Sew an easy and practical tote bag with an inner pocket with the indications of Clemence de Huguette Paillettes

Hi, I´m Clémence and I share my passion for sewing, knitting and other creative pursuits under the name Huguette Paillettes. Today, I propose an easy, fast and accessible tutorial for beginners so that you can learn how to sew a tote bag with an inner pocket. I hope you like it and enjoy this project that you will take with you every day!

From a very young age, I enjoy collecting ideas, trying new associations of ideas and creating with my hands. What I like the most? Start with an idea and bring it to life little by little, trying, making mistakes and starting again until I achieve what I had imagined in the beginning. To do this, I find my inspiration everywhere in my daily life and on Pinterest: I share the construction and realization of my projects on my Instagram account and I end up revealing the result with my detailed impressions on my blog.

I also share tutorials on my blog. knitting and sewing as well as step-by-step explanations to learn how to modify and personalize the patterns I use. Thus, I give tricks to easily add your own details and be able to create new pieces more in line with what each one is looking for.

Tutorial tote bag with inside pocket (special for beginners)

The supplies you will need to make this tote bag are:

• 50 cm of canvas fabric: CANVAS GOLD ABSTRACT PINK
• Universal needle, thickness: 80/90

Cut the patterns

1. Cut the following pieces from the thread

• 2 rectangles 66 cm long x 8 cm wide (handles)
• 2 rectangles 48 cm high x 42 cm wide (front and back of the bag)
• 1 rectangle 20 cm high x 12 cm width (pocket – optional)

Bag handles

2. Sew the handles

• Interlining with Thermo adhesive interfacing the pieces of the handles (I have used strips of pre-drilled Thermo adhesive interfacing, but you can also use Thermo adhesive interfacing to cut)
• Fold the sides of the handles facing the reverse, towards the center, and along the pieces.
• Fold the handles once more facing the right side and in half in the direction of the length of the handles
• Sew the handles 0.1 cm from the edge.

3. Join the bag

• Sew the front and the back, facing the two right pieces on the two sides (longer sides 48 cm) and the bottom of the bag (short side 42 cm).
• Using a serger, sew the edges together. And if you don´t have one, make a zigzag seam by grabbing the edges together.
• Fold the seams towards the back of the bag.

4. Attach the handles to the bag

• Using pins, pin the handles right to right on the bag, 9 cm from the outer edges.
• Sew the handles 1 cm from the edge.

 

Inside pocket

5. Make the inside pocket

• Make a 2 x 1 cm hem on the shorter side of the pocket (12 cm side).
• Fold the wrong side hem with the wrong side at 7 cm.
• Make a 0.5 cm seam on both sides.
• Overlock the two sides or make a zigzag seam.

6. Prepare the opening hem.

• Fold at the opening of the tote bag at 1 cm and then at 2.5 cm.
• Pin without sewing.

7. Attach the inside pocket to the tote bag

• Place the upper part of the inside pocket (raw edge) on the back of the tote bag, the wrong side, tucking the pocket inside the hem and taking care to center the pocket and the back.
• Fix the pocket with pins.

8. Finish the opening.

• Sew the opening 0.1 cm from the fold (to simplify things, sew on the wrong side of the fabric)
• Fold the handles and fix them with pins.
• Do some cross-stitching so that the handles are well attached to the bag (draw before with an erasable pen or soap to guide the seam if you need)

9. Iron the bag and voilà, you can brand new it!