Sewing a Simple Summer Tote

* This post originally appeared on The Crafting Chicks website on June 16th, 2014 as a contributor post *

Summer is here! Time to throw all your junk in a tote bag and hit the beach! If you’re not a beach person (do those exist?), this tote is perfect for the grocery store and can also transition from your basic nautical, summery look to a simple patriotic look for those big summer holidays! Extra bonus: It’s super easy to make. Totes Muh-goats!

You will need two types of fabric, one for the lining (the inside) and one for the outside. I used a thick outdoor fabric (waterproof, score!) for the outside and a white cotton duck for the inside. Thicker fabric will help the tote keep its shape. While you’re hittin’ up the fabric store, grab two yards of rope and a set of grommets (grab the ones with the grommet tools in the package). Make sure that your rope will fit through the grommets you choose.

  Cut the fabric for the exterior of the tote to 19″ x 19″.

Repeat for the lining.

Then, on all four pieces, cut out a 3″ x 3″ square.  These will create the tote bag bottom.

 Next, with right sides together, sew the exterior fabric up both sides and across the bottom, leaving the two square cut-outs open. Use about a 1/4″ seam allowance.

 Pull the fabric open/apart, matching the side and bottom seams…

 …and pin in place.

 Sew the opening closed and repeat for the other side of the tote.

 Boom. Leave this piece inside out and set aside.

Now grab your lining fabric and repeat the same steps, with right sides together, except leave a small opening at the bottom. This will be where you “birth” the bag through when it’s all done. Gross, right? I think that’s the technical term for it.

Keep going and sew up those little corner openings the same way you did the exterior fabric. Turn the lining right side out and this is what you will have.

With the outside of your tote still inside out, slide the lining (right sides out) inside. That’s confusing to say, but the pic below will help. The right sides of both pieces should be facing each other.

Line up the side seams of both layers…

 …and sew all the way around, joining the two layers.

 Get ready for a pain-free birth. Pull the lining out of the bag, the stick your hand through the little hole you left in the lining and “birth” it, baby!

Iron the tote…

… and stitch up the birthing hole. Ew. You can do a hand stitch to keep it pretty, but since this is the inside of the bag, I just ran across it with my machine.

Put the lining back inside the tote and you’re almost done. Like I mentioned earlier, thicker fabrics, like canvas or outdoor fabrics, will help the tote keep it’s shape. If this same tote were made of cotton, it wouldn’t be able to stand on it’s own without the use of interfacing.

Time for grommets. If you’ve never used these before, don’t be scared, it’s so super easy. You only need four for this tote so you will have extras, it’s a good idea to do a test on a scrap piece of fabric. Figure out where you want your straps/grommets. On this tote they are 3″ from the side and 1″ from the top.

 Mark the spot by tracing the inside of the tall grommet.

 Then, carefully cut out that hole, going through both the exterior fabric as well as the lining.

Push the raised part of the grommet through the hole. Flip the tote over so you can get to the other side of the grommet. Follow the simple instructions on the grommet package. You will need a hammer for this step and it is best to do this on a concrete floor.

Once your grommets are in on one side of the tote, you can use those holes to mark your grommet spots on the other side of the tote.

 Cut the two yards of rope exactly in half so that you have two 1 yard pieces. Guide the rope from the inside of the tote to the outside and tie a knot. Tie it semi-loosely to start and once you have all four tied, make sure your straps are even and then tighten each knot.

Done!

Total time spent on this project : 1 hour

Now that you know how to make this tote, you can get crazy and mix it up! The rope is also available in white, the grommets are available in gold and fabric choices are endless. Get busy, girl! Make something!