Foldable bag

Hi friends, I would like to share the steps for stitching a foldable bag.
             We need -  2 pieces for two sides of the bag     15"long 14"wide
                               2 handles                                          25"long 3"wide
                                1 piece for the pocket                      12"long 5"wide


            First we attack the pocket  which is going to fit in the whole folded bag.
                   1.Fold into two along the length and cut in two pieces.This can be avoided in plain cloth but in printed cloth to maintain the direction of the print on both sides of the pocket we need to cut and match the print on both sides.I have used plain cloth but I have cut here for your benefit.

                   2.Double fold along the width of one end and stitch along the edge.
                 
                   3.  Leaving a gap of 1/2" of the unstitched edge,align the pockets right side facing each other and stitch along the three sides.
                

4.Turn the wrong side in and your pocket is ready.

Now for the bag:

1. Take the bag and mark 2" from the upper edge on the wrong side.

2.Place the pocket stitched edge below and pocket placed towards the ouside of the bag and stitch along the raw edge. 

3.Flip the pocket and stitch along the upper edge thus fixing the raw edge under the pocket.

4.Double fold along the two upper edges and stitch along the edge.

                         5.  Fold the bag along the length wrong side facing each other.In case of printed cloth  you need to cut the two sides and match their print and stitch along three sides on the right side.Since I have used plain cloth so I have folded the bag and stitched along two sides on the right side.

6.Turn the bag inside out and stitch along the edge leaving around 1/2"gap allowance to make sure that the raw edges are not seen on the right side of the bag.

So as you can see the pocket comes inside the bag .You can put it outside the bag too if you want.

7. Stitch the handles and fix them on the bag. 

Nicley fold the bag and here it is with some warli embroidery on one side and....

A hand sewn show button on the other.

Thank you for seeing my post.Any queries are welcome.

A New Beginning -4 The Final Touches

Stitch the two handles  keeping the canvas in between to get a strong handle.Put a stitch along  both edges to give a finished look.

Now take the big zipper ,Cut to required length and seal the two ends with lining cloth.

Then place the zipper along the upper edge of the bag and stitch along the edge once again to fix the zipper to the bag.

Now keep the right side of the bag facing each other and stitch along the three sides to finish the bag.To get the rectangular edge at the bottom.Mark a 1 1/2"square along the bottom edge and cut out the square.Now match the edges with each other and stitch across to get the rectangular base.

If you want more clarity on this method please refer to my post Tote for an occassion-2 in my other blog Sew Your Dream .

This is only optional as it gives a stronger and wider base to the bag. 

Now to fix the handles fold the bag in half along the zipper,fold again and you can mark the two points where the handles will be equidistant from the edges  and the centre of the bag.  

LO BEHOLD THE ZIPPERED  TOTE!!!!

Any queries for doubts or orders can be left in the comments section below. Thank you for this new Beginning 

A new Beginning -3 Side with two pockets inside

Now for the other side of the bag.

Take the lining cloth of the other side of the bag and fold in two along the length and width .Fold the cloth for the pocket also along the length and width.Match up the two along the fold and stitch along the three sides to fix the pocket.

Put a stitch along the middle of the pocket to get two pockets side by side.

Now place the pocket side to the right side of the basic cloth and stitch along the top edge.

 Flip the lining cloth inside to have the pocket on the inside of the bag and stitch along the edgs to get a finished look.

This is how it looks from outside.

So now the other side is also ready.

A New Beginning -2 Side with the zipper

So let us begin.

In this pic you can see that I have placed the basic cloth with the canvas stuck to it on the wrong side.I have kept the lining cloth on the right side of the cloth and stitched along the upper edge.

So now I shall turn the lining cloth toward the other side and put a stitch along the edge for a better finish.I also put a stitch along the other three sides to hold the cloth,canvas and lining in place.

Now take the red cloth and make a single fold and stitch along the edge to give it a neat look.

Now measure 5" from the top of the bag and mark a line for the full width of the bag on the right side.

Fold the red cloth in half along the width,match up the folded line with the line marked on the right side and stitch a small rectangular box as you can see in the picture below.This will be the slit for the small zipper.

Now take the small zipper and close the ends with the lining cloth.

Take the side of the bag we have stitched and cut across in the middle of the rectangular box we have stitched.Cut along the whole width os the rectangular box leaving a small gap on the two ends.You can make a diagonal cut to the stitches at the ends .

Now we insert the red cloth towards the wrong side of the bag and put a stitch along the edge to keep it from moving.

This is how it looks from the right side.

Now comes the tricky part ,we have to place the zipper in the slit and stich alon the edge of the piping to fix the zipper.You can pin it from outside to do the job perfectly.

To finish the pocket for the zipper take the pece of lining cloth we have for the pocket and fix it on the wron side covering the red cloth and the zipper leaving us a zippered pocket on one side.

It was easy wasn't it???

A New Beginning-1 Materials required and Cost

Hi friends,you must be wondering what this new beginning can be ,well I got an order for a Tote with two zippers from my friend.I thought I can travel on the route of how I stitched it with you.

It is pretty easy and I will be giving you pictures to refer to .You may be wondering why I dont put videos in my tutorials. That is because I realised that written notes are more helpful than videos as we can refer back to the notes each time we have a doubt.It sometimes gets tedious to pause and learn from a video .

Materials Required:   1. Basic cloth for the body of the tote                 15 1/2 " by 14"
                                   2. Lining                                                              15 1/2 "by 14" 
                                   3. Canvas                                                             15 1/2 "by 14"
                                   4.Lining cloth for two inner pockets 2 pieces of 7"by 11"
                                   5. A red plain cloth for piping along the zipper  5" by 10"
                                   6. 2 zippers one small one 8" long and big one 14"long.
                                   7. 4 bits of lining cloth  1 " by 2" to put at the ends of the zipper.
                                   8. 2  pieces of  basic cloth of tote for the handles 25" by 3" with a canvas cloth                                         of 25" by 1" .

                                 
                                   This type of bag can be made at a cost of 120-150 Rupees.

So come and join the fun.