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2 Little Hooligans

Organizing Tote Basket {tutorial}

Phew, it’s finally finished! This was one of those projects that I never thought I would finish. In all honesty, it is a fairly quick and simple project. Its just like making a basket or a bag, but with adding large pockets on the outside before sewing it all together. This little organizer can be used in so many ways. I just love it! The first one that I made was for my mother in law and she uses it to organize all of her note cards and stationary, see it here. But you can use it anywhere to store anything. Use the same basic design to make a bigger or smaller one. You could even make a round one! I’m hoping that I will be back on my sewing feet again soon because I have plans to make a ton of these! Sorry about the spacing of the pictures and wording. I had a hard time getting everything to line up properly. It still drives me nuts, but I finally had to give in and leave it to be. Hopefully this doesn’t make it harder to follow, just let me know.
Organizing Tote Basket Tutorial

(Allow 3-4 hours to complete)

Materials Needed:

* cotton fabric about 1 yard

*fat quarter of flannel fabric or light weight stabilizer

*1/2 yard of terrycloth, fleece or medium weight stabilizer

*70″ of bias tape or make some if you have enough fabric.

Cut the following from the cotton fabric: (Make sure you letter each piece of fabric as you cut them out. It will make assembling the organizer much easier.)
A: 6 pieces at 9 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ (sides and bottom of organizer)
B: 4 pieces at 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ (sides of organizer)
C: 2 pieces at 9 1/2″ x 10 1/2″ (side pockets)
D: 1 piece at 7 1/2″ x 10 1/2″ (side pocket with slots)
2 pieces at 17″ x 3″ (handles)
Cut the following from terrycloth, fleece or medium weight stabilizer:
A: 3 pieces at 9 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ (sides and bottom)
B: 2 pieces at 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ (sides)
Cut the following from the flannel or lightweight stabilizer:
1 piece at 7 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ (stabilizer for the pocket with slots)
2 pieces at 9 1/2″ x 5 1/4″(stabilizer for the longer pockets)
**Bias tape**
You will need about 70″ of bias tape. You can either buy some bias tape or make it yourself. I had plenty of fabric so I made my own bias tape.
For now you will be working with just the following pieces: the bias tape, the 3 pieces of flannel, 2C pieces & 1 D piece.

Fold one C piece in half, wrong sides together with the 9 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ piece of flannel folded in the middle. Iron flat.

Cut off a 9 1/2″ piece of bias tape.
Unfold the bias tape. Place the top edge of the bias tape onto the folded edge of the fabric.
Sew bias tape on. If you are using homemade bias tape, do not sew in the ditch, sew in a little bit. If you are using store bought bias tape line up the shorter side on the top edge and sew in the ditch.
Now fold bias tape up.
And over, then fold edge raw edge under. Sew bias tape as close to the edge as possible.

Here is what your first finished piece will look like.
Repeat with the other C piece and 9 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ piece of flannel. Once that is finished, repeat the same steps but with the D piece and the 7 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ piece of flannel. Your three finished pieces should look like this now. These are going to be the pocket pieces on your organizer. Take the D pocket piece that you just made and measure how wide you want your slots to be. You can make them as wide as you want, depending on what you will be using them for. I made my slots 1″ apart with one larger slot. Make sure when you are making your marks that you figure in for the 1/2″ sew seam on both sides of the pocket.
It’s hard to see, but I started by measuring in 1/2″ and then measured 1″ for my slots. I ended up with 6 slots and one of them was a little larger due to my measurements.
Take a marker and draw your lines down vertically. Gather a B piece of fabric and place the pocket piece on top of the B piece of fabric. Pin in place and sew down the vertical lines to make your slots.
Your pocket piece should look similar to this one now. OK, this is where the lettering of each piece of fabric comes in handy. Gather three pieces of A, one piece of B and the B pocket piece, along with all of the terry cloth or medium weight stabilizer. Lay out all of your pieces like so with the terrycloth or medium weight stabilizer underneath each of the pieces of fabric shown. Pin the 2 pocket pieces C (C pocket pieces are the ones that you just made above with the bias tape) in place on top of the two side A pieces like below. Make sure the bottom of the C pocket pieces are even with the bottoms of the A side pieces.

Now, working with the A pocket piece and the A bottom piece pin right sides together.
Make sure you start a 1/2″ in from the edge and end a 1/2″ in from the edge. This will make it easier for the sides of the organizer line up evenly when sewing them all together. Just trust me on this one.
Sew top edge.
See? Make sure you back stitch at the beginning and the end a few times as well.
Now attach the other A pocket piece to the other side of the A bottom piece.
Your pieces should look like this now. All the A pieces are connected and the B pieces on the sides.
If you need to straighten up the edges a little bit. You want to make sure everything is kept straight.
Pin the B piece onto the A bottom piece and sew in place.
And repeat with the other B pocket piece that has the slots.
All 4 sides should be sewn in place now. (Sorry guess I forgot to take a picture of all the sides attached.)
Now it is time to sew the sides all together to make a basket. Take any two sides that are beside one another and pin right sides together. Make sure you line them up very straight starting at the bottom edge of the organizer.
Sew edge. Make sure you start and end at the edge, do not start the 1/2″ in here. Also make sure you back stitch a few times near the bottom piece. You want it to be strong, since that is going to be the bottom of your organizer.
Repeat with remaining sides by pinning and sewing in place. It does not matter which order you sew them together in.

Now you have the outside of your organizer all finished. Turn right side out.

Now it is time to make the lining of the organizer. You are going to repeat the same steps that you just did in making the outside of the organizer, but this time you are only working with the cotton pieces of fabric and no stabilizer or batting.
Gather the remaining A & B pieces and lay them out like before.
Like before, sew the bottom piece A to a side piece A.

Remember to start and stop sewing 1/2″ from the edges.

Now sew together the last A piece to the other side of the A bottom piece.

Now sew the B side pieces on.
All four sides should be sewn onto the the middle (bottom) piece now.
Should look like this now.
Begin by lining up the sides and sewing in place, like you just did with the outside of the organizer. Remember you don’t need to sew them together in any particular order.
Now you have the inside of the organizer all finished.
Place the inside of the organizer into the outside of the organizer, wrong sides facing.
Gather the rest of your bias tape. Now you are going to sew the inside and the outside of the organizer together around the top by using the bias tape.
Start by folding one edge of the bias tape in and ironing it flat. You will be working with the folded edge of the bias tape first. Pin the bias tape in place all around the top edge of organizer.
Sew bias tape in place starting at the folded edge and ending at the folded edge. Allow the unfinished edge of the bias tape to overlapp the begining folded edge of the bias tape a little.

See how I covered up the folded edge of the bias tape a little bit?

Fold bias tape up, over and under.
Pin bias tape in place
And sew. Like before, sew as close to the edge as possible.

Now gather the 2 pieces of fabric that are 17″ x 3″. It is time to make the handles.
Fold right sides together and stitch all around leaving a 2″ space in the middle for turning right side out.
Turn right side out and iron flat. Top stitch all around handle.
Sew handles in place where desired.

Attach the handles on by sewing a box to make them stronger. You can see I sewed a little spot at the top of the organizer on the bias tape to keep the handles in place better.

If you want, take and sew the handle together into itself to make them smaller. Measure up about 2″ away from edge of bag, fold edges together and stitch.
And that is it! Your finished!

I love this little organizer! Not sure what I will be storing in it yet or if I will even keep it for myself. I just couldn’t help but throw my yarn and knitting goodies in there. The colors just looked too good not too!

**Please feel free to use this tutorial for your personal sewing projects. Feel free to use any pictures, I just ask that you link back and give credit where credit is due.**
If you have any questions or comments please contact me, I would be more than happy to help you out. And remember to add your photo’s to my flickr group if you make one, I would love to see it!
Happy Sewing!

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Comments

  1. OMG…. I <3 this. Now I need to find material I want to use. Lots of it. Because I'm going to screw this up at least once. (Oh ye of little faith, lol.) This is so fabulous. So, seriously fabulous. Thank you SO much for doing this for us Christina, and I hope that you are feeling better!!

  3. Thanks for your hard work, it is a wonderful tutorial, can't wait to get one of these started!

  4. Oh my goodness! This is a wonderful tote, and lucky for me your tutorial is so well explained. I'm going to give this ago, very adventurous for me but it's nice not to give it ago, thank you for sharing.

  6. Thank you so much for the tutorial! I need to make this bag for all my yarn and crochet items! Thanks!

    Jill of oursevendwarfs.com

  7. Thank you! You have given us all a wonderful gift with this tutorial. You did an amazing job and I plan to link to it at Thymely Stitches.

  9. YHANK YOU for this great tutorial!!! Gonna save this and make one soon… First have to find the right fabric!!!!

  11. I found this from craftgossip.com and I LOVE it! I can't wait to make one! Thanks!

  13. I really do love this!!! I need to try to make one — But I'm sure mine won't be as pretty as yours! 🙂

    Amanda

  17. I've been looking for a tutorial on a cute tote but many of them are plain. I LOVE this one! Thanks for sharing!

  19. Thanks for sharing your tutorial…I have linked to youon my freebies blog…hugs Khris

  21. This tutorial is amazing, it's so detailed! I've totally stolen it and (someday) I will definitely be making a bag using your tute. 😉 Thanks!

  22. Thanks for this beautiful tutorial, it's real beautiful bag 🙂
    You have a wonderful pincushion with hook, did you do it ? Is it a model we can buy somewhere ?
    Thansk for your answer.

  24. This is fabulous! What are the finished measurements of this bag? How wide/tall is it? I want to make it, but first need to know if the final product will be big enough. If not, would it be hard to make it bigger? (Is it obvious that I am a beginnger? LOL)

  25. Hi anonymous, the finished measurements are about 7 1/2" tall and the tote is 7 1/2" wide x 9 1/2" long. You can certainly make it bigger or smaller. Just make sure that you keep the bottom of the bag and two of the sides the same measurements. also make sure that all of the sides are the same height. Does that make sense? Just let me know if you have any other questions, I will be more glad to help you out.

  26. This is quite possibly the most detailed well explained sewing how-to I've ever seen! You make me (as a sewing novice) feel like I could really accomplish making a bag like this!

  27. Thank you for the great bag tutorial. I added your tutorial to our collection at the online sewing community at mysewingcircle.com (linking back to your site). You do great work!

  30. Oh WOW! What a great basket and an amazing tutorial. You explain things so well and so clearly! I can't wait to make this… I know just the fabric for my new knitting tote. =) I'll be linking as well.

  31. ok, I. LOVE. THIS. My friend just sent me your link and said I need to make this for HER birthday, I think I will be making them for everytone's birthday! Thanks so much for the easy to follow tutorial!

  32. oh, i love this! and it would be perfect to make for gifts for my mom and mother-in-law for mother's day! now i'll just have to see if i can carve out that much sewing time before then!

  33. I can't wait to make several of these for Christmas gifts – beautiful! Deanna Skinfizzical.com

  34. i so will be making this for my mom, her birthday and mothers day r the same, hope i finish it in time xD
    love your blog <3,
    erika

    la-bu-bu.blogspot.com

  35. Hey there 2 little hooligans! We think your crafty project is awesome, and we want to share it with other sewers and quilters by featuring a link on http://www.WeAllSew.com! We’ll be featuring your project at our "Free Stuff" page all next week. Please let me know if you have any questions about being featured at WeAllSew.com. Thanks so much-Erika

  37. That's so clever and a really clear tutorial – another project to do this holiday!

  38. Ohh, I can't wait to try several of your projects! Thanks for sharing this one and the casserole carrier–they are going to make great gifts!

  42. So cute! I want to make this while I'm on holiday, but I'm wondering – what size is the bias tape? I looked all through the tutorial and I hope I didn't just miss it. Thanks for your help!! – Megs

  43. megs, you will need about 70" of bias tape. you can make you own or i like to use the extra wide double fold bias tape that comes in a package of 3 yards. hope this helps clarify things for you.

  44. Thanks – that helps some. Although, I was thinking more of the width – I've seen bias tape makers in 3/4", 1", 1.5", and 2" wide. It sounds like I'd need the widest one? Thanks for the prompt response! ~Megs

  45. yes, i would go with a wider one. the layers are thick so if you used a bias tape that was too thin it would be harder to line up straight on the edges while sewing.

  47. Thank you for this! I think it's awesome and I think I'll make one as a baby doll diaper bag! How cute to put your baby doll diapers/wipes, and some store bought bottles in the different pockets, along with a sewn baby doll blanket. I just found your site and I'm so impressed with your creativity and sewing abilities. Thank you for sharing!! Julie

  48. how wide did you cut the fabric strips that you made into your own bias tape? I bought contrasting fabric for the edges, handles and lining 🙂

  49. i think i cut my bias strips about 4 or 5" wide. i like using a wider bias tape for the bags, but any size will be fine:)

  50. Thanx for shareing yur tutorial. I have now made my own basket, and I love it. you have made a very easy step-by-step tutorial, and the basket is just lovely!!!!Thanx.

  51. thanks for the tute, wondering how to make them

    i love the pincushion too .. soo silvery vintage ^^

  55. Hi, thanks for the tutorial. I worked on it for 2 days. I am a newbie in sewing. I decided to use my Kaufman Linen and Michael Miller fabrics. My daughter said it looked lovely. Thanks again for your clear instructions.

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  61. Thank you so much for posting this wonderful tutorial! It was so easy to follow and such a cute idea 🙂 I turned it into an Art Tote for a 6 years old’s birthday present!

  62. Just finished this tote. I changed the dimensions a little to make it a little bigger. Directions were absolutely easy to read and follow. Tote turned out so cute I am cutting 4 more out for Christmas gifts for my Nurse friends. Thanks so much for sharing.

  64. Hi, this really looks fun, I will try it soon, thank you for sharing your beautiful ideas.. More fabric flower ideas you can check my blog amalzahrah.blogspot.com

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  115. Thank you for sharing this tutorial. It was very clear and easy to follow. I just finished my organizer and I love how it turned out. I am a teacher and I wanted to make it to carry all the supplies I need for when I am working with a small group so I don’t have to run around. Now it is filled with sticky notes, pens, scissors etc so I have a portable desk. Thanks again!

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  132. Hi there this tutorial was awesome!!! I have made my own bag now. Just finished it at 1:35am!!!! Haha it took me all evening! I am a beginner sewer, though. I was wondering, is there an easy way to sew round the inside of the top of the bag? The machine just seemed to get in the way when I was trying to sew the bias tape around the top from the inside. Any tips?

    And THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS WONDERFUL BAG!!!

  133. Uau….. Hermoso en verdad y muy practico!!!! me encantó!!! Realizaré varios, son geniales para organizar….. Felicitaciones Cristina, tienes unas manos maravillosas….. Saludos!!!!!

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Trackbacks

  1. […] This tote has been on my sewing queue for an awfully long time.  To tell the truth, I was a little intimidated.  I needn’t have been.  The tutorial is clearly illustrated and very detailed.  This also came together wonderfully.  If I were to make it again, I might make the bag slightly narrower and I’d use heavy-weight interfacing for the main bag construction.  Other than the slight floppiness, I love this little tote and it’s great for knitting supplies. […]