Sunday 11 March 2012

Mothering Sunday Make - The Garden Tidy Tote Tutorial

I know that this may be freaking out my readers in the Americas but here in the UK, Mothering Sunday is next week, the third Sunday in Lent so I thought it might be nice to make something that does not confine your mum to the kitchen.  My mother had very green thumbs and loved to be out in the garden and when I moved to my house it was my mum who cleared the borders and collected copious bags of snails to boot!


So I thought a great gift would be a gardening tidy tote to carry round all those bits and pieces that you need to be with you when you are wrestling with mother nature.


You will need the following
1/2 yard heavyweight cotton fabric
2 metres of bunting tape... you could use webbing but the tape is cheaper!
1.5 metres of 1.5" webbing
Cotton
Cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler or scissors
Tape measure
Pins
Iron and ironing board


Press your fabric and then cut out the following pieces and remember if you have a directional pattern on your fabric to take it into account... I made sure I had no "Australian flowers" on mine:
  • 3 x 12" (width) x 8" (height) - front, back and base
  • 3 x 12" (width) x 5" (height) - pockets
  • 23 x 8" (width) x 8" (height) - sides
Cut four lengths of bunting tape 5" long, pin it in place on the pocket  piece at 4" and 8", sew it in place on both sides on the pocket piece.
Cut two more pieces of bunting tape 12" long, now fold it in half and iron it.  Pin it to the top of the pocket and sew it into place.


Now lay your pockets on top of the front and back, so that it sits at the bottom of them and sew a 1/4" seam to hold it in place, then sew down the centre of each of the four pieces of bias binding that mark out the pockets.
Pin the bottom of the the front onto the base with right sides facing and repeat this with the back (yes, I know they are both the same) and sew them together using a 5/8" seam allowance, then press the seam towards the centre of the base rather than open.
Now, it is going to get a little more challenging... find the centre of your base and the centre of your side and match them up, pin each side bottom and sew just from the front seam to the back seam, you should have about 5/8" left on each side.


Put to the sides together together pin them and sew down to the base... it will look ugly, but don't worry, we will soon have it looking spick and span.  


We will ease the corner,  you will remember in the last tutorial for the specs case we cut triangles to make it smooth on a curve this time we are going to cut a square from the seam from the side pieces which will allow the box shape to fall into place.  Sew all the other sides up and trim the excess seams with pinking shears then.  Turn the bag inside out.
Press the side seams together and then top stitch them into place.
Take the remainder of your bunting tape, fold it in half and iron then pin around the top of the bag but remember to fold your seams towards the side panels and sew it into place.
And finally attach the handles, cut two lengths of webbing 20" long, fold under 1/4", place one end above the first pocket tape and 1.5" below the top of the bag.  
I use a square starting at the bottom and then sew a diagonal, across the top again and then another diagonal to finish to make sure that my handles are good and strong.
And this is what you should end up with... a rather pleasing tote for the garden and the great thing is when it gets dirty and it will, you can pop it into the washing machine and will come up as fresh as a daisy... but hopefully without the roots!


Well now it's time to go and take a look at Wendy's Handmade Monday... and if you love crafting she has set up a new blog for crafters called Handmade Harbour which is certainly worth a sit down with a coffee for a good read.

38 comments:

Annette said...

What a brilliant idea, I must make myself one

Jan said...

I love making totes with pockets, they are so useful and I must say, this one is so pretty. Your instructions are so easy to follow, thank you for another great tutorial.

Jan x

Wendy said...

Yet another brilliant tutorial. I love that you've used such a pretty summery fabric for this, too.

Adaliza said...

What a great tutorial - SUCH a pretty bag. I want one! Thanks for sharing.

Jam Dalory said...

I can't sew but tutorials like yours really make me want to learn. This is great and really lovely fabric too. x

Highland Monkey's said...

Thank you for taking the time to make the bag tutorial. I love the daffs striking a pose in there very spring like.

Helen said...

gorgeous fabric!
I really must get round to making some of your sewing projects. You make them look so easy tho, and I know they wont be when I'm trying them out!

butterflyblossom said...

This is such a brilliant idea Ros. I really wish my mum could use this as it would be a perfect mothers day present. I think I'll save it for my Nan's birthday in August! Thanks Ros X

The mum of all trades said...

This is so pretty! Such a handy idea. I may have to make one for myself.

Kate said...

What a nice idea and lovely gift! Thanks for the tutorial.

l said...

What a lovely idea for Mother's Day - the fabric is so pretty and I like the photo with the daffs in it.

While I was reading through the tutorial and looking at the fabric I could almost feel the warmth of the spring sunshine (and that's a real compliment to you because it's almost midnight!)

Lyn said...

Sorry Ros - the comment above is not really from 'l'. I started to type Lyn and hit the enter key by mistake!

Carolee Crafts said...

A good idea tidies are so useful

Truly Myrtle said...

great ideak! you always choose such cheerful fabric!!!

fatmonica said...

It's gorgeous!

sue said...

Simply gorgeous!
Thanks for the tutorial.
Hugs Sue x

Anonymous said...

That's so sweet - I love the material!
:)

Lululoves said...

What a lovely gift - Thank you for the tutorial I will definitely add this to my list...x

Kat Shenton said...

That's a great gift idea. I never know what to get my mum as she seems to have everything. So this may be a much needed solution.

Christmas Pie Crafts said...

It's a lovely bag and a great tutorial - thank you. Hope you have a good week.

Tickled Pink said...

Great idea and such pretty fabric. I need to make one of these too!

Handbags by Helen said...

Great idea. Might have to make one for my mother!

Cheryl said...

Oh, I love this tote. Just need to work out who I could make it for, other than myself, of course. Yours looks so pretty with the daffodils in it.

Sprinkles Crafting said...

What a lovely idea, the fabric is beautiful! I was brought a sewing machine for christmas but have not used it yet, this would be a great project to start me off! Thank you for posting such an informative tutorial!

Martha said...

Oh Ros, what a great idea with that bag as a gift for a mum. Each mum would love one!
love your tute, clear and easy. i may use it one day!

Ann @ Suburban Prairie Homemaker said...

What a lovely tote! The fabric is so bright and cheery and springy!
Found you on Mum of All Trades - would love for you to come by for a visit!

Coombe Mill - Fiona said...

looks like a great design well explained

Carole said...

Nice post. You might like this poem about mothers. http://caroleschatter.blogspot.co.nz/2011/12/random-quotation-spot.html

Rachel said...

That's DARLING! Thanks so much for sharing the how-to, I'll be linking.

Chimney Cleaning Portland said...

Thanks for a nice read, really made my day! More power to your blog.

Rachel said...

These make such great Christmas gifts - especially for moms and grandmas - I hope you don't mind but I just linked you up in a blog post I just wrote on that very subject :)

Puzzled Patty said...

Am I missing something? It appears there are three dimensions for the fabric pieces: 3 x 12 x 8. What does that mean?

Unknown said...

Patti - it means three pieces that are 12" x 8" in size :)

Puzzled Patty said...

that's what I thought until I got to the 23x8x8 sides. Surely we're not meant to make 28 sides?

Unknown said...

I LOVE this! Such a great idea and wonderful tutorial! I can't wait to try it. I featured this on my blog at http://whittskitsfabricscrafts.blogspot.com/2013/04/find-it-for-free-lets-hit-garden.html
Thanks,
Carrie

Garden Bags said...

What a lovely design and a great guide. I would like to try this if i can find the time.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful and simple! I added a lining and board for stability. Thanks for the tutorial.

Burnetts Travels said...

Just made one for my daughter. What fun. I cannot wait to send it to her to use as she pounces on her new garden in her new house. I made it a little bigger, Sides 10 X 15. Thanks for publishing your pattern.