Easy Reversible Tote

A couple of days ago I showed the reversible tote from the Stitchin Heaven monthly tote program. I promised to show you a couple of the short-cuts I took in the construction that made this tote a snap to complete. Here's a picture of my new tiny reversible tote:

For my mini tote I used two fat quarters from my stash. To start, cut two of each side of the tote. In this case I cut two 91/2" squares of the wavy stuff and two 91/2" squares of the brick pattern. In addition I cut one 2" x 22" strip of each fabric. Put the fabric squares right sides together and stack as shown:
Sew through all four fabrics to form the bottom of the tote. Then separate the fabrics and sew the side seams, pressng the bottom seam open.
To bag the bottom of the tote, form a triangle at each bottom corner and sew across the triangles:
After the triangles are sewn:

Unfold one side and form around the other side of the tote, wrong sides together.Fold in the top edges into the wrong sides of each fabric about 1/2" or more and pin for security.

Create handles in your favorite manner. In this case I formed one long tube by sewing along the long edges, right sides together. I then turned the tube right side out and cut the tude into two lengths. The ends of each handle are inserted into the top of the bag and pinned:
Sew around the top of the tote two or three times to secure the handles and join the two sides of the bag.
And Voila... a simple reversible tote.

I learned a couple of things during this project which you may already understand. When going for reversibility you need to be sure that both sides of the tote are of similar fabric weight and color/pattern/hue. Without extra interfacing or batting, very different colors/patterns of fabric can result in show through and the handles can really look awful. Canvas is great for larger totes but larger seam allowances should be used rather than the little quarter-inch many of us are used to using. By sewing the bottoms together at the beginning you don't have to keep rearranging the lining side every time you reverse your tote.

I hope your weekend went well. Alex and the girls came back, after a week at son's, on Saturday and I have spent a lot of quality nap time with them over the past two days. Not just napping but a lot of quiet time finishing two different mystery novels as well as napping. In between, I have spent a lot of time going through bags of donations for the knitting club, arts and crafts club and for the Quilt Guild Fish Pond. I will be gald to get my house back when the quilt show and school year are over!

Have a good week!

My thanks to Megan Amy for designing the original tote in the traditional manner which forced me to find a faster, easier way to make the tote in the thirty monutes I had available to make the project.