For You

Make a DIY Tea Towel Tote Bag This Summer

We have so many fun DIY bag ideas for you to make this summer including a painted watermelon straw tote, colorful fat quarter bags, and a crochet produce bag to take to the market. Now we are going to show you how to make a tea towel tote bag.

A watermelon tea towel turned into a tote bag for summer.

This is the perfect project if you have a tea towel (or buy one on clearance as I did) that has writing on it or an image that needs to stay right-side up. If you have a general image that can go any direction, you don’t need to cut the tea towel in half, you can simply fold it over and sew up the sides.

DIY tea towel tote bag

This bag is the perfect size to pack snacks, sunscreen, and a book for the pool or beach this summer and costs about $8 to make.

Supplies

  • Tea towel
  • 1″ strapping that’s 2 yards long
  • Sewing machine and thread
  • Scissors
  • Pins
  • Measuring tape

you need a tea towel and strapping to make a tea towel tote bag

Instructions

As I mentioned above, if you have an image on your tea towel that you want to remain upright, then you will need to cut your tea towel in half.

step 1 for making a tea towel tote bag is to cut your tea towel in half

Fold the top of the bag over twice (to prevent fraying) iron it into place, and then pin it.

Cut your strapping in half so you have 1 yard per handle. Measure where you want to place them and pin them into place. Sew straight across the hem and the strapping, and then sew an X box at the bottom of the strapping for reinforcement.

Step 2 for making a tea towel tote is to sew strapping handles onto the fabric

Repeat on the other side of the tea towel to add a handle to that too.

Place the tea towels on top of each other with the right sides out. Pin the sides and bottom and sew them together.

sew a dish towel together to make a summer tote bag

Now, turn the bag inside out making sure to push the bottom corners out as much as you can. Sew the same seams again. This creates a neater seam line on the inside of the bag.

Sew the side seams of a tea towel together to turn it into a tote bag

Turn your bag right-side out again and you have a pretty summer tote bag.

instructions to make a tea towel tote bag for summer

Please Pin Post For Later:

tea towel tote bag pinterest image

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