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This video is brought to you by Sailrite. In this video we will show you how to sew
up your own Market Tote Bag. This is an easy to sew project that will result in a great
open top tote bag that you can use anywhere. Pick your favorite fabric at the Sailrite
website and follow along with us as we show you how do it yourself.
To begin our project we need to mark our fabric to the correct size panels. We will be creating
4 rectangles which will measure as follows. As you can see we are using a 54" wide fabric
from Sailrite and we only need 27" of that fabric to create one bag. Nest the panels
as show here and your fabrics pattern (if it has a Patten) will usually be orientated
correctly. We will cut out our fabric with scissors since
our fabric choice has a high cotton content we can't use a hot knife to cut the fabric
as it will tend to burn. So we will have to contend with edges that tend to un-ravel.
You could use pinking shears or if using a synthetic fabric use the hot knife.
Now all 4 panels are cut out we will first fabricate the tote bag handles. At Sailrite
we prefer to use double sided tape or seamstick to baste hems and seams together prior to
sewing. It helps to hold the fabric in place as you take it to the sewing machine and sew.
If you don't use the seamstick you could iron the fabric to create a good crease for the
hem here. Our first hem will be about a quarter inch
along one long side of the 4 x 36 inch fabric panel. As you can see the seamstick holds
the hem in place perfectly. Our second hem will be about 1 1/4 inch along the opposite
long side of the panel making the overall width of this handle 2 ½ inches. We will
use a yardstick on the table below our handle as we baste this hem down to help insure that
our overall width is correct. We used a pencil on the yardstick to help us quickly identify
our measurements. Follow that same procedure for both of the
handle panels. If you do not have seamstick you can use an iron to crease the hems.
After the two handles are hemmed check to insure they are about the same width by laying
one over the other. If they are majorly off make modifications.
Next we will fold the handles in half so the hems are on the inside and we will sew a straight
stitch along the two outer edges of the handle to secure the hems and the handle in half.
We are using the Sailrite LSZ-1 Basic Sewing Machine to sew our tote bag together. Our
stich length is set at about 4 to 5 millimeters. We are using a #16 size needle and V-69 thread.
All of the tools and materials that we are using for this tote bag are available at Sailrite.
Notice that as we sew this handle edge we are carefully lining up the folded edges of
the handle and sewing only a few inches and then re-aligning the edges and sewing again.
Take your time to insure that the handles edges are even or if you like you could use
the seamstick and baste the handle in half prior to sewing. Remember that when you start
sewing and end your stitch you should do some reversing to lock the stitch in place. Here
we are sewing the opposite side of the handle. Follow that same procedure for both handles.
Here's what they look like when you are done. Next up we will hem the bag's main body panel.
Our fabric has a right side and a wrong side so we need to be sure we are creating our
hems on correct side. We will next take the main body panel and create a 1 inch double
hem on both short edges. To do this we will place the seamstick on the wrong side of the
fabric along the short edges. Then we will fold the fabric to create about a 1 inch hem.
After that hem is complete we will place seamstick over the top edge the first hem that we just
created then fold it over again to complete the 1 inch double hem.
I like to rip the seamstick as shown in the video by hand, but some of our customers prefer
to cut the seamstick to the appropriate length. I find that when I rip or break the seamstick
it makes it easier to peel off the transfer paper reveling the glue. Another advantage
to seamstick is the fact that you can make modifications if needed by pealing up the
fabric and re-basting. Here you can see the hem is 1 inch. Follow that same procedure
for the opposite short side of the main body panel. We will not be showing this.
Sew both double hems with a row of straight stitches about an 1/8 inch away from the outer
edge and the inner folded edge. Be sure to do some reversing at the beginning and end
of your sewing to lock the stich in place. In the next session we will attach the handles
to this portion of the bag. Now find your handles and place seamstick
along the ends of the handle, on the same side, not more than 10" up from the bottom.
We've done it here now we need to do it to the opposite end, but the same side.
Peel off the transfer paper and then baste the handle to the main body bag 5 ½ inches
from the sides and 10 ½ inches down from the top edge. Be sure you are basting the
handle on the correct side of the fabric panel. Notice that the hems are facing down. We are
using a clear acrylic ruler so we can easily measure from the side and the top as the same
time. If you don't have one of these ruler and you plan on sewing a few projects like
this we highly recommend them. You can purchase them at Sailrite.
The ruler also makes it easy to ensure that the handle is being basted down straight.
We will keep the hemmed edge of the handle facing the inside of the U to keep the handles
orientation the same. Do the same procedure for the opposite side.
Once the handles are basted down we can sew them in place on the main body. Try to sew
so the stitches fall on top of the stitches you sewed on the handle when making it initially.
Sew to the top of the bag stopping at the first stitch that secured the hem. Then sew
across the handle following the same hem stitch under the handle. To do this burry the needle
by hand, lift the presser foot and rotate the fabric around completing a 90 degree turn.
Then sew to the next stitch and follow that procedure again. If you notice that you not
close enough or too far you can rotate the balance wheel by hand while using the reverse
lever until the needle falls at the desired location. Each bag has two handle and four
legs, secure each of the legs as shown here. Now we will work with the bag bottom panel
which is 13 x 19 inches. We will apply seamstick to the long edges with the wrong side of the
fabric facing up and crate about a ¼ inch hem along the two long edges of this panel.
Once the ¼ inch hem is finished we will place seamstick on top of those hems yet again.
Now we will baste this bag bottom panel to the main body panel on the correct side. If
your measurements are correct the bottom panel should cover the ends of the handle.
Be sure to center the bottom panel, to do this just ensure that the panel covers the
same amount of handle end on both sides. Also make sure the panel is straight as you baste
it in place. You can measure from the ends if you like or sometimes you can use the pattern
of the fabric if your fabric has a pattern. Take the assembly to the sewing machine and
sew a straight stitch about 1/8 inch from the edge of the bottom panel sewing it to
the main body panel. As always when you have fabric that does not pass under the arm of
the sewing machine simply scroll up the excess fabric making it pass easily under the arm.
After that stitch is done make another stitch about ¼ inch away from that stitch.
After this is done we will concentrate on creating a rectangular bottom for the bag
giving the bag the ability to stand up for easy use. To do this we will create a large
pleat. Find the center of the bag along the long
sides and mark it with a pencil. Now measure over 4 inches from that center mark and place
a pin. Do that also on the opposite end of the center mark. So you will have two pins
8 inches away from each other. Do that on both sides of the bag assembly. These pins
will be for reference only, they do not hold panels together, so don't worry about pining
both layers together. Fold the bag assembly so the wrong sides face
each other. Fold the top portion of the bag down to create a crease at the pin location.
Then hold the bag assembly at the pin location and lift the bag so you can create that same
fold at the pin location on the opposite side. Line up the top edges and ensure that the
bottom folds are even, if not you can often make adjustments to the folds without having
to re-sew.
Line up the top of the bag and pin that edge so the tops are even. Place the pin about
1 to 2 inches away from the edge so you can still sew the raw edge with the pin left in
place. Here you want to be sure to pin both the top
layer and the bottom layer of the bag. Once you are happy pull the 4 pins that were
used for reference at the bottom and insert pins to hold the fold or pleat in place. Again
you must push the pin thru the top and bottom layers of the fabric. That pin is placed about
2 inches from the raw edge, that way we do not have to remove it when we take it to the
sewing machine and sew. Only one more step and your tote bag is complete.
Let's sew up the sides of the bag. Start sewing from the top edge and sew a straight
stich about a ¼ inch away from the raw edge catching all layers of the bag and the pleat
below. We have chosen a rather heavy fabric (12.2 oz) to make this tote bag so at this
point when we have to sew the hems and the pleat area we have quite a lot of bulk at
those locations. Without a heavy duty machine like the Sailrite Ultrafeed you may find those
areas hard to sew. However, if you pick a fabric that is not as heavy you should not
have any difficulty with a home sewing machine. Now because we could not use a hotknife to
cut the fabric we have a lot of unraveling of the fabric along this raw edge. You can
do one of three things here. You can sew a tight zigzag stitch as we are doing here.
You can use a serger sewing machine to keep the edges from unraveling. Or finally you
can sew on a light binding tape, it's your choice. Even with a tight zigzag stitch along
this edge we still have some unraveling, but it will never go past the zigzag stitch.
Now simply cut away any loose threads and you can even trim up the raw edges which will
be on the inside of the bag, but don't cut into your zigzag stitch, if you used that
option. Turn the bag right-side out and you are done!
You can find all the materials, tools and supplies at Sailrite. A materials list is
coming up next. You can build one bag with just 27 inches of a 54 inch wide fabric, so
with just 3 yards of fabric you can make 4 of these bags. Here is the materials list
and tools that we used to build this tote bag. You can find hundreds of fabric choices
from Sailrite. For more free videos like this be sure to check out the Sailrite website
or subscribe to the Sailrite YouTube channel today. It's your loyal patronage to Sailrite
that makes these free videos available, thanks for your support!