What’s the Project: Looking for a quick and easy sewing project? This tote bag pattern and tutorial is fast and turns out great!
Every woman loves a good bag-am I right? They can be filled with diapers and toys when you’re in mom mode, they can be cute and flirty when you’ve got a date, or they can be filled with your laptop and notebooks when you head to work or school.
Or sometimes in my case, they can be a bottomless pit filled with who knows what-how’s that french fry get there?
Bags are one of my very favorite things to sew and the beauty of this one is that it’s super simple. It’s all straight lines-a perfect easy sewing project for beginners. And it’s super cute!
If you don’t know how to sew a bag, this is a good place to start! This tote bag pattern is easy and you’ll love how it turns out!
It’s got one fabric on the top, another on the bottom and I did a third inside. So you can customize it for the person you are making it for!
And now I’ve got an updated version too that has a pocket on the outside if you prefer that. Check that tutorial out here.
So let’s make this great DIY tote bag!
Easy Tote Bag Pattern and Tutorial:
Supplies Needed:
- Fabric-Canvas or Duck. I used 3 fabrics-one for the top, one for the bottom and one for the inside. You need about 1/3 yard of your bottom fabric and about 1/2 yard each of the top and inner fabrics
- (Optional-fusible fleece interfacing to line the straps. You will only need about 1/4 yard for this.)
Cutting Guide:
- From your bottom fabric cut 2 pieces that are 17 inches wide by 8 inches long
- From your top fabric cut 2 pieces that are 17 inches wide by 12 inches long
- Wait to cut your inner fabric
- For your straps (from whichever fabric you prefer), cut 2 pieces that are 31 inches by 4 inches
- (Optional-if you feel like you want to straps sturdy, line them with a fusible interfacing like fusible fleece)
Instructions:
Cut out the pieces mentioned above.
Place top fabric on the bottom fabric with right sides together and sew them together.
Do this for both pieces and then iron the seam flat.
With one of your pieces that you just sewed, place it on your inner fabric and use it as a guide to cut out the inner fabric to match what you just created. Cut 2 of your inner fabric.
Sew the two inner pieces together around both sides and the bottom with right sides facing.
Sew both of your outer pieces together around both sides and the bottom with right sides facing.
Now you are going to create box corners on these. To do this, grab the bottom corner of the bag and turn it so that that the fabric is laying like this:
You will then sew a seam across the top tip of that triangle a few inches down from the tip:
Then snip off that tip:
Do this with both outer corners and both inner corners.
Set these aside while we make the straps.
Take your long pieces and fold them in half the long way with right sides together and sew up the long side.
Turn right side out (this will be a little tricky and time-consuming. I use a chopstick or pair of scissors to help push the fabric though. And I watch a good show while I do it.)
Press straps flat with seam in the center of the back:
Now, turn your inner fabric right side out but leave your outer fabric inside out. Put the inner bag down inside the outer bag. Slide your straps inside the bag in between the two fabrics, making sure that the seam on the back of the fabric is facing the inside of the bag and pin everything in place like this so that the fabric is even all the way around and the strap ends are between your inner and outer layers of fabric on both sides and have the ends poking out slightly.
Sew all the way around the top of the bag leaving a 4-inch opening to turn it. *Make sure that opening is not where a strap is. You need to get those sewn in place.
Turn bag right side out and tuck inside into outside.
Press the whole bag. Fold the opening in and press that as well so that it looks just the same as the part that was sewn.
Top stitch all the way around the top of the bag. This will also close your opening.
And throw some stuff in your bag and hit the town!
Hope you’ve loved sewing this tote bag pattern!
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Oh, that is very cute. I love the shape of it and the mix of fabrics. It is very similar to one I just recently made, except mine had grommets that the straps went through. I love seeing how it would look with regular straps! I will definitely make this one! Thanks for another great project!!
Love the bag. Is it easy enough for a beginner? Love the fabric, where is that from??
Thanks for sharing…….
Yes, it’s a pretty good beginner project. The fabric is from Hobby Lobby.
That is a very nice bag. I love to make bags. All kind of bags and I will make this one too. For myself or to give away. Glad my son has a girlfriend who loves bags too, so another reason for me to make them.
Thank you for this pattern and tutorial.
Greetings from Holland
I love this basic bag! Easy and it can be dressed up as much as you wants!
Cute bag. I made this today but didn’t feel the directions about finishing – putting the straps on was very clear. I had to repin it three times before I had it right. It states to turn the inside right side out but then does not tell you how to put them together to sew them. The picture was not clear to me either. I do love the bag and the overall ease of making it. Thanks
I love this bag very much. I think I can use this as basic bag making and it is very easier than I thought. A big thank you for sharing……..
I love these little tote bags. I’ve been making them out of scraps of left over material.
These are then sent to the shoe box appeal for underprivileged children who have nothing and don’t even get Christmas presents , a worthy cause. The brighter the colours the better and it gets rid of scraps too.
Perfect!
Love your work!
very cute. I like your tutorial. :)
Great tutorial! Mine turned out very nice. Next time I will use interfacing and add a pocket to the indide.Thanks for sharing!
Cute tote bag. I’m going to try to make it. Thank you for sharing.
This bag turned out great! I added my daughter initial so she can take it to nursery. Thanks!
Sorry if I missed the direction, but how do you use the fusible fleece?
I’m very new :)
Fuse it to the underside of your fabric and then just sew like normal. Just adds some bulk.
Great fast tote bag! I just made it & love it! I added a zippered pocket to the inside lining to hold keys/cash/etc. It’s easy to add the pocket before sewing the lining together. Great quick project for summer. Thanks.
Nice!
What is the finished dimensions of the tote bag?
Should be about 15 by 10 or so.
Hi! Thanks for the tutorial, this is such a cute tote! I’m planning to make some for teacher gifts and fill’em up with goodies :) what seam allowance did you use? Thanks!
This bag is very forgiving so it won’t really matter, but I used 1/2 inch.
This design is very cute but I got lost on a few of the directions. Pictures for each step would’ve helped. Thanks for sharing!
can’t wait to try this! would it be ok if I added medium weight iron on pellon to the outside fabrics before assembling?
Definitely!
Very nice bag Amber.. and thank you for sharing it with us. I definitely gonna try this for my next project..
This is a great tutorial! I have never made a bag before and a smashed it in less than four hours. I used some leftover denim and some funky leftover curtain fabric for outside with a cheap thin cotton to line the inside, also leftovers and it looks really great, I just love it. I might add a press stud or two to help close the top when in use.
Nice!
If I wanted to add a zipper to the top of the bag what size zipper would I need?
I don’t know for sure!
Thank you for sharing. I have made lots of them. I’m addicted and giving away as Christmas gifts.
Hi! Thanks for the tutorial! I hope it is okay I shared your blog link on my page! My Mini version of the Tote is going to make an awesome present for my 2 year old! http://www.facebook.com/spunhoneyfabrics
Thank you so much for this great tutorial! I just made the bag!! thank you!!!
This was my very first sewing project, and I’m so excited about how it came out! I learned a lot during the process, and I’ll probably go back and look at your “learning to sew” series before trying another like this again. But it did come out really well, and I’m very happy! Thanks so much for the tutorial!
Love to hear that!
What is the seam allowance you used?
1/2 inch.
Is there a way to make a smaller version of this same tote bag?
Totally, you would just want to size it down proportionally.