼” from lower edge.
Step 14
Turn handle straps up and pin in place.
Step 15
Sew again around top of bag lip, but this time sew ¼” from upper edge.
Step 16
Turn right-side-out, iron seams flat. Viola! Congratulations on sewing your very own tote bag!
To download this pattern, click here.
To learn how to sew a matching skirt, click here.
