"Tote-torial" for
Embroidered Tote Pockets
^©Barbara Weiland Talbert for Jo-Lydia’s Attic

You'll need the "Magic Tuck" Market Tote pattern from Jo-Lydia's Attic and cotton canvas, denim, or other sturdy cotton fabric to create a collection of grocery totes like those shown below. If you have a computerized embroidery machine, gussy them up a bit with food-friendly embroideries on the outer pocket. If you don't have an embroidery machine, make plain lined-and-bound pockets following the directions and photos following the embroidery directions below.

Easy to Pack and/or Store
The fold-flat bottom style of this tote design (not the traditional box-bottom tote) makes it possible to stand up and carry its load without buckling and bulging. Your grocer will be happy that it's so easy to fill this tote—it won't fall over while they check and pack your items. The tucked bottom folds flat when the tote is not in use, so stacking several in your back seat for your trip to market is easy. All-the-way-around straps ensure stability to carry the load. 


Eco-Friendly
To make these totes truly eco-friendly, I used all-natural cotton fabrics and cotton webbing for the straps (rather than polyester or nylon). 

Easy Construction
The pattern includes cutting and assembly directions for a "Plain-Jane" canvas tote. Follow the directions for the canvas tote after creating the pockets—embroidered or not as you wish—following the all-in-one lining/binding directions below.

Note: The patchwork tote featured in the pattern includes directions for an inner zipped pocket and a cell-phone pocket. I eliminated them in the canvas totes because they're not really necessary in grocery totes.

Great Gifts
Why not make a set of six of these easy totes for everyone on your Christmas list so they can help eliminate plastic waste that clogs our eco-system?

Materials and Supplies

Magic Tuck Market Tote pattern (Jo-Lydia's Attic)

1 yard 44/45-inch-wide cotton canvas for the tote

1 fat quarter of a cotton print for pocket and the upper-edge binding

1"-wide cotton webbing for straps to coordinate with embroidery and trim color

Rayon or cotton embroidery thread

Fruit Basket, #GNHL16385

Vegetable Soup, #NV681

Harvest Basket, #H982

Fall Grape Applique, #FP976

Corn, #FA785

How to Embroider a Pocket
1. Choose your favorite "foodie" embroidery motifs. Enlarge the designs in embroidery software to about 4" to 4-1/2" square or rectangle) to better fill the open space on the pocket if they are not already close to this size. Save the new design with a new file name in your software. Transfer the designs to your machine's embroidery unit. (If you don't have design software, enlarge the design on the machine.)

2. For each pocket, cut a 9" x 15" rectangle of canvas. I also cut a layer of thin cotton batting to place underneath the canvas for a better finished embroidered motif. You can test this with your fabric and eliminate it if you don't think it enhances the embroidery. My canvas was so tightly woven and flat—I liked the finished look better when I used the batting. Hoop the fabric (and batting if you are using it).

3. Insert a new size 90 embroidery needle in your machine. Embroider the pocket for each tote you are making with the desired design. Clip jump threads, unhoop, and steam press to remove the hoop marks.



4. Cut a 6-1/2" x 8-1/2" rectangle template from parchment paper (I save and use the transfer sheets from fusible web for this purpose) or draw it on template plastic. Draw the lower seamline 1/2" above one long edge, plus a centering axis.

5. Locate the center of the approximate visual center of the embroidered pocket panel and position the paper cutting template over it. Adjust as needed so that the lower edge of the design is at least 1/2" above the lower marked stitching line and there is about 1" of room above the top of the design. Slide the template side to side until the design is visually centered as desired.


6. Use flathead flower pins to hold the template in place. Trim to size, using rotary cutting equipment. 



7. If you backed the embroidery with lightweight batting, trim it away around the outermost edges of the embroidery stitches.  

All-in-One Pocket Lining/Binding

1. Cut the canvas pieces for the tote front and back as directed in the Magic Tuck Market Tote pattern (see the directions for the "Plain Jane Canvas Market Totes").

Note: If you did not embroider a pocket, cut a 6-1/2" x 8-1/2" canvas rectangle for the outer pocket. Do not cut canvas for the inner pockets unless you want to add them.

2. Cut two 4" x 22" binding strips from the fat quarter for the tote upper edge and sew them together to make one long strip. Press the seam open. For the all-in-one pocket lining/binding, cut one 7-1/2" x 8-1/2" piece from the fat quarter. 

Note: The seams in the patchwork tote in the pattern are bound for a pretty inside finish but that's not necessary in a canvas tote as you can serge- or zigzag-finish the inside seams—a faster, easier finish for a utilitarian canvas tote.
 
3. With right sides facing, sew the outer pocket and lining pieces together 1/2" from the upper raw edges (along the 8-1/2"-long edge. Turn the lining toward the seam allowance and press.

4. Wrap the lining over the seam edge to the wrong side and press.



5. Bring the lining back to the pocket right side and place the lower raw edges right sides together. Then slip the lining 1/8" past the canvas pocket edge as shown. Pin.



Note: Slipping the edge will make it easier to turn and press the lining so it won't peek out the lower edge of the finished pocket. A "bubble" will form in the lining. Stitch 1/2" from the raw edges and press along the stitched line to set the stitches.



6. Trim the seam to 1/4".  


7. Turn the lined pocket right side out through one open side edge and press. The pocket is ready to attach to the front tote panel as shown in the directions for The Magic Tuck Market Tote pattern. Pin in place and stitch close to the lower edge. Machine-baste 1/8" from the short edges.
  

8. Add the straps and complete the tote as directed in the pattern.



* Other fruit and veggie embroidery designs are available from OESD for easy download. Do a search at www.embroideryonline.com/  

Copyright Barbara Weiland Talbert/All the Write Words. All rights reserved.