Last Saturday, I made a reversible tote bag for my 3-tier Bento Bako (弁当箱 / lunch box), which is used for family outings or church lunches. The pattern I used was taken from this book (バッグ日和) that features a simple square tote bag. As usual, being an overconfident amateur, I tweaked the sizes and defiantly altered the instructions to suit my needs.

Here is my step-by-step work process that I’d love to share with you.

 

 

Fabric Choice & Pattern

I used three sets of Japanese-designed cotton fabrics. Since I want to keep the fabric soft, light, and washable, I never use any fusible interfacing.

Pattern – A x 1 piece (55x17cm); B x 2 pieces ( 17x19cm); C x 1 piece (55x55cm). Note: A & B are a set (i.e. outer bag), while C is on its own (i.e. linings).

C was made up of 3 pieces of fabric sewed together.
To speed things up, I folded the C fabric into 4-folds, and cut away
a 19 by 19 cm square at the corner to form the cross. (See above picture)

 

 

Sewing the Outer Bag

As mentioned earlier, A & B are a set. On the wrong side of the fabric, I sewed the sides of A & B together in this sequence… (1) (2) (3)… with a 0.5 cm hem since I don’t have a lot of fabric to spare.

After one side was completed, I sewed the second piece of B to A with the same sequence.

Next, I made the cloth handles and sewed them close to the edges of the right side of the outer bag (A & B set). To make ONE handle:

1. I used a 5cm wide stripe of fabric (with a 35 cm length).

2. I folded the stripe of fabric into two and pressed it until the centerline was visible.

3. Folded in the fray edges towards the centerline until I had a 2 cm width.

4. Sew all the way around the edge.

 

 

Sewing the Inner Bag (Lining)

To make the linings, or inner bags, I sewed the four sets of relevant edges together (see picture above).

 

 

Putting Them Together

I placed both the inner and outer bags together, with their RIGHT SIDES touching.

I matched the two seams and pinned them in place. Then, I machined the edges but left an opening wide enough to turn the bag RIGHT-SIDE OUT.

 

 

Final Touch…

Once the bag was right-side-out, I closed the opening by topstitching along the edge.

Viola! My bento bag, my pride! ^_^b