I made this recently for a sweet young woman in our church for her Birthday. Hope the tutorial helps. Comment with any questions you might have.. HERE GOES!!
FIRST: Purchase choice of PLACE MAT..mine are from Walmart. Lay face up (check if two sided..one place mat from another store had a lighter side!!) Purchase desired RIBBON...I choose Gross grain... works best...but I have used others..as you can view previous totes. Just make sure it can handle the weight of a tote with a Bible in it. So far mine have worked fine. The ribbon is at least 1 1/2 inches wide...the button of your choice. Purchase a sheet of plastic used for craft making (see photo). Mine came in a package of several sheets. I can get 3 or 4 inserts from one sheet.
CUT a rectangle piece of the plastic measuring 9 1/2 ' X 3". Choose a piece of fabric to cover the insert. Measure this about twice the size of the insert plus a few inches for seam allowances and fold over and sew to make a "sleeve" close off one end. Should look like a mini pillowslip.
I hope I've written this clear enough!!
Now lay out the place mat right side up...lay ribbon on top as shown. Looks like a race car track! Measure as shown...3 1/2 inches from each side and pin evenly all the way down...ALSO measure for handle length. I found that by measuring with a ruler about 12" as you can see...is perfect. Measure from edge of place mat to the tip of the ribbon(as shown). Save left over piece of ribbon for bow if desired.
For the end of the ribbon..placement should be right at the middle where the fold of the place mat is ..overlap to finish off the end of the ribbon. This will be now sewn in place when you sew up one side of the ribbon...sew across at the top edge of the place mat..crossing over the the other side of the ribbon being sewn and go down the other side finishing on the end. Each end should look the same.
DO NOT SEW THE HANDLE now do the other side the same.
When you have finished this, you should be able to fold over the right side facing each other so the tote is inside out....as shown in the photo below. You now sew up the sides 5/8' back stitch at the ends.
Using another tote for these photos...now iron the seams OPEN...be careful not to iron the ribbon! A few dots smeared on one tote.. Now lay flat open with seam lying flat as pictured and measure as shown and sew across the seam. I use the end of my sewing plate as the guide and it is the perfect measurement. DO BOTH SIDE SEAMS like this.
Turn the tote inside out and VOILA...a SQUARED bottom tote bag! It should lay squared on a table.
Now place finished sewn insert with cover in the bottom of the tote. It should lay flat and hold the tote open and upright.
Now attach your ribbon and button as desired. You can also make the tote a closed bag by adding Velcro at the center top or you can attach a small ribbon to tie as well. For a BIBLE tote it's best to be open for the width of the book and any notepad you might wish to carry with it.
Have FUN making your own!
HOPE
