A Fresh For Spring Boxy Bag Perfect For Mother's Day

In about an hour you can pull together this Fresh For Spring Boxy Bag. Give it a try! Choose two coordinating fabrics from our Fat Quarter Bundles.

Fabric: Art Gallery Fabrics Dawn Chorus and Georgia Peach

Let's get started!

Step #1 - Gather your supplies.

One Fat Quarter Exterior Fabric, cut to 12" x 18"

One Fat Quarter Interior Fabric, cut to 12" x 18"

(Tip: This bag finished is 8 1/2" x 4 3/4" x 5 1/4". You can make it larger or smaller by changing your rectangle size.)

Stabilizer cut 1 piece 12" x 18"

(Tip: I love using quilting cotton for this project simply for the variety of beautiful colors and prints. I added a stabilizer to my exterior fabric to give my bag a little more stiffness. You can find stabilizers that iron on, but I used a sew in stabilizer and just glued it to wrong side of my cut exterior fabric. Easy! If you're using a heavier fabric, you may not want to add the stabilizer.)

Zipper 12 inch or larger

All-purpose Thread in a coordinating color

Step #2 - Let's sew!

Attach the zipper: Lay your exterior fabric right side up and line up your zipper, right side facing down, along one of the shorter edges of the exterior fabric. Right sides of your fabric and zipper should be facing each other. Use a zipper foot to stitch the zipper to the exterior fabric piece using a 1/4" seam allowance. (Tip: Move the zipper slider out of the way so you don't have to sew next to it. This will give you a straighter seam.)

Attach the lining: Lay your lining fabric, right side facing, along the same edge of the zipper tape. The zipper will be enclosed between the exterior and lining fabrics. Then sew along the same line you stitched before. Next you'll need to expose your zipper by folding the exterior and lining fabrics away from the zipper.

Create a loop: Align the other side of the zipper tape with the other short edge of your exterior fabric, right sides together. Sew just like you did before, with a 1/4" seam allowance. This creates your loop. Repeat with the lining as before, enclosing your zipper between the exterior and lining fabrics. Unzip your zipper and turn your loops to align your exterior and lining fabrics. Then turn the whole thing inside out once again.

Box Corners: At this point, flatten your box and measure from each side to the zipper, making sure the zipper is in the center. I like to use my iron at this point to press the side seams and help me keep the zipper center-aligned. Next trace a 2"x 1 1/2" rectangle in each corner of your box, 2 inches from the raw edge and 1 1/2" from the folded edge.

Finish Side Seams: Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew a straight line along the raw edge, through all layers of fabric, from one box corner mark to the other. Start and end with a backstitch here to make sure your seams are secure. You may also want to backstitch along the zipper a couple of times especially if you are adjusting the length of your zipper. Repeat on the other raw side. Pink or zigzag stitch your raw edges & cut your box corners.

Sew Boxed Corners: One at a time, open up a corner, refold aligning the raw edges of the corners with each other. Stitch using a a 1/2" seam allowance backstitching at your start and stop. Repeat with the other corners. Finish the raw edges again using pinking shears or a zigzag stitch. Pull the whole box right side out through the zipper. I like to use my iron again here to create crisp edges. You did it!

Step #3 - Post it and tag us!

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