Roomy tote bag with musical notes embroidery - Advanced Embroidery Designs

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Piano Print Quilted Tote Bag with Musical Note Embroidery

This roomy tote bag is the perfect gift for musicians or music lovers. It uses designs from the Musical Note Set.

The finished size of the tote is about 14"H x 18"W x 5"D

Finished tote bag - black with white misuc notes embroidery and piano keybord pattern.

You will need :

embroidery threads, either polyester or rayon - we used white and red,
1/2 yard of music-themed fabric (we used fabric featuring the pattern of a piano keyboard)
about 1 1/2 yard of black fabric for the outer bag and backing/lining,
light-weight cut-away embroidery stabilizer,
batting,
quilter's ruler,
rotary cutter and scissors,
iron,
#12 and #14-16 universal needle,
#12-#14 quilting needle,
black polyester webbing 1" wide, the length depends on the length of the handles you'd like. Our handles are 26" long, plus 2 " for ease, so for each handle we used 28".
black Velcro tape - 1" of 1/2" wide tape. We recommend Sticky Back for Fabrics Velcro, but regular velcro will also work.

Cutting:

Out of patterned fabric, cut 2 pieces measuring 6 1/2" x 17 1/2",
Please note that we cut this panel to fit the print of our fabric. Feel free to adjust the measurements to the pattern of your fabric.

Out of black fabric, cut

2 pieces measuring 12 1/2" x 17 1/2",
2 strips measuring 3 1/2" x 17 1/2",
1 strip measuring 5 1/2" x 21 1/2"

We'll use the remaining black fabric for the backing/lining, pocket and finishing the raw edges. We'll cut those pieces later.

Assembly of the Top:

We need to assemble 2 panels, front and back.

Sew the black 3 1/2" x 17 1/2" strip to the right edge of the patterned fabric and the 12 1/2" x 17 1/2" block to the left edge.
Repeat for the other panel.

Sew both panels to the 5 1/2" x 21 1/2" strip.

Embroidery:

Mark the position of the embroidery on the black parts of the front and back panels. If you have a printer and embroidery software, print-outs of the designs can be helpful. If you do not, you can cut out rectangles of the same size as the designs and arrange them on the fabric to determine the position of the embroidery.

Stabilize the chosen area. Hoop the fabric tightly and embroider the designs one by one.

Stitch-outs of the musical notes on black part of the panel

Quilting

Now place the backing on a flat surface (table) face down. Cover with batting. Spread your working piece over it.

Pin all layers together.

We quilted in a free-motion style all over the working piece.

Press with heavy steam and square - all corners should be 90 degrees and the opposite sides of the same length.

Assembly of the Tote Bag

Fold the working piece in half, face inwards, aligning all edges. At the bottom corners, draw 2" x 2" squares.

Cut away the marked corners.

Sew one side of the bag, seam allowance is 1/2". Step 1 mm towards the edge and stitch again.
Open and press the seam.

Out of black fabric, cut 2 strips measuring 2" x 20". Press the long edges of the strips 1/4" to the wrong side.
Pin one of the strips over the seam, covering it.

Cover the seam with a strip of fabric with finished edges.

Topstitch the strip in place. Trim the protruding edges of the strip.
Repeat for the other side of the bag. Finishing the raw edges of the second side is a little bit tricky, but doable.

Stitch the strip over the seam allowance.

To make the bottom, fold the bag and align the side and bottom seams. Pin. Stitch together with seam allowance 1/2".

Finish these seams with binding.

Cut the webbing for 2 handles. Again, our handles are 26" long, plus 2" for ease. If you prefer shorter handles, adjust the measurements. Position them on the upper edge 6 " from the side edges.

Pin the handle ends 5-6 inches from the side seams.

Pin in place. The handles should protrude about 1" beyond the upper edge of the bag.

Pin both ends of the handles 6 inches from the side seams.

Top stitch the handles in place, seam allowance about 1/4".

Pocket

Out of black fabric, cut a piece measuring 15" x 15". Fold it in half, face inwards. Stitch along the long and one of the short sides. Through the open short side, turn the piece right side out. Press.

Topstitch along the finished short side. Fold it 5" up. Press. Topstitch the sides.

Fold the short finished edge of the working piece 5-6 inches up.

Position the raw edge of the pocket between the handles of the back panel from the wrong side of the bag. Pin. Stitch in place.

Stitch the upper edge of the pocket to the upper edge of the bag.

Finishing the Bag

Turn the bag right side out.
Measure the length of the upper edge of the bag.
Out of black fabric, cut a strip 2 1/2" wide and the length of the upper edge + 2".

Fold the long edges of the strip 1/2" back and press. Fold one of the short edges 1/2" back and press.

Starting from the side seam of the bag, with the finished short side of the strip, pin the strip along the upper edge of the bag. The strip and the bag are right side to right. Overlap the short ends of the strip. If the unfisnished end is too long, cut it to avoid bulk.

Pin the fabric strip to the upper edge of the bag.

Topstitch the strip in place, seam allowance 1/2".

Fold the strip inwards. With it, 1/2" of the upper edge of the bag will also fold. Topstitch the upper edge in place, seam allowance about 1/4".

While the lower edge of the upper strip has not been attached, sew on or stick on the Velcro tape. Then sew the lower end of the strip. We did it by hand, but you can machine stitch, if you prefer.