tote bag

Tote Weave Along, Lesson 10 (Final)

Thank you for joining me in this series, it’s been terrific to have you following along, and hopefully by the end of this lesson you will have a beautiful, functional bag to use or gift.

If you missed the last lesson, you can check it out here.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click and purchase, I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Last time we pinned the bag and lining together. Now we need to take the bag to the sewing machine.

At your sewing machine, sew right around the top of the bag with a straight stitch, removing pins as you go. I usually aim for a 1/4 to 1/2″ seam. This will sandwich together the lining, outer bag and handles together.

Trim the ends of the handles if needed. If your seam allowance is rough or wide, you can trim that too, for a neater finish. If you do trim, make sure to secure the raw edge with zig zag on your sewing machine or using your serger.

Give the bag a good press with a hot iron, paying particular attention to the top seams you just sewed.

You will recall that when sewing the lining pieces together, we left a gap along the bottom seam. This is where that little feature comes in as highly important!

Placing your hand inside the gap, begin to slowly and gently work the outer bag through the lining hole. As you do this, the lining will naturally start to turn inside out – this is what we want!

When the lining is fully turned out, give the seams where the lining and outer bag meet a good press, helping to flatten down the layers of seam and giving a much neater finish.

Next we need to stitch the gap in the lining closed, otherwise you will have a hole in the inside bottom of your bag! You can either hand stitch or machine stitch, just make sure that all raw edges are turned inwards.

Grab the end of the lining and push and tuck it to the inside of the bag. Take a bit of extra time to arrange the lining so that it sits flat inside and is sitting in the same shape as the outer bag with no bunchy bits. Pay particular attention to the corners, and poke the lining into them with your fingers.

Once you’re satisfied with the positioning of the lining, press the whole bag once again, slipping the iron inside the bag to flatten the lining. It can be helpful to slip the open end of the bag over the end of the ironing board to ensure the lining is sitting properly at the top.

The final step is optional. You can top sew around the very top edge of the bag, using a matching thread. This will help to secure the lining in place and stop it from moving back out of the bag. It also looks nice. But, you decide.

So, that’s it!

How did your bag turn out? Please let me know if you have made one, and of course, I always love to see photos.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 9

by Kelly 1 Comment

If you missed lesson 8, you can find it here.

We’re really making progress now, sewing up the bag and getting close to finishing!

The lines that we pinned across the two bottom corners can now be sewn.

Sew straight across the corner, removing pins as you go and remembering to backstitch at each end for strong stitching. Repeat on the opposite corner.

Cut off the excess fabric on the corner and either zigzag or serge the raw edge.

Now do the same with your prepared lining.

Take the bag and turn it the right way out, taking care to push out the corners with your fingers as you go.

At the top of the bag, measure in approximately 3.5″ from one side and mark with a pin. Do the same from the other side.

Place your bag handles with the raw edges meeting up with the top edge of the bag and lining up with the pins. Ensure your handles are not twisted. Pin the handles in place. Do the same on the other side of the bag for the opposite strap. Take the bag to the sewing machine and straight stitch across the top of all the straps, remembering to backstitch and remove pins as you go. This makes your handles stronger and keeps them in place while you move onto the next part of the bag.

Put the main bag inside the lining. The lining should still be turned inside out – that way, the bag and the lining will have right sides facing when you put them together. Line up the side seams and make sure that the handles are tucked in, out of the way. Pin all around the top of the bag, keeping those side seams matched as much as possible.

You can view this entire lesson for free right here:

The next post will be the last lesson where we finish off sewing the bag.

I hope to see you then, and as always, leave me a comment if you have any questions!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 7

by Kelly 2 Comments

Now we’re ready to sew the bag together! If you missed the last post on taking your fabric off the loom and wet finishing, you can take a look at it here.

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning if you click on the link I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Lay the fabric out on the ironing board with the WRONG side facing up. You will notice that your fusible interfacing has a shiny side and dull side. It’s the shiny side that will fuse to the fabric, so you want to place the shiny side down so that it meets with the wrong side of your fabric. This is worth doing properly. If you place the shiny side up instead, you may find yourself in the market for a new iron!

It is best to place a presser cloth over the fabric and fusible interfacing before you begin to iron. I just use an old sheet for protection. Set your iron to “cotton” steam setting a press evenly over the fabric. You can peel back the sheet here and there to check whether you have a good bond happening. Bear in mind that the bonding is not complete until the fabric has cooled.

Your piece should look like this when ready. The interfacing is completely bonded to one side of your fabric.

Fold the fabric over on itself so that the sides are all touching. Line up the pieces to fit as best you can.

Press the fold at the bottom of the bag to make a crease. This will become your cutting mark. If you’re a bit worried about cutting your fabric, don’t be! The fusible interfacing keeps it all very secure.

Cut right through the fabric, using the crease mark you just made.

Now you have two separate pieces, or bag panels.

At this point you will also want to cut your lining fabric in half after ironing a crease in it as you did before. There are so many choices you could make for lining fabric but if you’re really not sure, broadcloth is a good option.

If you’re not sure where to find all the measurements, they are in the Essential Info PDF in this post.

The next task is to fuse your interfacing to the bag handles, using the same method that was used for the main bag panels.

Fold the bag straps in half lengthwise and press. Open out and then fold in each long raw edge by about 1/4 inch and press. Fold the whole piece to the middle and press again. The raw edges will now be encased.

At the overlocker (serger) I run over all the raw edges. You can use a zig zag stitch on a sewing machine if you don’t have a serger.

This is what we have now. 2 X serged bag panels, 2 X lining panels and 2 X prepared bag handles.

Place a bag panel on top of the other, with RIGHT sides facing. Pin around all the edges except at the top, where you need to keep and opening. Do the same with the two lining panels, keeping the top open and leaving about a 6 inch gap at the middle of the bottom for turning later.

You can also pin the bag handle pieces together just so that they are held in place when you begin to sew them together.

Now all of our pieces are pinned and prepared for sewing. Stay tuned for the next post where we will sew the bag together!

You can watch the videos for this post:

And if you feel you need to learn more about cutting your hand woven fabric, I have a post for that here as well as videos:

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote bag Weave Along, Lesson 6

by Kelly 1 Comment

Now for the really exciting part! Once you’ve finished your required amount of weaving (check the Essential Project Information free download here) you can cut your weaving from the loom. Yay!

If you missed the last post about weaving and advancing the warp, you can find that here.

Release the warp tension at the back of the loom a little. If you want a fringe or are worried about your weaving unravelling at all, you can cut behind the reed which leaves plenty of fringe space.

Then, back to the front of the loom to release the brake, allowing you to easily unroll your weaving from the front beam.

You can either cut or undo the knots from the apron rod. I usually prefer to undo the knots (especially important if you want a fringe). Also, if you wove in a header with waste yarn at the beginning, now is the time to take that out.

Before wet finishing, it is essential to secure the raw edges of your weaving. A serger will make this job super easy, or a sewing machine set on zig zag stitch is also good.

You can find basic wet finishing instructions at the end of this video:

Or more detailed instructions in this blog post or video:

At the end of wet finishing and drying, you have some beautiful woven fabric ready to use and sew with. That’s what we’ll be talking about next time, I hope you can join me for that!

Until then…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 5

by Kelly Leave a Comment

In today’s post we carry on with the weaving of the tote bag panels and also talk about advancing the warp.

An important aspect of good weaving is advancing your warp. Of course, you can’t actually continue weaving unless you do so, as your weaving will fill right up to the heddle/reed and you won’t be able to weave any further.

Advancing the warp exposes more of the empty warp threads so that you can keep weaving. It basically involves releasing tension at the back of the loom, rolling the warp forward at the front of the loom, regaining your tension and then continuing to weave.

There is always a “sweet spot” for your weaving, the position is where the tension feels right and the beating is easy. If you wind forward too far, when you beat, the reed will touch the cloth beam at the front and the beat will be uneven. It’s also uncomfortable for your body to have to bring the reed so far forward, it puts strain on your wrists and shoulders.

Advancing often, and the right amount also helps you to keep weaving at the same tension.

My “sweet spot” for weaving. Not too close to the front cloth beam, not too close to the reed.

The best tip that I have for advancing the warp is “little and often”.

This video may help you to become more familiar with your loom’s tension system and gain a little confidence for advancing your warp.

I hope this post has been a help to you! Please leave me a comment and let me know, or ask any questions you may have.

The next post will cover removing your weaving from the loom and preparing for wet finishing.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 4

by Kelly 1 Comment

Now you can really get excited about your tote bag project – it’s time to get weaving! If you missed the last post on threading, you can go here to read it.

Just one more teensy thing before you start to weave – the header. The header helps to spread the warp so that you don’t have big gaps at the very start of your weaving. As with most things in weaving, there is more than one way to put in a header.

*This post contains affiliate links.

My preference is (I think) the easiest. I use 2 cardboard separators (or warping sticks as they are also called). With the heddle/reed in the up shed I insert one stick, then change to the down shed to insert the second stick. Then beat to push them into place. You may want to weave an additional header with spare yarn if you feel your warp is too gappy (I demonstrate this in the video at 1:10) Pop the heddle into the up position again and you’re ready to weave!

Don’t forget to wind your stick shuttle.

It doesn’t matter which side you enter into the shed with the shuttle, but it is useful to develop a habit when working plain weave to always enter from the same side to avoid any confusion as to which shed you should be in and to easily develop a weaving rhythm.

I give yarn recommendations in this post, but a variegated yarn is particularly effective and makes the plain weave look more fancy than it is. I dyed my own yarn for this project. You can also get a bit fancy by using a novelty yarn as a feature. I used an eyelash yarn as an occasional stripe to accent this bag.

If you are a newer weaver, you may be worried about obtaining neat edges. This is very much a matter of practice makes perfect, but this video shows you my pinching technique that has helped many newbies improve their edges.

You also want to try to keep your beat consistent and even. One way to see if you’re beating evenly is to stand up and look at your weaving from time to time. You will see quite clearly whether you are beating straight or at an angle.

Don’t forget to measure your weaving as you go. I do this in a simple manner by using a tape measure and marking my last measured place with a plastic or glass head coloured pin. I always write down the measurements as I go so that I don’t have to try to remember!

You will be advancing your warp every so often, and this video will show you how to do that.

Remember to refer back to your essential information project sheet, available as a free download for all the measurements you need to follow.

In the next lesson we will be talking more about continuing to weave and advancing the warp. Be sure to leave me a comment if you need to ask questions or are unsure of anything.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along – Warping, Lesson 2

by Kelly 4 Comments

In today’s Tote Bag Weave Along post, we will cover warping. The last post containing details about materials can be found here.

You can download the PDF with essential project information below.

tote-bag-weave-along-essential-info Download

Prior to warping for any project I find it very useful to mark out the width of the project with some waste yarn to avoid having to count and re-count slots, which can be a bit tedious! I just thread the waste yarn through the slot and tie it at the bottom of the reed. Easy peasy.

*This post contains some affiliate links, meaning that if you click and purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

You can begin warping on the left or the right side of the loom, it doesn’t matter, but my habit is to start on the right. Tie your first length of yarn onto the apron rod, take it through the first slot and around your warping peg, back through the slot and then around the apron rod again. Alternate so that your thread goes over then under the apron rod each time.

By the time you are finished warping, you should have 2 threads in each slot. Place your yarn gently on the peg – we are not aiming for tight tension at this point, just consistent.

When you are finished warping the required number of ends, cut your yarn and tie off on the apron rod.

Now you’re ready to place a choke tie around the warp near the peg to keep it all together as you wind the warp onto the back beam. A piece of waste yarn in a bow is perfect for this.

The step by step video instructions for this lesson are available for free.

If you need the basic equipment to get started on this project, here are my suggestions:

I have a 24″ Ashford Rigid heddle loom (most looms will come with a 7.5 or 8 dent reed, a threading and reed hook, one stick shuttle and a direct warping peg.

Ashford also have a 16″ rigid heddle loom that is appropriate for this project.

A sewing machine is really invaluable for making bags or any other sewing you want to do with your handwoven fabric. You do not need to spend a fortune on a fancy schmancy machine with all the bells and whistles, just a basic straight and zigzag stitch machine. I have a basic Janome and am very happy with it.

I’m not going to tell anyone that a serger is a must have for sewing hand woven, but the truth is, if you do a fair bit of sewing it will make your life a whole lot easier. I have an old Toyota serger that I bought cheap many years ago as it was an ex demo model. Sergers have actually come down in price since I bought mine, so a new one would set me back the same as what I bought my old one for. I do recommend checking out Janome sergers if you’re in the market for one though.

Yarn suggestions area covered in the last post.

If you have any questions at this stage, please leave them in the comments below.

Next time we will learn how to wind the warp onto the back beam, then thread and tie on in readiness for plain weave.

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along Lesson 1

by Kelly 13 Comments

It is almost 3 years since I first posted my Tote Bag Weave Along series on Youtube. It has been my most popular series ever, and I’ve been thrilled to see so many bags woven by others!

I’ve wanted to add extra functionality to the series for those who desire it, and that is what I’ll be doing here over the next couple of posts. I will be giving yarn details and help, printable PDF’s, as well as some step by steps for some sections of making the bag.

I’m beginning with the materials list that you can now download and print out.

totebagweavealongmaterialslist Download

OK, lets get into some extra details and questions you may have from the list.

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning if you click and purchase on the link’s given, I receive small commission at no extra cost to you 😉

Do I need to have a 24″ or 60cm rigid heddle loom?

Not necessarily! Although weaving the bag in one piece is the easiest option, it’s not the only way. If, for example, you had a Sampleit loom, you could weave 2 panels, 10″ wide and sew them together for each bag panel you need. (So that would be 4 panels you would weave for one bag). You could even make a design feature of your panels by weaving the wefts in different colours so that each side of your bag would contrast. Where there’s a will there’s a way!

Do I need to sew the handles myself?

Nope. You have other options for the handles too. If you have an inkle loom, you could weave them yourself, in either matching or contrasting colours. You can also purchase ready made handles and these come in a huge variety nowadays. You can choose from metal, acrylic, wood, rattan, and faux leather, to name a few!

I can’t get Australian 8 ply merino – what are my other choices?

There are many yarns you can substitute with and you don’t have to use wool. Cotton, acrylic, bamboo and others can be used too. One world of caution though. When you iron on your interfacing, your chosen yarn needs to be able to take the heat without being scorched. Cotton or superwash wool are good choices.

Here are some suggestions for you:

Lily Sugar n Cream is a range of cottons that come in the most gorgeous colours and varieties. Their variegated cottons are wonderful and they even have curated colour packs! Cascade Ultra Pima is another possibility.

For wool, you have Cascade Superwash, Patons Classic, Carlton Merino and so many more. Yarnsub.com is an excellent resource for checking and comparing yarns.

Do I have to line my bag?

No, but it does give a really nice, more professional looking finish.

Do I need to use a sewing machine?

Technically, you could hand stitch this whole project, but that is not something I would do! If you decide to, make sure your stitches are small and strong, a bag needs to be hard wearing. Whether sewing on a machine or by hand you should always use a good quality thread like my favourite, Gutermann. Cheap thread is cheap for a reason!

Next time we will go through some of the steps for the project. If I have missed anything or if you have questions about the materials, please let me know in the comments. Also, please let me know if offering the series in this format is helpful to you.

In the meantime, if you want to take a look over the Tote Bag Weave Along video series, you can start with the introduction video below.

If you have any questions about the project or anything from this post, please let me know in the comments!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!