Quilted Wine Tote Tut

Welcome to the Sweet Treats Blog Hop! If you are new to my blog, thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy the tutorial and will take some time to explore, and hopefully stick around. If you are already a friend, don't forget to check out the other awesome tutorials that are part of this blog hop. 

Sunday 7th - Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts

Monday 8th - Beth at Plum and June

Tuesday 9th - Jennie and Clara at Clover and Violet

Wednesday 10th - *You are Here* at Happier Than A Bird Quilts

Thursday 11th - Kristy at Quiet Play

Friday 12th - Jane at Want It, Need It, Quilt

Saturday 13th - Wrap up back here at Blossom Heart Quilts

Supplies:

2 Mini Charm Packs (78 - 2 1/2" squares) - I used Marmalade by Bonnie & Camille

1 coordinating fat quarter for lining and binding - I used Kona Aqua

2 scraps of batting each measuring 7 1/2" x 17 1/2" 

Coordinating Thread

Handle Template (<- click to download from Craftsy - if you have any issues let me know and I'll e-mail it to you)

Basic Sewing Supplies (Sewing machine, cutting mat, ruler, rotary cutter, pins, needle, scissors, pencil)

All seam allowances are a scant 1/4" unless otherwise noted.
Directions will precede pictures. This is a very picture heavy tutorial because I want any skill level to be able to make it.

Please add photos of your totes to my Flickr Group. I'd love to see what you make!

Onto the tutorial!

Open up your mini charm packs and mix up the fabrics (*tip* you can throw your charms into the dryer and let it tumble for a couple of minutes, just loosen them up from each other first.)

Layout your charms according the diagram below. Rows are on the diagonal. You will be making 2 panels with 39 charms each.

Sew your charm squares into rows. I saved all of the pressing until the end so I could pay attention to my pressing direction, which makes the next sewing step easier.

Follow the diagram below for pressing direction.

Start joining your rows from the bottom. Center the single square with the 3-square row.

Center the 3-square row on the 5-square row. Your seams should lock together nicely because you pressed your rows in opposite directions. I like this because it means you don't really need to pin.

 At this point you will start off setting your rows by 1 square.

Continue on until you get to your 4-square row and center it on the last of the 6-square rows. Finish your panels by adding the 2-square row by centering it on the 4-square row. (That was a mouthful, did it make sense?)

Press all of your seams as desired. Open, alternating, whatever. I believe mine go one direction most of the way then switch the opposite direction.

Now it is time to square up your panels. We want their finished size to be 7" x 17" Line up your ruler with the edge of the points as shown below. If you trim all sides this way you should get the desired measurement.

Cut 2 pieces of your coordinating fabric, measure 8" x 18" (You can also cut your binding strip at this time, you need a 16" strip, I like my binding 2 1/2" wide, but you can go with whatever width you prefer)
Cut 2 pieces of batting 7 1/2" x 17 1/2"

 Now it is time to make the handle. This is probably the most challenging part of this project, but it's not too hard. =)
Carefully cut the center out of the oval on your paper template.
Take your template (pretend mine is as pretty as yours and not so skinny), and fold it in half. Take both of your lining pieces and fold them in half pressing lightly to create a crease. Line up the crease in your template with the crease in your lining fabric, squaring up the top of the paper template with the top of your fabric.

 Trace the oval onto your lining fabric using a pencil or fabric marker.

Turn your lining panels over so that your traced oval is facing down. Layer your pieced panels on top, with the right side of the fabric facing down.

 If you feel more comfortable, you can pin around your oval, or just wing it like I did, and very slowly sew directly on top of your traced line. It helps to stop with your needle in the down position so you can pivot to follow the line. Mine didn't end up exactly perfect, but that's ok!

Here is a view from the pieced side. Going slow should help you avoid catching any seams and folding them as you sew.
Repeat this step with the second set of panels.

Next we will trim out the center of the oval leaving at least 1/4" or more seam allowance. Trim into the seam allowance, but not too far, you don't want to trim over your sew line. These little snips will help your handle sit a little flater once we turn it. Repeat with other panel.

Using the same method above, trace the oval onto your 2 rectangles of batting. You may want to leave a little more room at the top this time, maybe just 1/4"-1/2" extra.

 Lay your batting on top of your pieced pane, lining up the oval with your sew line.

 Carefully pull the lining panel through the hole.

 It will take some finagling and adjusting to get it to sit flat.

Adjust it until the seam between the interior and exterior panels sits right inside the oval. Then press to help eliminiate puckering. Steam helps. Repeat with second panel.

 You should now have 2 panels that look like this.

Now it is time to quilt our panels. I used basting spray to hold my layers together, this is especially useful at the top around the handle. This project is small enough pinning would be just fine as well.

 Start your quilting at the handle. I stitched 1/8"-1/4" from the edge to give the handle stability.

Quilt the rest of your panel as desired. I quilted mine 1/8"-1/4" from the seam line, on both sides of the seam. The quilting will give your tote a little more stability, so you don't want to go too skimpy.

 Once you have finished your quilting we will square up our panels again.
Finished size is 6 1/2" x 17" You want to leave 1 1/2" from the side of the handle to the side of the tote, and at least 1" from the top of the handle to the top of the tote.

Place your panels right side together, secure with pins.

 Sew your panels together with a somewhat tight zigzag stitch, this will prevent all of those layers of fabric from fraying. Sew both sides and bottom, leaving the top open.

 After you have completed your zig zag stitch on all 3 sides, you want to use a straight stitch just inside your zig zag stitch, again on all 3 sides (I learned this one the hardway, if you just do the zig zag you'll be able to see all of your seams when you turn it right side out. The straight line gives it a clean finish.)

Next we will make the base of our bag. Cut a 1 1/2" square from each bottom corner of your tote. I marked the line with a pencil and cut with my scissors so I could carefully get through all of those layers.

Starting with one corner pinch your bag so that you side seam and your bottom seam meet in the middle.

 Carefully pin together.

 Sew this gusset closed using the zig zag, then the straight stitch as we did previously. Repeat on other corner.

 Turn tote right side out. Look it's gorgeous!

Now onto the binding. Remember my strip is 2 1/2" x 16"
Cut a 45 degree angle triangle off of one end of your binding strip.

 Fold the end in 1/4"-1/2" and press. Press length of strip in half.

 Pin your binding strip to the outside of your tote. I like to machine stitch my bindings to the front/outside of a project, and then I stitch them down by hand on the back/inside. It looks cleaner to me. There are methods for machine stitching a binding down, but they NEVER work for me. Oh well.
I only pin at the beginning, because I like to be able to maneuver my strip when moving my project to line it up properly.

 Stitch down with desired width. Mine is about 3/8" Start sewing just past your pin, you do not want to start sewing at the beginning of your binding or even at your fold, because you will not be able to tuck in your binding tail.

 When you are nearing the end, tuck the binding tail into the beginning of your binding, and sew over the opening until you reach the beginning of your stitch.

 Ta-da!

 The final step is to turn your binding and stitch it down on the inside.

 You are done!

 Now you can try it out with different fabrics, you can even skip the piecing and do it with a solid piece of fabric. Below you can see a black and white version which was my prototype, and on the right, one I made for my brother and sister-in-law last Christmas using a pretty print.

Because I am a woman and it is my prerogative to change my mind:
You can sell your wine totes, but PLEASE give me credit by linking to the tutorial or my Etsy shop, I worked hard on this sucker.
Also please pin with proper credit (there is a handy pin it button at the top).
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Thanks to the hop sponsor Fat Quarter Shop