[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Take your water gear tote to the next level! Use laminated cotton to complement your collection of quilting cotton fabrics when you make this cute tote with the Janome Horizon Memory Craft 8900QCP. It’s more than just a standard quilting machine. You can do so much more with a wide variety of fabrics and different techniques and interchangeable sewing feet!
The laminated cotton keeps the moisture from the damp items away from everything else outside your tote for a happy car ride home.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Sewing Time: 8 hours
Janome Supplies Required:
HMC8900QCP SE
1/4″ seam foot O
Janome ultra-glide foot Fig 1
QBS foot for free motion quilting
AcuFeed foot AD
Blue tip needle
Pre-wound bobbin
Empty bobbin
Fabrics/Notions Required for 2 Completed Totes:
2 yd. laminated cotton sub cut into:
(2) 16” x 7” (exterior sides)
(1) 21” x 7” (exterior bottom)
(2) 22” x 11” (backing or lining for exterior sides)
(2) 27” x 20” (backing or lining for front and back of bag)
(1) 25” x 11” (backing or lining for bottom)
1.5 yd. coordinating quilting cotton (A) sub cut into:
(2) 21” x 16” (front and back exterior of bag)
(2) 56” x 8” (straps)
3/4 yd. coordinating cotton fabric (B) sub cut into:
(1) 21” x 15” (exterior pocket)
(1) 2.5” x 60” (binding for top of bag-will be seen on exterior and interior)
2 yd. of at least 60” wide batting sub cut into:
(2) 56” x 4” (straps)
(4) 22” x 11” (2 pieces for each narrow side)
(2) 25” x 11” (2 pieces for bottom)
(4) 27” x 20” (2 pieces for each front and back)
(1) 22” x 8” (1 piece only for the exterior pocket)
Coordinating all-purpose sewing thread
Coordinating machine quilting thread
3” piece of Velcro
Student Supplies Required:
Marking pen/tailors chalk
Rotary cutter/ruler/mat
Safety pins/spray baste
Prepare the parts of the bag to be quilted
1. Each of the parts of the bag will have double batting except the straps and exterior pocket (for added stability).
2. Take the (2) 22” x 11” backings for the exterior sides (laminated cotton) and place them wrong side up. Take the (4) 22” x 11” pieces of batting and place 2 of these on each one of the 22” x 11” backings. Take the (2) 16” x 7” pieces of the laminated cotton for the exterior sides and place them centered on top of the batting layers, right sides up. Use spray baste or safety pins to secure in place for quilting.
3. Take the 25” x 11” exterior bottom (laminated cotton) and place it wrong side up. Take the (2) 25” x 11” batting pieces and place both of them on top of the bottom. Take the 21” x 7” exterior bottom piece (laminated cotton) and place it right side up on top of the batting layers. Use spray baste or safety pins to secure in place for quilting.
4. Take the (2) 27” x 20” backing pieces for the front and back of the bag (laminated cotton) and place them wrong sides up. Take the (4) 27” x 20” pieces of batting and place 2 of these on each of the 27” x 20” backings. Take the (2) 21” x 16” front and back exteriors of the bag (quilting cotton-A) and place them centered on top of the batting layers, right sides up. Use spray baste or safety pins to secure in place for quilting.
5. Take the 21” x 15” exterior pocket piece (from coordinating cotton B) and place wrong side up, with the 21” sides going horizontal. Place the 22” x 8” piece of batting with the 22” lined up with the 21” side, and the 8” stopping mid-way up the 15” dimension. Then fold the 15” in half so the pocket measures 21” x 7.5”, so the batting is sandwiched between the folded fabric. Use spray baste or safety pins to secure in place for quilting.
6. Prepare the straps by taking each of the 56” x 8” pieces of fabric and folding them in half, wrong sides together. Press. Now open the fold, and take the long 56” edges and fold them both to the center fold. Press. Open both of these pressed folds on one strap piece and place a 56” x 4” piece of batting centered in the middle of the 8” wide fabric.
Push the folds you just opened back over to cover the batting. Now fold the 4” width in half again so there are no raw edges open on the 56” lengths.
Press in place and secure with pins. Repeat with the second strap.
Quilting
1. For each of the pieces assembled above in to quilt sandwiches, you’ll now quilt #1-5 from above.
2. I selected organic straight lines as the quilting motif for the all laminated cotton so the pieces were fairly heavily quilted, and you’ll want to use a straight-ish motif since we aren’t using free motion quilting and the feed dogs will still be raised. For the pieces with quilting cotton, I followed the design on the fabric.
3. Change the presser foot on the Janome 8900QCP SE to the Teflon presser foot. This will prevent the sewing machine from catching on the laminated cotton while straight line quilting.
Tip: If you want to use a different quilting motif and a free motion quilting foot, just put a piece of scotch tape on the bottom of the quilting foot (the side that comes in contact with the fabric while quilting) so there is less resistance between the plastic and the laminated cotton.
4. Quilt all the pieces in this manner, with the exception of the 2 strap pieces.
5. Trim the quilted pieces to the following sizes:
a. Exterior pocket- 20” x 7.5”
b. 15” x 6”-sides of the bag
c. 20” x 15”-front and back of the bag
d. 20” x 6”-bottom of bag
6. On pieces b, c, and d listed above, zig zag stitch all raw edges around the perimeter of those pieces. On piece a-the exterior pocket, zig zag stitch (select stitch #10) around the raw edges, but not the folded edge of the pocket.
Tip: You can elect to skip this step if you’d like your seams completely encased by cutting extra binding and encasing the seams in binding like a quilt edge.
7. Change the presser foot back to the ¼” foot and take the 2 strap pieces and edge stitch all the way around all edges of both pieces. Repeat topstitching about 1/8” or a little more from your original edge stitching. Set aside.
Assemble the tote
1. Take 20” x 15” piece that will be used for the front of the bag. Place it on your work surface so the quilting cotton side is facing up and the laminated cotton side is face down. Take the 20” x 7.5” pocket and place it right side up on top of the bag front piece, lining up the zig zag stitched 20” edge of the pocket with the zip zag stitched 20” bottom edge of the bag front. Pin these in place to secure.
2. Use a long stitch to baste the pocket in place, ¼” from the edges.
3. Take one strap piece and line up the 4” wide raw edge with the bottom of the bag, 5” in from the side of the front. Make sure you don’t twist the strap, but place the other end of the strap with its raw edge even with the bottom edge of the front, also 5” in from the side edge. Secure with pins in place.
4. Stitch the straps to the bag front and the pocket by following the edge stitch line. Start at the bottom edge of the strap and stop 3” from the top of the bag, lift presser foot, and rotate to stitch across the width of the strap. Lift the presser foot again with the needle still in the down position and rotate again to follow the edge stitching back down the strap.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the other strap and the 20” x 15” back of the bag.
6. Now that the straps are attached, your simple pocket has 3 different compartments, separated by the seam lines of the straps.
7. Use a ½” seam allowance to assemble the remaining parts of the bag
8. Take the front of the bag (with the pocket) and place it pocket-side up. Take one of the 15” x 6” sides and place it right side down on the right edge of the front. Pin in place, or use clover clips to secure until ready to sew.
9. Stitch together with a ½” seam allowance, starting at the top of the bag and backstitching a few stitches at the beginning. Stop sewing once you reach ½” from the bottom edge. Backstitch to secure the stitches.
10. With the front still pocket-side up, take the remaining 15” x 6” side and place it right side down on the left edge of the front of the bag. Pin in place, or use clover clips to secure until ready to sew.
11. Stitch together with a ½” seam allowance, starting at the top of the bag and backstitching a few stitches at the beginning. Stop sewing once you reach ½” from the bottom edge. Backstitch to secure the stitches.
12. Take the back of the bag and place it quilting cotton-side up. Place one of the side pieces (15” x 6”) right side down on top of it, lining up the raw edges. Make sure the straps of the front and back of bag are both right side up. Stitch together with a ½” seam allowance, starting at the top of the bag and backstitching a few stitches at the beginning. Stop sewing once you reach ½” from the bottom edge. Backstitch to secure the stitches.
13. Repeat step 11 with the last remaining side and back of the bag that aren’t sewn together yet.
14. Now you should have the main part of the bag all sewn together, with the exception of the bottom of the bag. Keep the bag turned wrong side out to attach the bottom.
15. Take the main part of the bag and place one of the main sides down on your work surface. Take the bottom of the bag, wrong side up, and place the 20” edge lined up with the 20” bottom edge of the front of the bag (right sides together). You will need to manipulate the other sides of the bag out of the way to use clover clips to clip the two edges together to prepare for sewing. Start sewing ½” from the side edge with a ½” seam allowance, backstitching a few stitches to secure the seam, and stopping ½” from the opposite edge, also backstitching a few stitches to secure the seam.
16. Repeat step 14 with the 3 remaining sides of the bottom of the bag, being careful to move the other edges of the bag out of the way while sewing.
Sewing the binding
1. Prepare the binding as you normally would for a quilt. You’ll need approximately 60” in length.
2. Turn the bag right side out, carefully pushing out the corners.
3. Place the raw edge of the binding against the interior top edge of the tote. Pin in place or use clips to secure until you are ready to sew.
4. Attach binding just as you would to the edge of a quilt, with a ¼” seam allowance from the edge of the top of the bag.
5. Fold the folded edge of the binding to the front of the bag and stitch in place with a topstitch. You can also choose to hand sew the binding to the front of the bag to finish.
Optional: Attach a strip of hook and loop tape to the interior of the bag for an optional closure. Center the hook and loop tape between the straps, and measure the distance from the top of the bag, 1/2” down for placement of the Velcro.
Tip: This bag is 100% machine washable, but can be sensitive to heat. Take caution not to iron the laminated cotton or it will melt. The tote can be dried in the drier on a low heat setting, or line dried.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Outstanding directions!!!!
The link for the PDF isn’t working 🙁
Hi Regina, This pattern does not have a PDF as the instructions stated. To print the pattern, please use the printer friendly green button at the bottom of the page. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Have a great day! Betsey
Thank you Betsey!
Looks Great !! I will be trying this pattern very soon !!