TOY STORY TOTE BAG

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Use your Cricut Maker and the rotary blade to cut out your fabric! Then get the instructions to make this easy-sew tote bag, and then personalize using iron on vinyl.

Keyword: Fabric, Tote

Author: Cori George

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

All seams are 1/4".
Cut the Fabric with the Cricut Maker
Cut out all three fabrics using the SVG file you downloaded above. If you need help uploading an SVG to Cricut Design Space, check out this post.
Use your brayer to get good adhesion between the fabric and the mat.
In the file, the blue rectangles are your exterior pieces, the pink are the interior pieces, and the yellow are the pocket pieces. You'll want to cut your fabric down to 12" wide to fit on the mat. Let the length fall off the end of the mat—this allows you to save as much fabric as possible.
Once your pieces are cut, you're ready to assemble your bag!
Hand Cut Dimensions
If you do not have a Cricut Maker, cut the following:
Exterior Fabric: 11.5" x 13.5" (cut 2)
Interior Fabric: 11.5" x 13.5" (cut 2)
Pocket: 11.5" x 9" (cut 2)
For the pocket, measure down 2" on the left side and create a mark. Then cut from the top right corner down to the mark you made to create the angled pocket.
Sew the Exterior Pocket
Place the two pocket pieces right-sides together and sew the angled edge using an 1/4" seam.
Turn the two pieces right side out and press the seams. Then top stitch along the edge to finish it.
Sew the Exterior Fabric with the Pocket
Place the two exterior pieces right-sides together with the pocket nestled between the two exterior pieces, with all three pieces of fabric aligned at the bottom. Pin and sew the bottom and sides of the bag.
Trim the corners and press your seams open if desired.
Sew the Lining
Place the two lining pieces right-sides together and sew the bottom and sides, but leave a 4″ gap in the middle of the bottom seam for turning the bag right-side out later. Trim the corners and press the seams open.
Cut the Straps
Cut two pieces of Dritz Polypro belting, each 18" long. You can make the straps shorter or longer if you desire. This belting saves you the time of having to cut and sew fabric straps, plus it's sturdy and comes in a wide range of colors. Do NOT iron the belting—it will melt. Instead, spritz with a little water and the creases will mostly come out.
Assemble the Tote Bag
Turn the exterior of the bag right-sides out and place it within the wrong-sides out lining. Then nestle and pin the straps between the exterior of the bag and the lining of the bag, 2″ from the edge on each side. The straps will be in between the layers of the bag, with the raw edges of the strap lining up with the top raw edge of the bag.
Make sure your straps are not twisted!
Sew all the way around the top of the bag, making sure you catch the straps as you go around. Backstitch at the start and finish.
Turn the bag right-side out through the hole in the bottom of the lining. You’ll see that the straps and the pocket are now on the outside of the bag.
Stitch the hole shut, either with your machine and a stitch very close to the edge (my preference), or by hand sewing.
Topstitch around the top edge of the tote — first 1/8″ away from the top edge, then 1/4″ away from the top edge. This will help secure the handles.
Personalize with Iron On Vinyl
If desired, use your Cricut Maker to cut out your child's name in iron on vinyl (make sure to mirror your iron on before cutting!).
The names for this project are about 2" tall using the font Kristof Block. Of course, you can use whatever size, font, and color you'd like.
Then adhere to the front of the pocket using your Cricut EasyPress or iron.