Using a tote base to create a tote

This tutorial is how to make a tote bag using a plain tote bag as the base. Here is my finished tote. Before I start, I need to give credit Stitches by Julia. Here is the video of her project using the tote base.

You start with any tote, even those with advertising. I didn’t have any so I ordered these on Amazon.  Once you have your tote, cut it down one side and the bottom.

Now you have lots of area to play. Since I was making this as a surprise for a friend who gave me some jeans, I wanted the outside made from her jeans. Because of that I had to spend quite a bit of time piecing to get to the size of the complete tote. You could use just one piece for the outside of the tote, making it so much faster.

Here is what the outside base denim fabric looked like when it was the size I needed. For these totes I made it 31.5 x 16 inches, a bit bigger than the actual tote size. I’m allowing extra fabric for turning down the top. After I pinned the top, I cut it down to size before sewing all three sides. If you are using a different tote, just go its size.

Now I’m ready to attach it to the tote.

This is when I cut it down to size and pinned it.

Here you can see I’ve turned down the top and pinned. Then all sides were sewn to the tote base.

This is what the jeans fabric looks like once it is sewn to the tote base. I am folding it in half to get an idea of where to put the pocket and the flowers. I’m not sure why the denim color on this photo is so faded!

I cut a pocket out of the denim for the back of the tote. On the top of the pocket I’ve used a piece of the vintage fabric for a clean edge. I would definitely add the pocket closer to the top of the tote. Mine worked but I would have liked it just an inch down from where the denim starts. I did not turn down the edges of the three sides.

I sewed around the sides and the bottoms with a straight stitch. I then came back and zig zaged to make it more secure. That sewing gave a nice finish to the raw denim.

It was time to make the binding for the top of the tote. I measured the top, and used the vintage fabric to make a 1-inch wide strip.

Then it was sewed to the top. I sewed an 1/8 inch from both sides of the binding. This covered the top of the denim and the gray band from the tote.

I sewed down the daisies. Now the outside of the tote is done except for sewing up the open sides and boxing the corners.

It’s time to sew the lining. You can leave out the zip pocket if you don’t want to add a zipper. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough of that vintage fabric for the lining, so used some fabric that a friend had given me years ago. The lining will be the same size as the tote base plus about a half inch to fold down at the top.

Next we work on the pocket. I cut another piece of fabric 12 x 19 inches.

Then take this piece, placing wrong side up (for my dyed fabric there is no wrong side), and place on the right side of lining about an inch and a half down from the top. You are laying down the 12-inch width side. Draw a box about an inch or so down on the pocket fabric about an inch from the sides with a width of 3/8 inches. Also draw a line down the middle and a triangle at each ends. You will sew around the complete outside box. The inside lines will be cut.

You will now pull the fabric through, iron and you’ll get this finished opening. I am using tape to keep the zipper secure before I sew it, but you don’t have to. Place the zipper behind the opening.

Sew around the whole zipper about 1/8 inch. And there you have a set-in zipper. I had never done one of these and it was so easy!

Now we turn this over and bring the bottom of the pocket fabric up to the top of the pocket fabric and sew around the three open sides.

The following picture shows you much better how it is sewn. Then you cut off the extra zipper tape.

Now sew up the three sides of your lining, and you’re ready to box your corners. For a real easy tutorial on this, check out this video. I never understood boxed corners until I saw her video. I am using a 2-inch box on the tote.

Go ahead and box up the corners on the outside tote too. Place the lining into the finished outside tote and sew it in. I’m again sewing an 1/8 inch in from the top of the fabric.

I didn’t like how the seams looked so I added a little daisy to cover it up before I added the lining.

Now you are done. Here is the finished project. I did add some more coloring to the daisies after it was all finished.

And the inside.

My friend likes to repurpose items so this tote followed that theme. Everything was recycled or repurposed except for the daises which I stamped on fabric, and the zipper. I sure hope she likes it. I’ll make another one but the next time I’ll use a full piece of fabric on the outside. I really liked working with the base tote for this project. It was also nice that the handles were already there so I didn’t have to add them. I do recommend using a heavy weight fabric for the outside like denim, duck, or upholstery fabric.

With the temperatures going higher, I see more sewing in my future.