You can do it, too!!! :)

I made myself a tote bag for my knitting the other day, and i was so proud of myself, I made another!

And I took pictures as I did it so I could make a tutorial for anyone who wants to make one, too! There are a lot of pics, so get ready!

You'll need:

1/2 yard of fabric for outside of bag and 1/2 yard of fabric for lining (Mine was from the Freebird collection from Moda fabric, plus some solid yellow for lining)

Step 1: Cut 2 pieces of fabric 34" wide by 15" (one of each)
2 pieces of Outer fabric 4" by 24" (for straps)
1 piece of lining fabric 15" by 5" (for pocket)

Step 2: Make the straps!

Fold strap fabric in half longways with right sides facing, and sew down long side. Repeat on other strap!

Turn straps right side-out, and press flat, making sure the seam runs along the center of the straps.

Sew down the sides of the straps 1/4" in from the edge on both sides, and then 1/4" in from first line of stitches.

Ta-da! Finished straps. Alright, let's move on.

Step 3: Make a pocket!

Take piece of fabric cut for pocket, and turn in the edges 1/4", pressing as you go. Turn down one long side twice (for top of the pocket. Sew edges down. It should look like this:

Take your large piece of lining fabric (the one that's 34"x15"), and fold it in half. Lay it out and pin the pocket into the center, like so (make sure you only pin through the top layer!!):

Unfold lining fabric and Sew pocket down along side edges and bottom edge, then sew a line down the center of the pocket to divide it in half:

Step 4: Make the bags!

Take your large pieces for the body of the bag (the 34"x15" piece of outer fabric and the 34"x15" piece of lining with pocket attatched) and fold them in half with the right sides facing, the pocket should be on the inside for the lining piece. Start at the top and sew down one side and along the bottom, until you reach the fold. Do this on both pieces!

IMPORTANT!!! : Leave a hole about 3" in the center bottom of the lining fabric:

Or you could just be cool like me and forget to leave a hole, and then use your seam-ripper to open it back up...


Step 5: Make the Gussets!

Fold out the corners on the bottom of the bags like so:

Measure 1.5" from the top, and draw a line:

Pin it down so it doesn't shift! Repeat on each corner (2 for each piece)

Sew along those lines, and cut of the extra:

(From now on, I forgot to take pictures, d'oh! But don't worry, we're almost done!)

Step 6: Join the Outer and Inner pieces!

Take the inner bag, and turn it right side- out. Take your straps, and pin them to the lining fabric at the top, making sure the side without the seam is facing up:

Mine are about 5" in from the sides.

Put the lining bag with the straps attatched into the outer bag (which should still be inside-out):

Make sure you line up the seams on the sides.

Now, sew along the top of the bag, from one side all the way around to the other, sewing straps in place as you go:

Now using that hole that we left in the lining fabric, turn the whole thing inside-out! Press the top to make it nice and even, and top-stitch around the whole thing. (I did 2 lines of top-stitching so it matched the straps.)

And voila, your bag is done! Yay!!!!

Stuff it full of goodies and celebrate!

I hope I didn't forget anything! But if something doesn't make sense, please let me know!