I made some totes for my Shop the Swap shop using second hand tea towels The first two ta towels are 100% cotton and I lined them with some fabric cut from a second hand bed sheet, they feel so cozy and were fun to work with! I don’t know what kind of fabric the third one is but I had two matching towels so I could make it double sided without having to compromise the image much.
I love your tote bags! I always love to see repurposed projects.
I’m curious though about the bottom of the bag. I understand that the change in fabric is to make the bag more visibly appealing (or at least that’s how I see it), but would the seam joining the main fabric and the bottom piece weaken the bag itself? I really like the look and I’m trying to wrap my head around this process.
They are each so pretty. Great fabrics & handy size too. @Bajita I think unless you were carrying something really heavy, the size of these bags won’t put enough stress on the seams to tear them. Plus, the lining adds strength too.
For a larger bag, you could top stitch the seam allowance down to add another row of stitches & increase strength there.
AIMR
(Linda -2024 Choose Projects that You Want to Do :us:)
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If you have enough fabric, you don’t even need a seam at the bottom. Fold it up and box it as if there were a seam. You can attach the lining around the top or leave a gap in the side. Nothing says you need to use the bottom seam as the turn around point.
@Reinikka — I love using old tea towels for totes. There are so many nice prints and the fabric is sturdy and very washable! Love these!
@Bajita Thanks for asking I’ve never had a problem with the seams between the bottom and top of the bags I’ve made in the past. Like @Magpie says, the lining adds strength. I use my serger/overlock on the seams and re-enforce with an extra row of stitches if I’m concerned about a seam popping (I believe I did that with the second bag). They aren’t as durable as a canvas tote would be, but for light shopping and carrying they work great. I have another set that I use for farmers market, mall shopping, thrift shopping, etc and I love how I can fold/roll them and stuff them into other bags so they don’t get in my way if I don’t need them.
@AIMR I like to use a solid piece of fabric for the lining when I can and the turning point for all of these is the corner of the lining. For the one I had to use two lining pieces I re-enforced the seams before turning.