Friday, July 31, 2015

ModeS Fabric Review ~ Reversable Tote/Crossbody Bag Tutorial


Are you familiar with ModeS? They are an online shop selling cute stationery, fabrics, bags, accessories and more. If you are a big fan of Kawaii products from Japan, you will love to visit their website.

I was contacted by them to review their fabrics and I was more than happy to jump in and enjoy this opportunity. The fabrics I chose are grey Daisy Chain flower Canvas fabric Framework and coral red corners angle geo Canvas fabric Framework by Kokka. One day, I had a happy mail day...

The nice blend of 85% Cotton/ 15% Linen is perfect for what I had in mind to make.

I wanted to design a bag for one of my sisters who rides a bike everywhere. I thought she would love a bag she could use as a cross body while she rides her bike, use it as a tote if she needs to get a small amount of groceries, or for going to the library to borrow a few books. Psst... and get this, to add more versatility I designed this bag to be reversible, so she can enjoy both sides!

{You will need}


Fabric A and B --- 3/4 yard each(44"/45" wide)
Heavy weight fusible interfacing --- for the handles and the strap
Fusible fleece (I like Pellon 987f) --- for the body
Matching thread
1 1/4" D-rings --- 4
Swivel hooks --- 2

{How to}

1. Cut fabrics according to the picture. From fabric A you need to cut 2 body pieces, 2 handles, 1 trim fabric, 2 tabs, 1 pocket, 1 strap. Then from fabric B you need to cut the same parts as you did with fabric A. To make this reversible design work, you will need to switch a few parts between fabric A and B as you make progress in sewing this bag.

2. Fold the trim piece in half horizontally, press with iron. Open it up, bring both seams to the folded line in the middle as you press with an iron. Sew them on to the top seam of the pocket. Make sure to mix and match the two fabrics.

3. Fold the 2" side of the seams of the tab by 3/8" press with iron and fold it in half. Sew.

4. Cut 2 strips of 1" x 16" from fusible interfacing. Read the manufacture's instruction and Fuse them onto the middle of the wrong side of the handle of fabric.

5. Mix and match the handle of fabrics A and B. Put them right sides together and sew along the side of the edge of the interfacing. Leave both ends open for turning the fabric inside out.

6. Cut the excess to make the seam smaller. This makes it easier to turn the handle inside out.

7. Press the handle with an iron. Top stitch both sides 1/8" from the edge.

8. Cut the Cut strips of 1" x width of the strap from fusible interfacing. Repeat steps 3 to 6 and make the strap. Sew both ends with swivel hooks and set the finished strap aside.

9. Cut 16" x 17" rectangle from the fusible fleece. Fuse them onto the wrong sides of body pieces from one of each fabric A and B. You might ask why not the same fabric set... because this bag will be reversible and each (A side and B side) will have its own pocket. To sew the pocket, I wanted a stronger body to stabilize the pocket better. That is why we need to fuse the fleece to one of each fabric.

10. Pin the pocket onto the fused body pieces. Measure 6" from both sides of the pocket, draw lines and sew on top of the line to separate the pocket. With large stitches sew the pocket to the body to keep them together better. Sew very close to the edge. Now you have a body piece with a pocket.

11. Take the same fabric but without the pocket and put them together with right sides of the fabric and pin the sides and the bottom. Fold the tabs you made during step 2, fold in half with a D-ring. Remember, if you are working on fabric A, you want to use tabs made out of fabric B so you can create a contrasting design. Measure 5" from the top edge of the body and slide in the tabs just blow the 5" lines so you can sew them in on the side of the bag. Sew with 1/2" seam.

12. To make the boxed bottom. Pinch the bottom and side seam together. Make sure the seams line up perfectly. Pin and measure 3" (1 1/2" from each side of the center line) and draw a line and sew. Cut off the excess. Do the same to the other side. You can also find how to on my She Carries Flowers tutorial

13. When you turn the body inside out, it will look like the picture below. Work on the other set of the body pieces as well.

14. Put both body pieces right sides together. Make sure that side seams line up perfectly and pin. Measure 4 1/2" from both sides and slide in the handles between the right side of the fabrics A and B. Make sure that the handle fabric will contrast the body fabric. Mixing and Matching is happening here as well. Leaving the opening, sew all the way around.

15. Turn the body inside out. Press the seam with an iron. Top stitch the edge of the opening of the bag.

16. Hook the strap you made on step 7 to the side of the bag you want to use. Now the bag is ready to be used!

Side A or...

Side B, which one do you like the best?

When you are using one side of the fabric, you still get pockets inside of the bag as well. Total of 6 pockets!

Before I send this bag (or "these" bags?? because you can use it in so many ways!), I needed to test it.

You can fold the top when you don't have much to carry

I like this side too

Do you want to head over to ModeS to see their large selection of fabrics and see what kind of fabric combinations you can come up with? Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial! :)



28 comments :

  1. Such a nice tutorial. Pretty bag, and you look splendid modeling it. :)

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  2. Muchas gracias Sachiko. Se entiende muy bien tus explicaciones. Me gusto y bellas las telas.
    Saludos,

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  3. Such a nice bag, thank you for sharing how to make it. Definitely will try to make one :)

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  4. I like Side B, Sachiko. Thanks so much for your detailed tutorial...so much work involved in doing that. You are a gem!

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  5. Love this! Thank you for sharing such a versatile project

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  6. Wonderful tutorial for a great bag idea.

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  7. What length do you cut the handle piece and the trim piece? I see the width listed.

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    1. The handle is 1 3/4" x 16", sorry I missed that. The trim is 2" x 17"; same as the top edge of the pocket. :)

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  8. I don't understand #10 "measure 6" from both sides of the pocket, and draw lines and sew on top of the line to separate the pocket" (one pocket or 3 pockets). Also I am not sure where you add the D-rings from the instructions( measure 5' from the body and slide in the tabs just below the 5" lines"(step 11)

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  9. #10 means, when you measure 6" from both sides of the pockets, and draw lines and sew on top of the those lines, you will have three separate pockets when you are done.
    #11 Measure 5" from top edge of the body of the bag on the side, and pin the folded tab with D-ring just below the 5" line.
    I hope this helps. Let me know if you still have trouble. :)

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  10. Love this bag! SO easy and SO cute!

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  11. I found this bag a couple of nights ago and LOVE it. Just bought the fabric to make it tonight. :-

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  12. Love this bag. Thank you for the pattern! Here is my version http://sewingwithmilena.blogspot.ca/2016/02/totecrossbody-bag.html

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  13. Me gustó mucho. Muchas gracias. Buscaré telas para este bolso.
    Yasmin

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  14. OMGosh, love the fierce photo shoot. Clicked over to your post from a blog I read, Simply Summer Street. She made your crossbody. And how sweet you made this for your sis.

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  15. Thank you for sharing, this is such a nice bag, almost done, but can't figure out point 14., I don't understand what to sew with what and how... please help ^_^ thanks!! Grace

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  16. I am guessing that you got a little confused the transition from step 13 to step 14? You just need to put the outer and the inner bags on step 13 put together right sides together. And in between those two layers you need to sandwich the handles as well and sew around the top edge leaving a few inches of opening for turning the fabric inside out. Good luck! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your help! Silly me, I was trying to pin both right sides out together "like" on picture 13, of course impossible! :P Such a pretty and practical bag, thank you thank you thank you!! :D

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  17. Thanks for the tutorial i just made mine today. So cute

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  18. Love what you're doing here guys, keep it up!..
    Circle Bag

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  19. it was a wonderful chance to visit this kind of site and I am happy to know. thank you so much for giving us a chance to have this opportunity..
    Circle Crossbody Bag

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  20. What a fantabulous post this has been. Never seen this kind of useful post. I am grateful to you and expect more number of posts like these. Thank you very much.
    Circle Crossbody Bag

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  21. Very cute. I need to try this. I'm wanting to use vinyl on the outside pockets so I can use it for business items like brochures, business cards, etc. Love the grey on the outside w the coral trim. Very pretty

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  22. Your way of explanation of tote bags making is great. Cotbags is also leading suppliers of best quality cotton tote bags. cotton bags manufacturer in india

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  23. Nice post and amazing bags. I love the way of your explanation. you cover each and every steps with its images that's the most amazing thing i like the most.
    Take a look at these bag totes.

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  24. I have made several of these bags for my daughters and I. Think I'll make another one for me! Great pattern!

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  25. Thanks so much for the awesome tutorial! I’ve made one and it was just what I wanted/needed!

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