A year or two ago I made a fun and easy tote bag tutorial because my friend needed a bag for carrying her church stuff. I made her the bag, took pictures of the process and blogged it. And it’s ended up being one of the most popular posts on Crazy Little Projects! So when her sister asked for a church bag too, I decided I could make her one and blog it too. Because this one has a little twist. It’s very similar to the original, but it’s got an outer pocket. Super handy! So, here you go-the Easy Tote Bag Tutorial Enhanced.
Cute right? And you can make it in any fabric so it could be good for anyone!
And when I say easy, I do mean easy. (Although I did make my fair share of mistakes and have to use the seam ripper more than I should have.)
Let’s make it!
Easy Tote Bag Tutorial:
Supplied Needed:
- 3 coordinating fabrics-you’ll need 1/2 yard for the inside fabric, 1/2 yard of your pocket fabric and 2/3 yard of your main fabric. I used canvas to give it a little bulk.
- 1/4 yard of fusible fleece
Instructions:
Cut the following:
- Main Fabric (blue striped on my bag)-cut 2 pieces that are 17 inches wide by 19 inches long and 2 strap pieces that are 31 inches by 4 inches
- Inner Fabric-cut 2 pieces that are 17 inches wide by 19 inches long
- Pocket Fabric-(flowered fabric on my bag)-cut 1 piece that is 16 inches wide by 22 inches long
- Fusible Fleece-Cut 2 pieces that match your strap pieces
Let’s start out with the straps. Iron your fusible fleece to the back of your strap pieces.
Then, fold them in half lengthwise and sew up the long side leaving the two ends open. Turn the right side out (this can be a little tricky-be patient) and iron them flat so that the seam is in the center of the back.
Now, take your inner fabric and place with with right sides together and sew around two sides and the bottom.
Fold your pocket fabric in half so that it is 17 inches wide by 11 inches long. Place the outer fabrics together with right sides together. The pocket needs to go between these two fabrics. Sew down the side, across the bottom and back up the other side.
Now you are going to give each of your bag pieces box corners. To do this, hold your corners like this and sew across the tip about 1.5 inches down from the top corner.
Then snip it off:
Do this to all four corners. But you’ll need to be careful with the pocket and make sure it stays on one side of the bag and doesn’t get caught in the box corners in a weird way. I had to do a little seam popping to get it where I wanted.
Now, turn your inner bag right side out and leave your outer bag inside out. Slide them together. Slip your straps down between the two layers and pin it in place. Make sure that it isn’t twisted inside and make sure that the side with the seam is facing the inner part of the bag.
Starting between two of the straps, sew all the way around the top leaving 3-4 inches between the straps to turn the bag right side out.
Turn it right side out and press it flat.
The corners should look like this:
And you’re all set! Pack it up and head out!
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Do you use quilting fabric or canvas for this tote?
I used canvas. Should have mentioned that! Whoops.
where do you find such cute Canvas. Love your tutorial. Very helpful
This is from Hobby Lobby.
Hi Amber, that a lovely tutorial. I love tote bags and make them. I have adapted two things on the handles. One is about 3 inches long strip of padding on the shoulder part of the strap. The second one is I make one handle approximately 1 inch shorter than the other so that when I’m carrying the bag in my hand the sorter strap fits neatly below the longer one and of course its padded and easy on the hand.
I haven’t made this yet but plan to. Look nice and easy..p
I love your fabrics! I enjoy making bags and you’ve just inspired me to make another one :) I think I might cut my straps 6 inches wide then fold the edges to the middle then fold in half and sticth to get a 1.5″ wide strap. (I don’t like having to flip it otherwise.)
One question about the sizes to cut the fabrics, is there a typo on the lining size? I would think we would need to cut it 17″ by 20″ just like the outer fabric?
Yes, should be the same as the outer
Is there also a typo on the pocket dimensions? Just wondering where I’m supposed to get an extra inch at. It says to cut it 16″ wide by 22″ long and says to fold in half to make it 17″x22″ that’s impossible
Whoops-yes, probably just a typo. :)
What a pretty bag!! I think the outside pocket is a versatile addition. And the fabric combination is very appealing. From what fabric line is the dandelion print? I would love to make some bags using all the coordinating colors.
The fabric is from Hobby Lobby.
I’ve been wanting a tote like this for some time! Thank you for this tutorial! Pinning to my “Next” board!
it took 3 days and some odd hours to turn the handles. I will definitely do that differently next time. Also the instructions on making a box corner with a pocket…is this even do-able? I am winding up with an ugly mess! I may do this step differently also. Cute bag though!
silly me, i was turning it the wrong way! It worked perfectly!
Oh good!
I love your bag so much!!
I’m a beginner at sewing and you made this seem so easy for me! Thank you so much for making your easy tutorial. I’m going to give it a try.
By the way, where did you get your fabric?
That’s from Hobby Lobby. :)
Thank you for the tutorial. I have a question. Once you have turned the bag right side out do you need to do a hand stitch where you just turned to make sure all the inner is no longer on show? Many thanks in advance Karen
You don’t have to but it’s not a bad idea at all!
I’ve made several of these and love the pattern. I add a pocket to the inside, but like this idea on the outside as well!
I just bought a machine. Haven’t sewn in 40 years. I found this while looking for beginner projects. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us.
I’m confused about leaving 3-4 inches at the end. Ate we sewing the whole top shut when doing the handles? I thought we’d just sew around the top to secure the handles but I’m confused why I need the gap for turning.
I’m new at sewing. Sorry!
Because you will need to be able to pull the bag through the little opening to turn it right side out.
Just finished my tote today. I love it. Had fun matching up the owls for the outside pocket I added. Wish I could post a photo of it.
Sounds great!
Good afternoon! I’m currently working on cutting the pocket fabric, but I am confused on the sizing. I have a fabric that needs to be a certain direction (it’s chevron), so I’m trying to figure out which direction to cut the pocket fabric. However, when I looked down at the later instructions of what you actually do with it, it said fold it in half but the dimensions you gave don’t seem to match up with the size I’m supposed to cut. I don’t want to cut the fabric unless you are certain you’re dimensions are correct. :) Thanks so much! I’m going to go work on the handles in the meantime! I’m excited to complete this.
Cut the pocket width the same width as the bag. :)
Beginner here and I want to sew this bag for my next project. I’m kind of confused about the pocket though. How did you get that top stitch? Did you sew the material for the fabric before placing it between the 3 outer materials and stitching?
Yes, do that part first.
What kind of fabric did you use?
I used a canvas for this to give it a little bulk
Hi! I was wondering, what type of sewing machine do you prefer?
I love Janome. I have a post about it: https://crazylittleprojects.com/best-sewing-machines-for-beginners/
I can’t wait to try this!! I plan to stitch the top from the outside so i would not need to turn them. Do you think that would work?
Probably, it would just take a little tweaking. Let me know how it goes!
Hi, love the Tote, so many uses. I have made them before and purposefully made one handle about 3/4″ to 1″ (inch) shorter than the other so that when carrying in the hand the shorter handle fits neatly beneath the longer one. Also it doesn’t affect wearing it over the shoulder.
PS: this grey coloured font is very difficult to read.
Hi, I am very new to sewing and want to give this tote a go, Id like to make it for my mum and have some fabric that she will love. However its not canvas and as i am on a tight budget don’t really want to go buying other fabric. Is there some way i can use the fabric I have, I believe its just cotton. Thank you
Yes that’s totally fine!
Nice bag! I made many and have been giving to my girlfriends for their birthdays. I added a flower clip that coordinates the fabrics, so sassy chic!!!