Reusable shopping bag/wallet tutorial plus enter to win!

It has been one of my goals to make some kind of sewing tutorial. I finally came up with something worthy...Please excuse my pics, I had to use my cell phone.

This tutorial is for a reusable shopping bag that folds into a wallet.
Supplies needed:
1 yard outer fabric
1 yard inner fabric
A snap or velcro...some kind of closure for the wallet
A plastic shopping bag

I used dark brown thread so it would be easier to see the stitching. The fabric I found at my local Joann's store.

First, fold your outer fabric in half, then take a plastic shopping bag, flatten it as much as you can and pin it to your outer fabric. You can either add 4 inches to the sides or cut the fused ends on the bag and lay it out flat. Make sure to add a 1/4-1/2 inch seam allowance when you cut!

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After mine was cut, I folded it in half to make sure both sides were the same. Then, I pinned the outer fabric to my folded inner fabric and cut. After this, you should have 2 matching pieces of your outer fabric and 2 pieces of inner fabric.

Next, cut 2 13x8 pieces. I cut one of each different fabric. You can round the corners on one of the short sides if you'd like, or just leave them squared.
With ride sides together, sew all the way around, except for a 2 inch gap on one side...it doesn't really matter which side except if you do rounded corners. I wouldn't suggest doing it on a rounded corner. Turn inside out, press and top stitch.

I used a ruler and a pencil to make 2 lines parallel to the short sides of the wallet pieces, 4 inches from each side. Then, center the piece, as best you can on one of your outer pieces, pin and sew across both pencil lines.
I put a snap in mine, but sew in velcro would work fine too.



With right sides together, sew the bottom of your outer fabrics together. Do the same to your inner fabric.

Lay your pieces together matching the handles right sides together, with an inner fabric and an outer fabric together and pin. Do the same to the other side.


Sew around the top of the handles and all the way across the other side and the top of the other handle. Do the same to the other side, leaving a 3 inch opening at the top of the bag!


Trim the corners of the handles and make small notches in the rounded part of the bag.


Now take your bag and match up the handles, inner fabric to inner, outer fabric to outer...pin and sew the sides of the bag.

Now, we're going to turn it inside out and press the enter bag. Remember the hole we left? We're going to fix that now. Turn the ends in, pin and top stitch along the rounded part of the bag on both sides

Fold the handles and sides in, press and pin. In the end, you should have handles with 4 equal layers. Top stitch the top of the handles and just the part you folded at the bottom of the bag.


Now you should have something that looks like this

Now, we'll go through how to fold it.
Lay your bag wallet side down
Fold both sides in

Fold the bottom and the handles in, then fold in half.

Snap or velcro closed and you're done!



Enter to win a reusable bag/wallet from Target! All you have to do is submit a comment and tell me how you will use this bag if you win.