Tutorial: Box the Bottom Corners of a Bag
Lazies, I’ve put together a picture tutorial on how to easily and accurately box the bottom of a bag. A box bottom means the bag has a flat bottom, making it easier to hold wide things or rest comfortably when you set it down. This is an easy technique which you can use on lots of designs.
Lazy Girl Designs ‘With Love Tote’ with a 4″ deep boxed bottom.
Last week I announced our Make2/Give2 event for September which features our With Love Tote bag. You can print the pattern from last week’s post. The pattern has been updated to include directions to make a flat bottom bag by ‘boxing’ the bottom corners.
Click the picture to enlarge. This is a view of the bottom of the bag.
The side seam (left) and bottom seam (right) meet and a seam is stitched across these seams to give the bag dimension.
- Cut a square from each bottom corner.
This is a 2″ square which will result in a 4″ deep boxed bottom.
The size of the cut square will determine the depth of the bag when boxed.
- Separate the layers of the bag at the cut corner.
- Pull the side seam and the bottom seam together, matching the seams, as shown here.
- Stitch closed.
- For extra strength, reinforce by stitching again.
The bottom of the bag takes shape as two corners are boxed.
Voila! Completed With Love Tote bag.
Things to keep in mind
Cutting the corners will affect the width and height of the bag. The result will be a bag that is narrower across the bottom, and shorter top to bottom.
- Width of the bag across the bottom: 19″ minus 4″ (2″ for each corner), leaves the width at 15″ wide.
- Height of the bag at the side: 16″ minus 2″, leaves a height of 14″.
If you take too big of a cut at the corner, your bag might have odd finished dimensions. The larger the corner cut, the narrower and shallower the finished bag will be.
Some examples of corner cut sizes and finished bag sizes for this project
1″ corner cuts = 17″ wide x 15″ high x 2″ deep (wide, tall and skinny depth)
3″ corner cuts = 13″ wide x 13″ high x 6″ deep (square and deep)
4″ corner cuts = 11″ wide x 12″ high x 8″ deep (taller than wide and too deep)
You can see from the math that small changes in the size of the cuts make a big difference in the finished size of the project. If you are unsure of how big to cut a corner to box the bottom and give your bag depth, start with a smaller cut, sew, then see what you think. You can always cut more off and stitch again.
Remember to box the cover and the lining so everything matches nicely. Refer to the With Love Tote pattern to see where and when in the project to do this.
Enjoy!
Joan
Print This Lazy Post
I also think I want to try to make it in a tiny size for gift card for Christmas time for the Grandkids. Should challenge the “boxing” skills some…we’ll see what happens to that bright idea. Visions of using up small pieces of novelty prints are darting through my head…see what you start! Keep it up please. Christie
Oh Joan thanks for the math, it will be a great help to me. Of course I am a picture person to so the tutorial is wonderful. Must get busy!
Penny D in Chesapeake, VA
DO you have a tutorial for the Miranda Bag???? I just purchased the pattern and can’t wait to make it.
Your bag pattern last week inspired me. I have some prequilted fabrics, mostly in holiday patterns, that were given to me. Your pattern gave me the idea to make some modifications, & construct holiday totes as well as smaller gift bags that will go into my quilt guild’s fall auction. By not having to line the prequilted fabrics, I made a band to finish off the top edge. Sue Baker, VA
Thanks so much for taking the time to do these little hints…some of us that have been sewing for a short period of time…these kind of things help…Those of us that have been sewing for a lonnnnnnnng period of time need to be reminded…..thanks again for all the valuable information that you send out to us…for me it is greatly appreciated.
I belong to the latter……lonnnnnnnnng time sewer..kd
I make the Love Tote all the time with boxed bottoms….but I simply turn inside out, match the side seams, mark and pin the depth of the “box” I want. Sew, trim and turn.
Never thought about cutting a square first. I’ll have to try it.
I also make the Love Tote with a half yard of fabric and sew a tall tote instead of a wide tote. They make great wine bottle gift bags.
way to go Joan! This will be very helpful!
Carol at Batiks Etc and Sew What Fabrics, Wytheville, VA
I finish off the boxed corners seam by zig zagging across the seam for extra protetion, too. They’re easy to do.
I also made up cardboard squares starting at 2 inches, 2 1/2″, 3″, etc. for squaring off bags and totes and just draw them onto the wrong side of the fabric and cut them out, 123……
Joan, Thanks for the new tutorial on the boxed bag bottoms had trouble with my 1st one then went to the Towne bag instructions and did ok. I have made at least 5 Towne bags and need a new one for me. Your instructions are the best! Margie
Joan, It makes great sense this week. Do you box the lining separately from the cover or do you box them as one? Love your blog each week.
Sandy
I am looking for a pattern for a “caddy” to hang on a hospital bed or walker.
I am looking for a pattern of a purse I saw made out of chenille fabric. It was about 12″ long and 18″ wide with a flap to close and two purse handles. Can’t find a pattern of anything similar, any ideas?
Love your blog AND your attitude. Hope you don’t mind I’ve posted a link to you from my blog, and borrowed a picture from this post.
[...] Post: Box the Bottom Corners of a Bag [...]
I love this boxing technique -my triangles would always go wonky when I would try to do it that way, and with this method I then have some little squares already cut out that can quickly be whipped up into four patches! (after a teeny tiny bit of ripping) – I am well on my way to a “cutting the corners” scrap quilt!!!
[...] Post: Box the Bottom Corners of a Bag [...]
This is fantastic! I’m so linking to this!
Thanks so much for going into more detail on the corners. I had trouble understanding their construction in the main pattern and appreciate the great tutorial! Also, thanks for all of your tips on making sewing easier. I’ve used other patterns and changed them so I could use your easier (and faster) construction methods.
I’m eager to make this tote bag – it’s a much better pattern than the one I did recently! Thank you!
I also added a pocket on the inside and a slightly larger pocket (to cover the sewing lines on the outside. I quilted the pockets for extra stability, they look really cute.
[...] thoughts were moving along these lines when I spotted another tutorial on how to Box the Bottom Corners of a Bag from Lazy Girl [...]
I’ve made many bags over the years using different methods to finish this kind of bottom……over a year ago I came across this method…….I love it ,I get a nice bottom that matches on both sides.
Hi!
I’m willing to try this on a linned bag… I wonder how should I proceed:
1) add the linning and THEN try you square method, cutting them from both pieces together.
2) do the square method both on outer side AND linning and then sew the 2 parts together.
Sorry, I’m just starting and will surely make LOTS of dumb questions till i get the hang of it! LOL.
Hugs from sunny Brazil.
Hi Janaina, Do the second option – square all four corners by themselves, lining and outside. Joan
thank, joan, for your question…i had the same one, and now have my answer !
Marilyn
[...] This is a free pattern from Pink Penguin that can be found here. All in all, this turned out pretty good. The snags I encountered were most likely a result of my inexperience, and I plan on making another puffy pouch in the future. I had a little trouble with the whole concept of “boxing the corners” and wished I had researched it a bit before I started, so here are some links: tutorial by Craft Apple, tutorial by Lazy Girl Designs [...]
[...] tutorial shows one way to box the corners of a bag; I had trouble with that method and prefer the method that involves cutting the corners before sewing them, rather than [...]
Too simple! Nice way! Nice share!
Thank you thank you so much! I was kinda dreading this part, thinking it was going to look a mess but with your very easy directions, my bag looks great!
This is by the far the easiest explanation I have seen of how to box corners. Thankyou so much for sharing this.
I was so happy to find your blog with the Box Bottom Tote Bag. I have several horse feed bags I’ve been saving for just the right pattern and now I’ve found it! Thanks so much!
Love directions on square bottom. However, to keep shape what type
of solid material do you cover and lay flat in bottom. Cardboard could bend.
so what do you recommend?
[...] for your bag. If you don’t know how to do this, click this link for a good tutorial http://www.lazygirldesigns.com/blog/?p=1482 . Without doing a box bottom your bag will be very flat. You can decide your own measurements [...]
Thank you for the boxed corner directions…much appreciated!!!
Thank you! I just got into sewing, I’m a real rookie and I find this tutorial extremely helpful! <3
[...] Lazy Girl Tutorial GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_bg", "ffffff"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_border", "cccccc"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_text", "333333"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_link", "0060ff"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_url", "df0000"); GA_googleAddAttr("LangId", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "tips"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "tips-and-techniques-tuesdays"); GA_googleFillSlot("wpcom_sharethrough"); Share this:FacebookEmailTwitterLinkedInLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in Tips and Techniques Tuesdays. Bookmark the permalink. ← Margaret’s Monday Mash-Ups – 11/28/11 [...]
[...] Flatten the bottom of a tote. Got a spare tote bag laying around? If you have beginner sewing skills, you can flatten the bottom! Here’s a simple tutorial on how to box the corners of a tote bag. [...]
Thank you Joan! I had instructions in a book and could not make heads or tails of them (something about an apex – what??!!). One look at your pictures and I got it straight away – YOU ROCK!
[...] 5) Pull open the base fabric and sew the ends of your “square” together creating a flat bottom. (To make it clearer- read this!) [...]
Thank you very much for the information, I just needed a little shove in the right direction. Am making gift bags and wanted a flat bottom and voila I have flat bottoms now.
I am an avid crafter but sewing is about my least favorite task and the handicraft I am probably least adept at (especially with the machine). This was especially helpful; thank you for sharing. God bless.
OH … THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I absolutely could NOT figure this out in my mind. It’s been holding me up for a month in making my mom a special bag! SO THANKFUL to you sharing your simple directions!!!