DIY Boro Inspired Tote Bag is an easy sewing and quilting tutorial to make an Eco bag with all those scraps of fabric you have after finishing a quilt.
As a quilter you might have a bag full of small scraps of cotton fabric saving them to make something pretty, I’m sure you will find the idea to make a pretty tote bag with a Boro inspired block to be used as an Eco bag.
Having a tote bag is always a good idea, as they can be used for many purposes, from carrying everything you need on a regular day, to take them to the grocery store and carry all your groceries back home, but when you’re a quilter, you know you can make one that will look always pretty!
DIY Boro Inspired Tote Bag
1 How To Sew A Boro Inspired Quilt Block
The fabric for the tote bag is 13 x 28 inches, and the patchwork block quilt is 13 x 13, you can make the boro inspired block by laying small pieces of fabric, any shape and any size to cover one half of the fabric for the back, or you can make one block by sewing together all the small pieces of fabric with your sewing machine.
If you want to use an orphan quilt block, any quilt pattern will look pretty on the bag too.
Lay the boro inspired block on the fabric for the bag and pinch a few safety pins to hold the two fabrics together, no need to add any batting fabric, by working on the hand quilting without batting, the tote bag will be lighter and easy to fold.
2 How To Do The Boro Inspired Hand Quilting
When the quilt pattern is on one side of the bag, it’s ready to be quilted, this time you will be working with the Boro method which consist on making big hand stitches all the way to cover the piece.
The Boro Inspired hand quilting can be made with embroidery floss, one or two strands on your needle, any color of your preference.
Embroidery Perle thread can be also used or Shashiko thread.
Do big stitching one direction and come back in the other direction while working on the hand quilting.
3 How To Make The Handles For The Tote Bag
Cut two strips of fabric of 24 x 3 inches, fold each strip in the middle lengthwise and sew all the way. Turn each piece out and press.
4 How To Sew On The Handels On The Tote Bag
Fold each end of the bag to mark the middle point, you can mark it with a pencil, pinching a pin or making a cut with your scissors.
Measure 2 1/2 inch from the center point to the left and to the right, mark each point with a pencil.
Lay the tote bag on your work table and place the two ends of each handle on the marked points, pinch a pin on each end and sew on both handles to the bag.
5 How To Sew On The Tote Bag
Fold the bag in the middle, pretty side inside, and pinch a pin on the top on both sides, pinch another pin on both side in the middle.
Fold inside the bottom of the bag 1 1/4 inch, pinch a pin on both sides to hold the fold folded as you sew on both sides. Sew on both sides with a strip of fabric (14 x 2 inches)
When sewing on each side, fold the strip of fabric to cover the bottom. Open the strip of fabric and fold it like a bias, sew to close the bias on each side of the tote bag.
6 How To Finish The Boro Inspired Tote Bag
Sew on the strip of fabric on the top on the inside, open the strip and fold 1/4 inch on the edge, fold the strip on the front to cover the edge and stitch on to close this strip to the top of the tote bag. When you finish the hand stitching to close the bias on the top, you can fold the handles up and make three “X” stitches to keep the handles up, you can also sew on a button.
The Boro Inspired Tote Bag is finished and it looks beautiful!
I hope you have fun making the DIY Boro Inspired Tote Bag as much as I did!
This is another great idea to use all those scraps of fabric to make something useful and pretty, as this tote bag is made to be used as an Eco Bag to take all you’re shopping in it, to help you to use less plastic bags and keep our planet clean and better, I know the finished bag looks so pretty that you might be using it to carry everything with you every day.
I’m sure when you see how easy it is making the Boro Inspired Tote Bag, you will be making more than one, as I’m sure you will be making one or two to give them as a gift to your family members and friends.
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Puedes leer el tutorial para hacer la Tote Bag Inspiracion Boro en español aquí!
You can read more tutorials to make with Boro Inspired Technique here:
Watch the video tutorial here: