Carry your farmers market bounty and more in this convenient tote! Metal rings help it hold its shape while in use, and it collapses into a flat circle for easy carrying and storage.
Read below for these free project instructions!
Supplies & Materials:
- 1 yard lightweight canvas (for middle and bottom section of tote)
- 1/2 yard lightweight canvas (for the top and bottom edges of tote)
- Medium weight cutaway stabilizer
- Temporary spray adhesive
- Air-erase pen or dress maker's pencil
- Measuring tape
- Two 12 inch diameter metal craft rings (we found ours at Jo-Ann's)
- 1 1/2 yards of 1 inch wide strapping (for handles - 2 3/4 yards for shoulder straps)
- 1/4 inch wide ribbon
- Two buttons (we used long narrow buttons)
- Needle and thread for some hand sewing
The designs used in this tutorial include:
These designs are also available in the following design packs:
A Farm Fresh Design Pack - Lg
Finished Size:
12 inches wide by 13 inches high
Features:
This tote is collapsible and features loops to secure it in place when lying flat.
First, we will prepare fabric for the middle of the tote. To determine how wide the fabric will be use a measuring tape to measure the circumference (around the outer edge) of one of the rings. Ours measures 38 inches.
Add one inch for seam allowance (total of 39 inches). Then, draw a 39 inch wide by 9 inch high rectangle on the fabric. Leave a couple of inches of excess fabric along the top and bottom of the fabric. Next, using an air-erase pen, measure and mark the center of the top and bottom edges of the shape by measuring and dividing by two. Draw a line connecting the marks. Then, measure the center of the line you just drew by measuring and dividing by two. Create a paper template of the design by printing it at full size using embroidery software. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the design to help with placement and centering.
Poke a hole in the center of the template and align it with the center point on the line. There should be at least one inch of space between the top and bottom edges of the design and the top and bottom edges of the shape. Mark the horizontal axis points and remove the template.
Draw a line connecting the horizontal axis points - the lines will be used for hooping.
Spray a piece of cutaway stabilizer with temporary adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point on the fabric. Embroider the design.
When the design has finished, trim away the excess stabilizer on the backside of the embroidery.
Cut out the shape by trimming away the excess fabric at the top and bottom of the shape.
Now we will prepare the fabric for the top and bottom edges of the tote. Cut two pieces of fabric using the original width measurement (ours is 39 inches): the top edge piece is 39 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches high - the bottom edge piece is 39 inches wide by 4 inches high. Lay the embroidered piece right side up. Then, align the top piece along the top edge of the embroidered piece with the right sides together and pin in place. Also, align the bottom piece along the bottom edge of the embroidered piece, right sides together and pin in place. Sew a 1/2 inch seam along the pinned edges only. Press the back seams open with an iron and top stitch a 1/8 inch seam along each side of the seams you just pressed.
Align the short ends together, right sides together, pin in place and sew a 1/2 inch seam along the pinned edge only. Press the back seams open and top stitch as you did before.
To prepare the fabric for the bottom of the tote, trace one of the rings onto the fabric and cut out the shape.
Turn the middle section wrong side out and align the edges of the bottom fabric piece with the bottom of the middle section, right sides together, and pin in one spot only. Sew a 1/2 inch seam around the entire bottom edge of the fabric and then turn the fabric right side out.
To prepare the handles, cut two 26 inch pieces of the one inch wide strapping. Lay the tote section flat with the embroidery centered in the front. Mark the fabric at each side fold. Then, fold the ends of the straps under 1/2 inch and pin in place 2 inches down from the top edges of the tote (one each marked side) and about 2 1/2 inches apart from each other. Sew the ends of the straps in place. For shoulder straps, cut two 46 inch pieces of strapping and attach just as you would the handles.
Fold the top edge of the fabric in 1/2 inch and press. Then, fold the fabric again 1 1/2 inches and press. Insert one of the rings inside the tote, tuck it under the fold of the fabric, and pin in place.
Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the inner edge of the fold along the entire top edge of the tote.
Insert the remaining ring inside the tote and position it along the bottom seam. Then, using needle and thread, hand-sew the ring in place.
Cut two 12 inch pieces of 1/4 inch wide ribbon. Using a tapestry needle, sew the ribbon into a loop at the bottom seam at the back and front of the tote. Tie knots at the loose ends of the ribbon inside the tote to secure them in place.
Sew the buttons in place inside the tote (attached to the bottom fabric) right in front of the knotted ribbon.
To hold the collapsed tote in place, bring the ribbon loops around the tote and secure them around the buttons.
