Those who know me realize I am not just about Totes....
I sew Clothes...
www.kittyscreation.com www.sewingwithkitty.com
I worked in G Street Fabrics 10 years before Covid...You can still buy online...
www.Gstreetfabrics.com
Kittys Etsy Store
I have an etsy store.... www.kittyscustomdesigns.com has links to my etsy store- I sell facemasks and clothes... sometimes sets... baby things...Totes etc. I also have a Spoonflower store you can purchase fabric and wallpaper...
Kittys Spoonflower store for personal designed fabric
and I have a Roostery store- where you can see my fabrics applied to Home Decor Items of all types and purchase them pre-made by Roostery.
Kittys Roostery Home Decor Store for Curtains-tablecloths-sheets etc
And customers at work ask about Totes all the time so.....
Here we have SewTotes.com for Ideas and general instructions...
If you want to take a class at the store, they have all kinds of classes but for totes theirs might be more elaborate and detailed than the ones I will show you I make.
Everything I make is fast and easy... and usually out of my head...
MAKE YOUR OWN INSTRUCTIONS
examples:
Suitcase Totes, big and ready to go to the beach and cram in your car... each one carries a different category and type of clothing or utilities you may need on a trip
A small tote is good for your relaxing and reading material, maybe fingernail polish and tourist materials
Your walking on the boardwalk dressware tote might want a little jewelry pocket to put your matching earrings in that match your dresses and some bangles. In this one I used a printed chiffon to make the pocket. If you want to take delicate jewelry you might want to put two layers to your pocket and put a piece of quilt batting between to make it gentler on the jewelry. If you are going to sling your bag around a piece of velcro at the top can shut your jewelry pocket.
You could put a zipper in the top of your tote, but I am always in a hurry or reaching into the car and grabbing something from a bag so I don't normally do that. I will do a section on one with a zipper and add a zipper.
I will break down instructions on each kind of bag and pocket and show the progress with pictures.
This set of bags were made as I packed and went out the door to the beach one summer. Literally, I made a tote-packed the dresses... made a tote, packed the jeans and pants... made a tote and put in the swimwear and kayak wear... and made a tote and packed the toiletries.... so these were quick and easy totes to make.
This was a tote made to go on the kayak with me... Clear plastic on the outside and inside. It was one of those ideas..and used odds and ends I had around. The fabric was custom made by me on Spoonflower. Both sides are pictures I took kayaking.
The top is a piece of leather the handle is a piece of snake type skin I got at G Street and used for a handle on a purse and this.
I absolutely love this tote...It is all me..
I used batik(love that, too) and an old piece of hard leather someone left behind - then covered that with clear plastic liner.
Batik looked even prettier with clear plastic on it!
I used a water bottle and my thermos I use kayaking and made a pocket out of the snakeskin I used for the handles and then put that in the corner of the bag between the plastic liner and the lining. I love this bag for everything.
Jungle Tote for Your Jungle Animals
Grocery Bag Tote with Velcro closing
Insulated Bag inside of Tote
Basic instructions...for all totes bottoms to be squared:
Fold your fabric right sides together... whatever size for both the outside and the lining
Sew down one side and accross and up the other side for both outside and the lining so you have a big pocket
Keeping the right sides together sew across the bottom corners and then trim off the triangle. Flip the fabric inside out and you will have the squared bottom of the outside. The lining keep the wrong side out through the next step.
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Use whatever width webbing strapping about 3 yards and you can start at the bottom where the edge is out and top stitch the webbing on the outside of your tote across the bottom and go up one side and down the other to form a handle-- then go under the tote squared bottom and up the other side to form the second handle and give support to the bottom of the tote. You can make handles out of the same fabric and just topstitch them to the upper edge turned under and when you put the lining in and turn it under and top stitch it will catch the end of the handles down in between the outside and the lining.
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Here is a little tote made for my grand-daughter...
Bag is simple bag small with foam letters sewn on with a satin or zigzag stitch... One side is alphabet and the other is numbers
filled with more letters and numbers so she can pull them out and announce what they are.
Simple Vinyl Totes
Vinyl Inside and Out