A Big Tote Bag

I made this for my sister.

It's a super large tote bag for her to put my newphew's 4 days supply of clothes that he bring to his caregiver house after school. Hence, the need for a BIG bag to put in all the clothes.

The whole bag measure 14" X 14" X 10".

Cutting Instruction
A: cut 1 piece of outer fabric and lining measure 38" X 14"
B: cut 2 pieces of outer fabric and lining measure 14" X 10"
Some bias tapes of contrasting colours
2 nylon straps for the handle length 20"
1 discarded plastic placemat

Sewing Instruction
1. Iron on medium weight interfacing on the lining pieces for A and B pieces. Then pin fabric A piece to lining A piece with wrong side facing each other. Sew or serger around the the 4 sides. Do the same for the fabric B and lining B pieces.

2. Place fabric A with right side facing down and place fabric B with right side facing up on top, aligning one of the long side and short side to the sides of Fabric A. Pin along the long edge.  See below for better illustration.

3. Now the tricky part. Fold fabric A so that the short side of fabric B (on top) is aligned to the side seam of fabric A. Basically, you are making a 90 degree turn and another 90 degree turn and continue till you reach the end of the other long side.  The longer side of fabric A should fit nicely to the 3 sides of fabric B leaving one of the short side unpin. You still with me?

4. Next, sew with 3/8" seam allowance around the 3 pinned sides. Start sewing from the top and when you reach the corner, with the needle still in the fabric, left up the presser foot and turn the fabric 90 degree around. Then, put down the presser foot and continue to sew. Do the same for the other corner. Finish off at the top of the other edge.  Don't worry about the raw edge as it will be enclosed in our bias tapes. Do the same for the other fabric B by placing it on the other side of fabric A. You will now have your boxy bag already.

5. For the base, to give it more body, I've used an unused plastic placemat and cut to the size 14" X 10". For a nicer feel, I've cut fabric A and sew a cover to insert the base in.

6. To enclose the raw side edges, sew bias tapes around them starting from the top, round the 2 corners and all the way back to the top. Remember to keep your needle in when you turn the fabric around at the corners.  Do the same for the other side.

7. Next, fold in the top edge by 3/8" and sew with straight stitch all around the top edge.

8. Measure 2" from the top left corner and pin one end of the strap down (see below). 

9. First, sew a straight stitch around to attach the strap. Then, flip up the strap and sew a box stitch over the overlapped area.  Measure 2" to the top right corner again and pin the other end of the same strap, make sure that the strap is not twisted. Do the same box stitch.

10. There, here is your super big bag!