Flowers Tote Bag Tutorial ~ Free-Tutorial.net

This spacious bag is ideal for fun shopping days, day trips and there’s even room for a towel for sunshine days at the beach! The front panel is made from Economy patchwork blocks, which are great for fussing cutting. The back of the bag has a zippered letterbox opening for a secure pocket.

CUTTING INSTRUCTIONS

1  From Fabric 1 (for block centres) cut four 3in squares. Judith fussy cut the squares so the floral pattern was centred in the square.

2  From each of Fabric 2 and Fabric 3 (for the first setting triangles) cut four 3 1⁄4in squares. Sub-cut each square in half diagonally, once.

3   From each of Fabric 4 and Fabric 5 (for the second setting triangles) cut four 4in squares. Sub-cut each square in half  diagonally, once.

4  From Fabric 5 (for pocket) cut two 15 1/2 x 10in pieces.

5  From Fabric 6 (inner border) cut four strips 1 1/2 x 18in.

6 From Fabric 7 cut:
   Two 4 1/2 x 12 1/2 in pieces for the bag front side borders 
   One 4 1/2 x 20 1/2 in piece for the bag front top border
   One 7 1/2 x 20 1/2 in piece for the bag front bottom border
   One 23 3/4 x 20 1/2 in piece for the bag back

7   From Fabric 8 (for the lining) cut two 23 x 20 1⁄2in pieces

8   From lightweight fusible interfacing cut two 23 x 20 1/⁄2in pieces. 
and fuse these to the wrong sides of both lining pieces.

9 From the wadding and the calico cut two 24 x 22in pieces.

MAKING THE ECONOMY BLOCKS
1  Start by sewing the first round of setting triangles to the centre square, sewing opposite sides first (Fig 1). You should have about  1⁄2in overhang at each end. Press seams towards darkest fabric before attaching remaining two setting triangles (Fig 2).

2 Trim the unit to 4in square, making sure you have 1⁄4in seam allowance at each point (Fig 3).

3  Add the second round setting triangles in the same way as before. Trim the unit to 5 1⁄2in square, making sure you have 1⁄4in seam allowance at each point. Repeat this process to make four blocks in total.

4  Lay out the four blocks as in Fig 4. Join the top two blocks together and then the bottom two blocks. Press seams in  opposite directions. Now sew the pairs together and press seams open. Check the unit is 10 1⁄2in square.

ADDING THE MITRED BORDER
1  To attach the mitred border, sew a border strip to one edge of the patchwork unit, leaving it unsewn 1⁄4in short at each end (Fig 5) – the strip is longer than you need so centre it along the 10 1⁄2in edge. Do not trim off the excess. Attach the other three border strips in the same way, leaving 1⁄4in unsewn at each end.

2  Fold the patchwork unit in half diagonally, right sides together, bringing adjacent border strips together. The corner of the unit should be pointed at a 45-degree angle. If using a striped fabric, match up the stripes and pin. Align the 45-degree line on the ruler with the inner edge of the border strips. The tip of the ruler should be just touching the end of the border stitches. Mark a 45-degree line across the width of the border strip (Fig 6). Pin and sew along this line, just up to the existing border stitches and no further, finishing with a reverse stitch to secure (Fig 7). Check that your mitred corner is lying flat before trimming off the excess border strips, leaving 1⁄4in seam allowances. Press the mitred seam open.

3  Repeat this process to mitre the remaining corners. Trim the patchwork unit to 12 1⁄2in square, if needed (Fig 8).

ADDING THE OUTER BORDER
1  Using normal 90-degree seams, sew the side borders to the patchwork unit, and then add the top and bottom borders. Note that the bottom border uses the 7 1⁄2in high piece.

2  Spray baste (or tack) together the bag front, one piece of wadding and one piece of calico. Quilt as desired – Judith quilt horizontal lines 1in apart across the bag front. Trim to 23in tall x 20 1⁄2in wide. Put aside for the moment.

MAKING THE BAG BACK
1  Spray baste (or tack) together the bag back, wadding and calico and quilt as desired – Judith quilt horizontal lines 1in apart across the bag back. Trim to 23in tall x 20 1/2in wide. 

2   Make the zippered back pocket as follows. Place a 15 1⁄2 x 10in pocket piece right side together on the quilted bag back 5in down from the top edge and centred (Fig 9). Place the zip 1in down from the top edge of the pocket and centred. Mark both ends of
the teeth (Fig 10). Connect the marks with a pencil line and then draw a box around the pencil line 1⁄4in above and below it. Mark a V shape 1⁄4in in from each side (Fig 11).
 
3   Sew on the marked box (not the centre line) through all layers, starting and finishing with a reverse stitch (Fig 12). Using sharp embroidery scissors, carefully cut along the centre line and the V-shaped lines into the corners, cutting through all layers. Cut
close to the stitches in the corners, but don’t cut into them (Fig 13). 

4  Push the pocket fabric through the letterbox opening and press the opening flat, so you can’t see any pocket fabric from the front side (Fig 14). Set the zip into the letterbox opening, pinning it right side facing out. Using a zipper foot, carefully sew a 1⁄8in seam around the opening, starting and finishing with a reverse stitch (Fig 15). 

5  Pin the two pocket pieces right sides together and sew around all sides of the pocket fabric only (Fig 16) – move the quilted  back out of the way as you sew the pocket.  
 
ASSEMBLING THE BAG
1  When assembling the outer bag use a  3⁄8in seam allowance. Mark 3in squares on the bottom corners of both the bag front and bag back and cut out (Fig 17). Place the front and back right sides together and sew along the sides and bottom edges, leaving the corners open. Pull the corners out and align the side seam on top of the bottom seam. Sew across this edge starting and finishing with reverse stitch. This creates a straight edge at the corner (Fig 18). Repeat for the other corner. Turn the bag right side out and push out the corners. Put aside for the moment.

2   Make the bag lining in the same way as the bag outer, leaving a 3in gap in the centre of the bottom edge (for turning the bag through later). Do not turn right sides out.

3  Insert the outer bag into the lining bag, with right sides together and side seams aligned. Pin and sew around the top edge. Turn the bag right side out through the gap in the lining. Press the top edge so the lining lies flat inside the bag. Topstitch around the top edge again. 

4  Insert the magnetic clasp by pressing the legs of one of the clasps onto the fabric, about 1in down from the top seam. Using a stitch ripper, make two small cuts in these indents, through the lining/interfacing only. Push the ‘legs’ of the clasp through these cuts. Access the reverse side via the gap in the lining and place the washer over the legs. Press the legs down flat towards the centre of the clasp (Fig 19). Repeat with the other half of the magnetic clasp, making sure you get them aligned for fastening.

5   Sew the faux leather handles to the bag (to the outer layers only), using six strands of embroidery cotton through the pre-punched holes in the handles. Finally, close the gap in the lining using sewing thread and slipstitches.