Prequilted Fabric Session 8: Quilted Shopping Bag

I don't know about you, but I love bags and I really like quilted ones because they're durable and they're stylish and they're easy to make. I particularly like the larger ones because they're great for when I'm going to a quilting class or conducting a class. They're great for stuffing the quilt into. I like this particular size bag that I made for groceries. It's a really good for like boxes of cereal and crackers and you name it.

It's just been this nice all round size. You can take the bag and make it literally any size you want. You could have it as a nice square, almost per size bag. You could bring it in smaller like that. You could come here, you can make it for a kid.

You can just have fun. But the concept of putting the bag together, is the same no matter how big or how small you want to make it. And you can also add more pockets on the inside. I just kept this one kind of simple since I knew I'd be using it for groceries. And this was a good place for stuffing coupons or some odds and ends that I may wanna put in there while I'm shopping.

So let me just walk you through some of the basics on the bag. There is a PDF that you can download with more detailed instructions. If you want to print them out and follow along, feel free but it really is quite an easy bag. So this particular bag is 21 by 44 inches. And there's a method to my madness because the fabric is 44 inches across.

If I do the length as 44 and the width is 21, I can actually get two bags out of a yard and 1/4 of fabric. So that's kind of nice to be able to get two for one. So you have the right side in the wrong side. You can reverse it. You can have it any way you want.

I'm going to say for sake of argument right now that our flowers are the right side, the outside. I've made two nine by nine inch pockets. You can make them any size you want. I just found that this was a nice deep size and it's an easy size for getting your hand in. The first thing you will do is take your straight of grain binding and just bind one edge, the top edge only, two in case that, so it doesn't rabble.

At that point, you are going to come 12 inches down and that is going to be the bottom of the pocket. Now I like to make my pocket, the inside material. So, just put your pocket right along the ruler like that. And that is where I want you to place it. And the reason we're doing it down there and we're gonna pin it, is because the pocket comes back up.

All right? So by the time we get done, this pocket is going to be approximately three to three and 1/2 inches down from the top of the bag. So I wanna place, and I just, I like to just do things simple. I put the ruler there. I usually will find the center of the pocket.

I'll find the center at the top. The other measurement that I have for you is that the pocket it works out by being nine inches is exactly six inches way from either side. Isn't that nifty, how all that works out? So go ahead and you're going to pin your pockets and we're just gonna, in fact, I'm going to do it this way because I'm going to simulate sewing it. And there's a reason for my madness here.

So now we're going to pretend it's sewed. You only are going to sew that one line of stitching, that's all I want you to sew. Don't want you to sew anywhere else. So I believe in doing things as efficiently and quickly and easily as possible because my time so is very, very limited. And I like to design things where I can get in and get out.

So here, we're gonna just real quick put this on. Actually, it won't take you a whole lot longer to do this than what it's taking me to pin this believe it or not, a little bit, but not much. All right? So now we've got our pockets on here. All right.

Your, webbing. This is a nice sturdy webbing. It's like what they use on gym bags, it's not going anywhere. For the webbing, you need to have a three and 2/3 yards per bag. And what that measurement is, is your fabric is 44 inches long.

So you need basically two lengths of 44 and then your handles. And I made the handles 22 inches so I can carry it on the shoulder. So, basically three lengths of 44. And that comes out to be right at three and 2/3 yard per bag. So if you're making two of them, you get to do the math.

That would be seven and 1/3 yards. Find the center. All right. You're going to need to find the center here. I'm just going to waggle it.

Well, we know it's 22 inches down, this is the center. All right? So, all right. There's my two marks for 22. You're going to be putting your webbing.

The edge of the webbing is going to go five and 1/2 inches in from the edge. So, I like this because everything's flat and I can work with a ruler and it just keeps it nice and simple. So just go ahead and gently pin the end there and then by having it at five and 1/2 inches, guess what? You are now covering up that raw edge of your pocket so that when you stitch on either side, you have now anchored down the pocket and sewn the webbing on all in one step. All right?

Bring this on around until you get to the next piece which is where your pins will line up. Again, you're at five and 1/2 and you will have your handle, right? And then when you come all the way back around, you're going to want to overlap this. And when you get ready sew, this is where you'll start. And what I like to do is make a square and then stitch an X in it.

So I will usually come down over and around make the square, come across with one diagonal of the X, so back down, continue making the X and so back down. What that does, is it anchors it so that, that is not coming loose. When you start sewing your webbing, you are going to sew within one inch of the top, don't go any higher than that because you're gonna need room to put your binding on. Okay? So after the binding is on, then we will come back and sew it up to the binding.

As I did here, if you look carefully, you'll see that it actually is sewed right to the edge of that binding and that's when I did another one of those security Xs, there are to really make sure it was secure and firm and not going to pull out. Once you have all of the webbing on, I'm going to take this off and now work with it. Your webbing is on, your pockets are on, it's looking really nice. We're going to do a French seam. And to do that, you are going to have the wrong sides together.

You heard me correctly. We're going to sew the seam on the outside of the bag. So let me give you a real quick demonstration of a French seam. I love a French seam because it encloses the raw edges and it is just a very professional finish and nothing will ravel. The other thing that I like about it is it's double stitch.

So it's very, very durable. So let me quickly show you the basic technique for making a French seam. You want to have the wrong sides together, your right sides are facing out. A lot of people will make it with 1/4 of an inch seam and then trim the inside scene back. Just go ahead and do your inside seam or the first same rather at 1/8 inch.

So we're gonna go ahead and sew this. All right. Now that you've sewn your tiny 1/8 inch seam, we're going to open it up and just simply flip it over so that the inside of the bag or should we call it the wrong side of the fabric, is facing out, your right sides are together inside at the moment. Put it back under the machine. Now you are going to do a full 1/4 inch seam.

It's important that you really, when you had that open, that you really were pushing that seam out so that it got opened as much as possible within there. We are not open, but laying flat, I should say, finish sewing your seam. And that quickly you have a French seam. The seam itself is enclosed. This is what it looks like on the inside of the bag.

This is what it looks like on the outside of the bag. It's neat, it's pretty, you'll never have any problems with raveling. So that's your French seam. And that's what you're gonna do. You have two of them, one on either side of the bag.

At that point in time, your bag basically looks like this. It's together but it's very flat, right? And we want to give it a bottom. I'm going to see if I can show you in here. What you're going to do, is, and you can see how nice that French seam looks.

You're going to come into the bottom of the bag and push it out at that French seam at the base of it, you're going to kick it out literally so that it comes to a point. Measure down the top of the point from the top down, you're going to do that for three inches and holding the bag nice and flat, measure out to the sides four and 1/2 inches so that it forms a nice triangle. I like to pin it at the three points and stitch across it. Right? By doing that, that makes the bottom of the bag.

I do not like to cut that off because now you're dealing with raw edges and I can't make a French seam here. There's just, you're not gonna get a French seam. So I leave those in. If I really want to do a super nice job, I can come back, fold the point down and just take a hand stitch right there. Some people go, take it one step further and they make, take a piece of cardboard or heavy duty plastic, cover it in the fabric and put it in the bottom so that you have that nice square base.

That is an option. I did not choose to do that with this one. You also have other options. You can take from edge to edge of those corners where we just sewed. And if you want, you can pin along it so that you have a nice line there, and you can stitch that.

And again, that will make that flat bottom for you. And you would do that on both sides. You can also do the same thing, measure up the side of your bag, equal distance from your center seam and put another seam going up before you put on your binding. That will also give your side of your bag a little more definition. It all depends on the look that you want, or you can just have a nice floppy bag that's nice and easy like I did.

Once that's done, your bag is basically together. All you have to do is put your binding on, put it right side, stitch it to the right or the wrong side rather, and turn it to the right side and stitch it down with a top stitch. Once that is finished, you're going to attach that one inch of webbing that isn't finished, and guess what? Your bag is done. That's all there is to it and what a stylish bag you have.

These are wonderful gifts. And I think you'll find that you'll be very, very proud of your bag and you will get lots of compliments of it.