Easy Tote Bag Trim Trick

Am I the only person in the world who truly dislikes having to turn a small tube of fabric right side out after stitching the right sides together? Probably not. I was faced with either having to do that, or having to neatly fold under the raw edges of fabric strips I wanted to use as trim on the Angel Tote Bag I made recently. Instead of killing my hands trying to turn the tubes, or fretting over getting the folds perfect, I came up with another much easier solution which resulted in a nice neat outcome. Take a look...


I cut strips of fabric double the width I wanted the finished trim to be, plus about a half inch. I folded the strip in half with the wrong sides together and stitched the seam using the edge of my presser foot as a guide.


Then I opened the seam and pressed it so that it was running down the middle of the strip. This would be the wrong side of the trim.


For the handles, I cut strips of denim double the width I wanted the finished handle to be, plus about a half inch. I folded the edges towards the middle, overlapping the raw edges by about 1/4 inch down the middle of the strip. I laid the pressed fabric trim on top of this overlap and stitched along the edges of the fabric trim to make the handles.


For the trim around the pocket and the bottom edge of the bag, I simply stitched the pressed fabric strip in place overlapping the raw edges of the pocket which had already been sewn onto the denim which would become the outside of the bag.

How much easier can it get? No turning, no extra stitching lines, no edges with a four layer seam opposite edges with a two layer fold. And quick too! That's my kind of sewing!

Happy Stitching!

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