Free Project: Holiday Tote Bag
Nov 18th 2021
Happy Holidays! Start your holiday season right with this adorable Holiday Tote Bag project from Windy City Christmas by Diana Richards and Jan McGrath. You’ll look chic and stylish walking through the stores and to your next gathering with your own handmade tote.
Finished size: 14′′ x 12 1/2′′ x 4 1/2′′
Fabric Requirements
5/8 yard beige tonal for outer bag
5/8 yard beige for inner bag
3/8 yard yard green for bag bottom
and binding
5/8 yard of cotton batting
8′′ square of green for tree applique
4′′ square of gold for star and tree trunk
1/8 yard of lightweight fusible webbing
Cutting Instructions
Beige tonal :
1 – 18′′ x WOF strip
1 – 2 1/2′′ x WOF strip for the handles
Beige for inner bag:
1 – 22” x WOF strip
Green:
1 – 4′′ x WOF strip for bag bottom
2 – 2 1/2′′ x WOF strips for binding
Batting:
1 – 1′′ strip for the handles
Sew and Appliqué the Bag
1. Sew the 4′′ strip of green bag bottom to the 22′′ strip of beige tonal for outer bag. Press the seam toward the green.
2. Make a quilt sandwich using the inner bag fabric, batting and outer bag fabric. Spray lightly with temporary quilt basting spray to adhere the layers.
3. Let’s do some wacky quilting. Select quilting thread to match the color of the outer bag. Using a walking foot on your machine, adjust the stitch length to be a bit longer than a regular sewing stitch, and simply wiggle your quilt as you stitch. Repeat approximately 3′′ away until you have done the entire piece. Now do the same in the opposite direction to create the “wacky” grid design. Be sure to quilt the bottom (green) portion, too, to add strength to the bottom
4. Square and trim the quilted piece to 17′′ x 36′′ but don’t cut away any of the green bottom.
5. Sew the short ends together with a 1/4′′ seam allowance, keeping the outer bag sides
together. Zigzag stitch over the raw edges of the seam edge to keep them from fraying.
6. Rotate the “tube” so that the seam is in the center back. Find the center of the front and mark with a disappearing marker.
7. Trace the tree branches and star templates on page 86 onto the paper side of the fusible webbing.
8. Following the manufacturer’s directions, fuse to the wrong side of the appliqué fabrics.
9. Cut out the designs on the traced lines. Remove the paper backing and fuse to the front of the bag, centering the tree and referring to the photograph for placement.
10. Finish the edges of the tree branches, trunk and star with a zigzag stitch. If desired, stitch back and forth across the star from point to point to make the star appear more star-like.
Shop Windy City Christmas
