Canvas Grocery Totes
I found a wonderful tutorial by Jess of Oklaroots for a grocery tote. This grocery tote comes in three different styles based on difficulty. When I watched the tutorial I thought this would be a great Christmas presesnt idea for the family. Of course, this was before we were all staying home and not necessarily using our reusable grocery bags any longer. But I figured that, at some point, we’ll be back to normal so I went ahead and made them for Christmas. What I like the most about them is the use of canvas, the fact that they are reversable, and they use French seams. I hadn’t worked a lot with canvas and hadn’t done French seams before so it was also a good skills-building project for me. I love making things based on Jess’ videos because they are always fun and detailed. She makes everything look achievable and you feel like you’re making it along with a friend.
Another great thing about these totes is that they have cotton webbing handles. I thoroughly enjoyed matching the handle color with the fabrics. I also thought these would make great teacher bags, book bags, or even choir bags. I sing in an LGBT choir and thought I would make a few extras for future silent auction items!
I bought a variety of fun prints from Joanns (online - can’t wait until I’m vaccinated and go back to Joanns in person!). I bought duck canvas from Joanns as well. I found the cotton webbing on Amazon and ordered 5 yards of each (that works for 3 bags). I had fun matching family members’ personalities to the fabrics. Of course, I loved them so much that I made a few for myself as well. I especially liked the lemon print (given my company name).
The pattern has several different options. I left out the pockets and basically followed Jess’ tutorial and made mine the same way as hers. I have my Juki machine so the webbing handles and all the thick layers weren’t a problem. And since most of our Christmas presents were mailed this year (Zoom Christmas…sigh) I decided to use the totes as the wrapping and put the other presents inside. I found some cute holiday-themed wide ribbon to tie them all with.
The only problem I had was matching up the webbing handles. No matter how carefully I lined them up, once I sewed both the seams, they drifted apart so they didn’t match exactly. But the French seams were easier than I thought they would be - I just had to be careful to trim any fraying edges before enclosing the seam to make them as neat as possible. All in all, this is an easy sew that I will definitely be making again!
The Details:
Pattern: Easy, Easier, and Easiest Totes by Purl Soho
Tutorial: Jess Oklaroots
Fabrics
Exterior: Duck Canvas in assorted colors from Joann Fabrics
Interior: Quilting Cotton in assorted patterns from Joann Fabrics
Handles: 1 1/4” Cotton Webbing, I Craft for Less on Amazon
