Lazies, I recently made a sample of the ‘Bucket’ tote from the ‘Bold Bags’ ^[1] book using fabrics from Lakehouse Fabrics. 

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The bag was designed to work with the letter-sized sheets of mock croc.  I substituted quilted panels for each of the mock croc sheets.  To do so, I quilted one layer of fabric with batting.  I cut the panels, centered a large single flower in each for the top and black floral for the bottom.  Then I stitched them together as per the pattern in the book.  I pressed the seam allowances open instead of to one side.  In the pattern, the seam allowances are pressed in one direction then topstitched in place.  The topstitching allows the seamed area to lay flat on the mock croc.  For the quilted panels, I topstitched all seam allowances, approximately 1/8″ from the seam.  This created a very nice finishing detail of lines of stitching framing the seams. Here’s a close-up of the center front of the bag.

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I wanted to strengthen the walls of the bag so I used Decor Bond fusible interfacing from Pellon.  It’s a really nice medium weight product.  After creating each half of the bag, I cut a piece of interfacing 3/4″ smaller on the side and bottom edges.  The side and bottom seams don’t need the added bulk or stability of the interfacing.  I did, however, bring the interfacing up to match the top edge of the cover.  The top edge of the cover will not be folded, so the interfacing will give the top edge of the bag a really nice, crisp finish.  I fused the interfacing to the batting which is the wrong side of the cover.  I followed the rest of the instructions, substituting fabric tabs with Velcro for the closure tabs attached at the side seams.

1/2 yard Flower Panels for cover: #06006 Rainbow (I used four flower panels – pink, fuscia, yellow, and orange.)
1/2 yard black floral cover toward bottom: #06007 Black
1/2 yard orange for lining: #05028 Sunset
1 pair black faux leather handles
1 1/2″ sew-in black Velcro

I used the faux leather black handle pair and made tabs from some left over black mock croc scraps from another project.  You can easily make fabric tabs from leftovers from the above fabrics.

To finish, be sure to press the bag and don’t be afraid to use steam.  Remember, steam pressing is your friend.  Give the bag a nice crisp edge at the bottom of all four sides.  Pinch the corners of the bag and pull, creating a nice fold line where the bag front becomes the bag bottom.  Press that fold to reinforce the shape of the bag.  Do this for each of the four sides.  Close the bag by matching the Velcro tabs across the center of the bag.  This will make the sides of the bag fold in toward the center.  Hold the bag by the handles and gently lift a little.  That will pull to define the fold lines at the sides of the bag.  Gently pinch the folds with your hands to help set the folds.

Click here for a printable version of this information: Bucket Tote Lakehouse Information Sheet ^[4]

Enjoy!

Joan Hawley
Lazy Girl Designs

Tags: tote bag ^[5], bucket tote ^[6]

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