Tote bag with charm squares – video tutorial

To make this bag you’ll need 24 charm squares and some extra matching fabric for the exterior, batting and some fabric for the lining.

It’s an easy bag that you can make with some fabric scraps cut into 5″ x 5″ too.

Learn how to make a tote bag with 5” squares

Fabric collection

The fabrics are 100% GOTS certified organic cotton printed with low impact dyes. They’re a joy to work with.

Nerida Hansen Millenial Girls, 2 charm squares packs (12 squares each)
Nerida Hansen Ranges Flame by Ellie Whittaker
Nerida Hansen Ranges Dusk by Ellie Whittaker for the lining.

Note on straps

I’ve lately moved to using webbing for straps in my bags the reason being that the handmade straps I’ve used in the past wear a lot faster than the bag itself.

They’re inexpensive and you can get them in many colours.

If you’d like to explore other bag tutorials I’ve made over the years, here’s a roundup:

All the tutorials are free.

If you make any of the bags, please upload a picture to TeresaDownUnder tote bags and my other sewing projects Flickr pool.

My book Turnabout Patchwork

“Turnabout Patchwork. Simple quilts with a twist” is all about playing with blocks – making a block, slicing it up, and turning or repositioning the pieces to make a completely different block (sometimes two smaller blocks) to yield endless quilt tops.