Quilted tote bag for a child with embroidery of dwarfs and flowers on the front and back panels

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Dwarf and Flower Children's Quilted Tote Bag with Embroidery

This tutorial shows how to make a quilted tote bag for a child. The bag features embroidered dwarfs and a flower design on the front. You will learn the steps to cut fabric, add quilting, apply the embroidery, and sew the pieces together. The finished bag gives a child a fun way to carry books, toys, or other items.

We used the designs from the Dwarf with Fruit Set and Dancing Flower Set.

The finished size of the bag is about 16"W x 12"H x 4"D.

Quilted tote bag with embroidery of gnomes and flowers on the front and back panels.

You will need:

embroidery threads;
5 strips of differently colored cotton fabric 2 1/2" wide and the length of the width of the fabrics;
about 1/2 yard of light-colored fabric for the embroidered panels;
fabric for the backing/lining;
small amount of fabric for the pocket/pockets;
light-weight cut-away stabilizer;
low-loft polyester batting;
1" wide webbing for the handles (choose any bright color).

You will also need:

quilter's ruler;
rotary cutter and/or scissors;
tailor's colored chalk pencil or disappearing fabric marker;
iron;
#12-14 universal needle, and extra strong sewing thread;
#12-14 quilting needle and quilting threads of color matching the fabric;
a sew-on snap closure;
embroidery software and printer (both optional).

Cutting:

Out of fabric for the embroidered panels, cut 2 pieces measuring 7 1/2" x 18" each.
Subcut 4 of the 2 1/2" wide strips into 8 strips measuring 2 1/2" x 18" each.
Out of the fabric for the pocket/s, cut a piece measuring 15" x 14". If you want 2 pockets, cut 2 pieces of this size.
Cut the webbing into 2 pieces, 27" long each.

Panels:

Sew the colored, 2 1/2" x 18", strips together in 4 pairs.
Sew each pair to the upper and lower edges of the light-colored 8 1/2" x 18" pieces.

Embroidery:

Mark the position of the embroidery in the center of the light-colored strip on the 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.

Paper print-outs of the designs on the front panel of the bag.

Paper print-outs of the designs on the back panel of the bag.

Prepare threads. Upload the selected files from the Dwarf with Fruit Set and Dancing Flower Set into your machine and embroider them one by one. Don't forget to stabilize the fabric with light-weight cut-away stabilizer and hoop tightly.

Pocket:

Fold the 15" x 14" piece in half, face inside. Align the raw edges. Stitch along 2 open sides, seam allowance 1/2".
Clip corners and turn right side out.

Press. Topstitch along the short closed side with seam allowance 1/4".
Fold the finished short edge over the rest of the piece. Pin. Stitch together along the sides.

Put the pocket aside for the time being.

Quilting:

Prepare 2 "sandwiches": place the lining/backing pieces on a flat surface (table) face down. Cover with batting. Spread the embroidered panels over them.
Pin all layers together.

We quilted in a free-motion style all over both panels. Start from the embroidery, and echo-quilt it, then proceed from the center to the outer edges. The colored strips we quilted with parallel lines, 1/4" between the lines. Change the threads to match the colors of the fabrics.

After quilting is done, press with heavy steam and trim both panels to 17" x 15" pieces. Finish the side and bottom raw edges with zig-zag stitch or on a serger/overlock.

On the lower edge of both panels, cut out 2" x 2" squares at the corners.

Back and front panels of the tote are ready.

Assembly:

Position the panels face to face, align all edges. Pin the bottom. Stitch together with seam allowance 1/2".
Open and press the seam.

Topstitch 1/4" on both sides of the seam.

The panels are stitched together at the bottom.

Pin the pocket onto the upper edge on the wrong side of the back panel, so that it's positioned equal distance from the side edges. Stitch in place, seam allowance scant 1/4".

The pocket is pinned to the upper edge of the back panel.

Pin one webbing handle to the upper edges of the front and back panels, equal distance from the side edges, leaving about 1" of its short ends protruding beyond the edges of the panels.

Stitch the handles in place with seam allowance 1/4".

The webbing handles are stitched to the upper edges of the panels.

Repeat for the other side. Fold the working piece, face inside, align the sides. Working with one side at a time, stitch with seam allowance 1/2". Open and press the seam. Topstitch 1/4" on both sides of the seam.

Repeat for the other side.

The side seam is topstitched on both sides.

To shape the bottom, fold the bottom of the bag so that the bottom and the side seams align. Pin.

Stitch. Seam allowance 1/2". Stitch several parallel lines.
Finish the raw edge with zig-zag or overlock.

Measure the upper edge of the tote around. Cut the remaining 2 1/2" strip to the length of the circumference plus 1 inch.

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

Keeping the folded edge down and wrong side facing, fold the right short edge 1/2" and press.

Right side to right side and raw edge to raw edge, starting with the folded short edge of the strip, pin the strip along the upper edge of the tote. In the end overlap the unfinished short edge with the folded short edge.

Stitch with seam allowance 1/4".

The colored strip pinned to the upper edge of the bag.

Turn the bag wrong side out. Fold the upper edge with the binding onto the wrong side. Fold and baste the raw edge. Press.

Topstitch over the binding with parallel lines, starting from the edge, 1/4" between the lines.
Tip: better to stitch from the outer side and make the sewing stitches over the previously quilted parallel lines. Press.

Sew a snap to the wrong side between the handles.