By Allie Bell
Special to the Arizona Daily Star
Create a beautiful carryall from vintage fabric that is durable and looks great.
The inner lining of the tote bag gives the vintage fabric strength and creates a wonderful offset of colors.
For fun, make one handle using the vintage fabric and the other from the lining material.
Making the tote bag:
● Cut two 15-by-18-inch pieces from the vintage fabric. Cut two matching-size pieces from another fabric for the lining.
● Cut two 2-by-18-inch strips from the vintage fabric and another two from the lining fabric for straps.
● With the patterned sides of the vintage fabric facing, sew a 1/2-inch seam around three sides, leaving the top open. Turn the fabric right-side-out and iron press.
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● Repeat with the lining, but do not turn the fabric right-side-out. Insert the inside-out lining into the bag so the wrong sides of the fabrics face. Fold the vintage fabric and the lining fabric in to make a clean edge at the top.
For now, we're going to leave the bag unfinished and create the straps.
● For each of the four strips of fabric that you've already cut for the straps, you'll need to fold each long side under 1/4 inch and iron (this will make sewing easier). Put the straps together with the right sides facing out and sew a seam on the long edges (the short edges can be left raw).
● Insert the raw short ends of the handles into the bags between the vintage fabric and the lining, placing handles at least an inch into the bag from the bag top.
● Topstitch around the top. This process will attach the handles to the bag, and the liner and the bag to each other. The liner is attached to the bag only at the top so that you can pull it out and clean it more easily.
To get creative, you can also fold down the top part of the bag to make an attractive border.
● Allie Bell is a local freelance writer.
» Supplies
All supplies can be found at Jo-Ann Fabrics.
• 1/2 yard of vintage fabric, $2.50 to $5.25.
• 1/2 yard of lining fabric, $1.50.
• Coordinating thread, $2.09 to $5.29.