My DIY OOT bags

[wilsoml2]

I decided that I wanted to make my own OOT bags with my brand new sewing machine, and this is what I came up with!

 

 

I used a combination of these two tutorials:

Lazy Girl | Blog Make Our 1 Yard, 1 Hour Free Tote Bag Pattern For Last Minute Holiday Gift Bags

Free Directions and Pattern to Sew a Simple Tote Bag

 

The fabric I got from Joann's, all with 40% off coupons so it was a steal! I had two different fabrics, one a liner, so I had to buy double of everything. From each yard, I cut out 3 rectangles that were about 14.5" by 44". I took a rectangle of each fabric and laid them on top of one another with the print facing inside. Then I sewed the short sides together.

 

 

Next I refolded the materials so that each fabric was folded in half over itself and sewed the long sides together. I made sure to stop short on the liner fabric so that I could turn the right side out.

 

 

I then turned the fabric right-side out and sewed the opening that I had left. Hopefully you can see the stitching, I know it's hard with the brown thread and brown fabric!

 

 

 

I stuffed the liner inside the outer part of the bag and the easy part was done!

 

[wilsoml2]

Next I had to sew on the handles. I put them at about 2.5 inches from each corner of the bag and about 3/4" from the top. I then sewed a square to make them pretty stable.

 

 

 

I knew that I wanted to sew a pretty big hem but I wanted the handles to still be sewn near the top of the bag without the stitching going through to the other side. I decided to flip the handles over to the other side and sew another strip near the bottom of the squares. I know this sounds confusing, but I wanted to make sure those handles were going to stay!

 

 

So then I flipped over the edges and measured out 3/4". I believe I actually sewed the hem at 5/8". The pins in the handles are where I had previously sewn the handles to the bag again. If I had waited to sew them after making the hem, it would have gone straight through the bag.

 

 

Oh I had also made my own tags, based on the following tutorial, aren't they cute?

 

Fabric Labels Tutorial - freshvintage

 

 

Well that's it, hope it wasn't too confusing! I really like how they came out, I hope people will actually use them!

[Ebbie475]

Too freakin' cute and crafty. Nice job!

[wilsoml2]

I almost forgot the price breakdown! Fabric was $39 (with 40% off coupon), the ribbon for the handles was $12.50, thread was $4, twill tape for the tags was about $3 and transfer paper was about $4 but I only used 1 sheet. So I made 18 bags for just over $60 which means each bag cost about $3.30. Not too bad for hand-made!

[*Karla*]

Great Job!

[shae]

I love it! I would be all over this if I had a sewing machine.

[JENISE]

Wow. Very crafty!

 

I love the "made by Melissa" tag. Super cute touch.

[steponmyknee]

They look great! Your guests will love them!

[gettingmarried]

great job!

[tracy0716]

These are awesome!! You did such a great job!