Level: Intermediate
Time: 3 hours

A great tote bag can make a personal statement. I wanted to design one for summer with bright colors and floral prints. I knew I wanted to quilt the fabric and add a pretty lining. As I quilted the fabrics I decided that the lining should be exposed to show a contrast against the main print. This gave me the idea to make the bag reversible. As I went over a few options of how I would design the handles for this reversible tote bag, the idea of button off handles came as a great choice. This project may bring about your own ideas.

A few suggestions to get your creativity flowing are:
Omit the piping or replace it with fringe or beading, add patch pockets to either side of the bag.
Make a few sets of handles to change the look of the bag.
Embellish the bag with beads, buttons, and trim.

Have fun with it!

Janome Supplies Required
• Any Janome sewing machine
• Zizzag foot A
• Zipper foot E
• Automatic Buttonhole foot R
• Walking foot
• Quilting Bar for walking foot
• Bobbins
• Universal Needle size 14

Fabric and Notions Required
• 1 yd. printed fabric A
• 1 yd. solid or printed fabric B
Hint: Coordinate your choice of fabrics by matching colors and varying the size and design of one fabric to the other.
• 1 yd. Quilt batting
• 2 1/2 yds. small cording for piping
• 2 yds. 1” cotton cord filler (home dec.) for handles
• 4 buttons 1” wide or larger
• Plastic canvas 3” x 15”
• All purpose sewing thread, to match fabric and buttons
• Iron on rhinestones, 2 packs of 36 size 4mm
Hint: EZ Glitz www.embroideryonline.com
• Pins
• Washable marking pencil (optional)
• Tube turner or large safety pin
• Iron

Cutting Instructions

1. Cut 2 rectangles from fabric A and fabric B, sized 18”x 21”.
2. Cut 4 rectangles from quilt batting, 18”x 21”.
3. Cut two 2½” wide bias strips to measure 60” long each (when pieced together) from either fabric A or fabric B. This will make the handles.
4. Cut 1” cotton filler cord in half to measure 36” each.
5. Cut two 1” wide bias strips to measure 22” each, yielding two from fabric A and two from fabric B.
6. Cut piping cord in 4 pieces to measure 22” each.

Set up Machine and Fabric
1. Set up the machine for regular sewing.
2. Attach the walking foot. Attach the walking foot quilting bar and set it for 1” spacing from the needle.
Hint: If you do not have a quilting bar you may draw the machine quilting lines onto the fabric measuring off 1” for each line.
3. Select straight stitch #1.
4. Place one rectangle of fabric A on top of the rectangle of quilt batting.
5. Measure out 1” from edge and mark a line down the length of the fabric.
6. Randomly pin the fabric and batting together to help hold in place.

Create Quilted Fabric
1. With the print side facing up, sew down the marked line.
2. Place the stitched line under the quilting bar and sew the next line of stitching.
3. Continue sewing lines of stitching across the entire width of the fabric.
4. Repeat the above stitching steps across the entire length of the fabric to complete the 1” quilted grid.
5. Repeat the quilting process above to the 2nd rectangle of fabric A.
6. Quilt the 2 rectangles of fabric B using the same steps 1-5 above, but changing the direction of the quilting lines to be on the bias direction of the fabric. This will create a diamond grid across the fabric.
7. Set aside the 4 rectangles of quilted fabric.
8. Attach the Zipper foot E.
9. Fold each bias strip in half right sides out and press.
10. Place piping cord inside bias strip, pushing the cording to the folded crease.
11. Place cording enveloped in fabric right sides out under the Zipper foot and adjust needle position to sew as close as possible to cording.
12. Repeat for each bias strip to make two lengths of piping fabric A and two lengths of piping fabric B.
13. Place one strip of piping fabric B along each side of one quilted rectangle fabric A, right side up with raw edge of piping lined up with fabric’s raw edge.
14. Sew piping to fabric, sewing on top of the piping stitched line.
15. Place one strip of piping fabric A along each side of one quilted rectangle fabric B, right side up with raw edge of piping lined up with fabric’s raw edge.

Create the Bag
1. Attach Zigzag foot A
2. Place the two rectangles of fabric A right sides together.
3. Sew straight down each side using piping stitching as a seam allowance.
4. Sew straight across the bottom using a 1/2” seam allowance.
5. Form a “grocery bag” type of bottom, square corners by lining up the side seam with the bottom center seam. As you do this you will give your bag dimension and create a flat triangular corner.
6. Measure 3” across the triangle keeping stitching line centered. Mark line and pin.
7. Stitch across line and trim corners off leaving 1/4” seam allowance
8. Repeat for left side.
9. Repeat steps 13 to 21 for fabric “B”.
10. Place plastic canvas strip on bottom of fabric A (inside out) center along seam line and hand tack to seam allowance at each squared off corner.
11. Place Fabric A bag with fabric side out into fabric B bag with quilt batting sides out. Bags will have right sides together.
12. Stitch bags together along top edge using 1/2” seam allowance and leaving approximately 8-9” open for turning.
Hint: Do not line up piping A on top of piping B when stitching bags together. Lay piping A to one side of the side seam and piping B to the other side of the side seam, keeping them flush.
13. Turn bag right side out with one fabric inside the other through opening left in the top edge seam.
14. Fold raw edges of top edge opening under and hand stitch closed using clear monofilament thread.

Create the Handles
1. Fold over the top of the bag to your desired width.
2. Pin in place.
3. Mark or pin where the button holes will be placed. Four button holes on each side of the bag, two on the top layer that is folded over and two directly underneath on the bottom layer.
Hint: The buttonholes will be attaching the handles. Place the buttons onto the fabric and place them where you prefer. Be sure to match up the top buttonholes with the underneath button holes exactly.
4. Attach Buttonhole foot R.
5. Place button in the back of the buttonhole foot.
6. Set machine on auto buttonholer.
7. Pull top edge of bag up to stitch buttonholes on one layer of bag.
8. Stitch each button hole where marked. Stitch a total of eight button holes, four on the front side and four on the back side.
9. Carefully cut through buttonholes.
10. Fold over top edge of bag lining buttonholes up.
11. Lay the bag on the ironing board and place crystals on outside of bag’s beneath the folded over cuff.
Hint: Randomly place crystals along design elements such as the center of a floral, along a stem, or outline the quilting grid.
12. Iron crystals onto bag following manufactures directions.
13. Attach Zigzag foot A.
14. Fold wide bias strips in half length wise right sides together and press.
15. Sew edges together to form a tube using a 1/4” seam allowance.
16. Turn tube right side out using tube turner or safety pin.
17. Carefully insert the 1” cotton cord filler into the tube by hooking into the cord filler with the hook of the tube turner or a large safety pin and gently pulling it through the fabric.
Hint: Stitch a few rows of stitching near the end of the cotton cord filler to serve as an anchor to hook the safety pin or tube turner into.
18. Scrunch the fabric to fit the length of the cotton cord filler.
19. Fold raw edges under and sew through fabric and filler cord to secure cording at both ends.
20. Repeat for 2nd handle.
21. Hand sew a button to each end of both handles.
Hint: Because of the thickness of the two layers of quilted fabric shank buttons work well. If you have planned on using flat buttons form a shank by loosely sewing through the button holes once and bringing the needle up between the fabric and the button. Wrap the thread round and round (a couple of times) to form a thread shank. Proceed to stitch trough the button holes to attach the button to the handle.
22. Button handles onto tote bag.
Hint: Any fabric scraps may be pieced together to sew some accessories such as a change purse or sun glass case.