Charm Pack Tote: Because You Probably Have a Charm Pack Sitting Around Anyway
Strawberry season is popping off and so is your stash. If you’ve got a charm pack you bought on impulse (looking at you, Kimberly Kight’s Strawberry collection), congratulations: you’re halfway to a tote bag. This is one of those “quick” projects that’s actually quick… ish. It can be done in a day, okay?
Honestly, you don’t need much to make it work. I’ll even tell you how I tweaked our DIY tote kit pattern to make it charm-pack friendly, because I’m nice like that.
What You’ll Need (Barely Anything)
- 1 Charm Pack (use 40 squares, 20 per side. Yes, that means you’ll have 2 sad leftovers.
- 3/4 yard lining fabric (way more than you need, but it is what it is. (Unless you want to piece something together, like you're about to see below).
- 2 pieces of batting about 21" x 25" each (scraps are fine. Seriously. It’s not that serious).
- 1.5 yards of 1” webbing/strapping, cut in half
How to Make It (Let’s Not Overthink This)
1. Sew Your Outer Panels
Sew charm squares together into 4 rows of 5. Use a ¼” seam allowance. Press your seams. Pretend it matters which way.
2. Quilt Your Panels
Cut batting: roughly 1” bigger on all sides than your pieced front. More is okay.
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Layer each panel with batting. Quilt as desired. I went with straight lines in multiple colors. Just follow your heart on this one.
3. Create bag lining
Measure your panels above and cut 2 lining pieces the same size. Approximately 18.5" x 23". Assuming math and seam allowance worked out in your favor. It didn’t for me. So there's that.
4. Make the Bag Sandwich
Place the outer panels right sides together. Stitch the sides and bottom. Repeat for lining, but leave a 5" hole in the bottom. You’ll thank me later.
5. Box the Corners
Pinch and sew across the corners to make the bag look like a bag. Aim for a 2.5"-3” depth. Or just eyeball it, I’m not the tote HOA.
6. Attach the Straps
Straps go 5” in from the sides. Baste them in place. They look better when they match. Or don’t. Your bag, your chaos.
7. Assemble the Whole Thing
Put the outer bag inside the lining, right sides together, straps tucked in. Stitch around the top edge like you mean it.
8. Flip It Out
Use the hole in the lining to turn the whole thing right side out. Magic! Press the top edge. Regret nothing.
9. Topstitch & Finish
Topstitch around the edge to make it look clean. Stitch the hole in the lining shut. You can do it by hand or use your machine. It’ll rarely be seen anyway.
Bask in the glory of an actual complete project. Assuming you didn’t 95% it. And if you didn’t finish it, who cares?
Done. Now What?
Fill it with strawberries, fabric, or all your existential dread. Alternatively, just hang it on a hook and admire it until October.
Are you still here?! Here's some more ideas to customize your freaking tote.
- Quilt all layers together and finish raw edges with quilt binding or bias tape (as shown with the strawberry fabric tote).
- Add a pocket to the lining before sewing together. Measure with your heart.
- Keep your shit from spilling out by adding a magnetic snap or button loop closure.
- Personalize with a label or pin I guess.
Happy sewing! Or at least tolerable sewing.
Brickell
