Quilted Garden Tote

a tutorial from

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Since quilting is my focus in sewing, I’malways looking for new ways toincorporate it into other sewing. Thissimple tote was a great way to quilt anduse up some of those batting scraps!

I recommend using a home decoratorweight fabric for both the outer shelland the lining as it gives the bag morestructure. Quilting cottons are fine forthe patchwork & pockets.

Outer shell:• Main fabric: Two 3.5” x 17.5” pieces Two 9” x 17.5” pieces• Patchwork fabric: Ten 4” x 4” pieces of avariety of fabrics• Batting: Two 17” x 19.5” pieces (notpictured)

Cut List

Pockets:• Four 4.5” x 5” pieces for small pockets• Two 11” x 5” pieces for large pocket• Two 4.5x 5” pieces of batting• One 11” x 5” piece of batting

Handles:• Two 15” x 2.5” pieces outer shell fabric• Two 15 x 2.5” pieces of lining fabric• Two 15 x 2.5” pieces of batting

Lining:• Two 15” x 17.5” pieces of lining fabric(not pictured)

First, sew togetherfive of the 4” x 4”pieces of thepatchwork fabric.Repeat this step sothat you have twostrips of patchwork.Press your seams.

Next, sew the 3.5” x17.5” outer fabric tothe top of yourpatchwork strip andthe 9” x 17.5” pieceof outer fabric to thebottom of yourpatchwork strip.Repeat so that youhave two sides for theouter shell of yourtote.

Unless otherwiseindicated, sew thewhole tote with a1/4” seam allowance.

Carefully center and laythe outer shell on yourbatting. Pin thoroughly.

I don’t bother adding aback to this “quiltsandwich” because thetote will be lined. Thequilting is decorativeonly.

Quilt both sides of theouter shell of your toteas desired.

This is a small scaleproject, so it’s perfectfor trying out somenew quilting thatyou’ve never donebefore!

Trim the outer edgesof your quilted piecesdown to 15” x 17.5”square. This should beright along the edge ofthe fabric.

Now, let’s makeand attach thepockets.

Stack the twopieces of fabric,right sidestogether, and thebatting belowthem, as picturedin the photo.

Sew all around theedges of thepocket, leaving asmall 2” openingalong the bottom.

Trim all corners.

Using the smallopening, turn rightside out and press.Be certain to foldin the seamallowance on theopening when youpress.

Repeat until youhave finishedmaking all threepockets.

Pin pockets in place.Center the large pocketon one of youcompleted pieces of theouter shell.

Be sure that the pocketis placed so that theopening used to turn itright side out is on thebottom.

When pinning the twosmaller pockets to theshell, be sure to set themabout 4” from the sideedges.

Sew the pockets inplace, sewingclosed the openingalong the bottomas you go.

Back stitch a fewtimes, at the startand finish tosecure the pocketwell.

You have nowfinished your twopieces of the outershell of the tote!

Next pin them, withright sides together.

Using a strong needlein your machine (toeasily sew through allof the layers), sew allthe way around thesides and bottom ofthe shell.

Next we are going tobox the bottom ofthe shell.

Measure three inchesin from the corner,both up the side andalong the bottom, andmake a mark.

Bring the two markstogether, until theside and bottom ofmeet, making atriangle.

Pin together andusing a ruler draw astraight line along thevisible 3” mark.

Ok – let’s set asidethe shell and moveonto the lining!

With right sidestogether, sew alongthe sides andbottom edges ofyour lining fabric,leaving a 6”openingin the bottom.

Sew along the drawnline and trim awaythe corner leaving asmall 1/2” seamallowance.

Repeat for secondcorner.

Turn right side outand press so that the“boxiness” of yourshell takes shape.

Repeat all of the steps youtook when boxing the outershell to box the bottom ofthe lining.

Measure in three inches,bring marks together andpin.

Sew along the 3” line,

and trim your corners.

You have finishedyour shell and lining!

We’re getting there –almost done!

Time to make thehandles.

Layer the handle piecesin this order: batting,lining fabric, outer shellfabric, as is shown in thephoto.

Sew along the long sidesof the handles.

Turn the handles rightside out and press themflat.

To add some interestto your handles, topstitch along the lengthof them in straightlines.

I like to start in onedirection, flip, and sewthe other way. I workmy way into the center,alternating sides.

Your handles are allfinished.

Time to put the wholething together!

Place the outer shell inside thelining, right sides together. Makesure your side seams are lined upand pin together.

In between the shell and lining,place and pin the handles about1.5” from the side seam.

The handle’s lining fabric sideshould be against the lining of thetote, and shell fabric side againstthe outer shell of the tote. Pinboth ends of the handles in placeso that they are between thelayers, making sure they are notoddly twisted.

Pin thoroughly around the top ofthe tote.

Using a 1/2” seam allowancesew all the way around the topof your tote.

Backstitch generously over thehandles as you go over themso that they are very secure.

You’ll be sewing through lotsof layers, but with a strongneedle in your machine youshould have no problems.

Pull the entire shell ofthe tote through the holein the bottom of thelining and watch themagic happen!

Press the seam allowanceof the hole in the lining,and sew right over it toclose up the hole.

Push the lining into yourtote and press press pressyour tote! Then press itsome more. I find youcan never do too muchpressing to get it into itsnice boxy shape.

Finally, top stitch aroundthe top edge of the tote togive it one last finishingtouch.

And there you have it! A pretty quilted gardentote! Many easy variations are possible – nopatchwork, no quilting, using interfacing insteadof batting (if you skip the quilting) and so on. Ihope that you all enjoy the tutorial and I can’twait to see you’re the totes that you make!