Make your very own Halloween trick or treat tote bag with the latest Halloween design releases from OESD! This tote bag tutorial combines your love of embroidery and quilting into one fun project, and will certainly turn some heads come trick or treat time. This tutorial will provide patterns for two different quilting designs for two different embroidery collections, our Classic Monster Felt Appliques and Quilted Ghosts by Cynthia Frenette. The instructions, however, will only go through the instructions for the monster tote. You can apply the same techniques used on the Monster bag, for the Ghost bag.
Supplies
Stabilizers
OESD Heavy Weight TearAway
OESD Fusible Woven
OESD Fuse and Fleece
Fabric/Textiles
Monster Tote:
Black Quilter’s Cotton
Purple Quilter’s Cotton
OESD Luxe Sparkle Vinyl, Steel Gray
Quilted Ghost Tote:
Green Quilter’s Cotton
Light Purple Quilter’s Cotton
Orange Quilter’s Cotton
Black Quilter’s Cotton
Dark Grey Quilters Cotton
OESD Luxe Sparkle Vinyl, Black
Notions & Tools
OESD Grippy Grid
OESD Perfect Embroidery Press Cloth
Thread
See thread charts for Classic Monster Felt Appliques and Quilted Ghosts by Cynthia Frenette.
Patterns
Finished Tote Bag Size: 7 1/2″ L x 3″ W x 10 1/4″ H
Quilted Ghost Tote Cutting & Layout (two sides):
| Piece | # | Size | Color |
| A | 4 | 2 3/4″ W x 2 3/4″ H | Light Purple |
| B | 4 | 2 1/2″ W x 2 3/4″ H | Black |
| C | 2 | 3 1/2″ W x 2 3/4″ H | Orange |
| D | 4 | 2 3/4″ W x 2 1/2″ H | Dark Grey |
| 4 | 2 3/4″ W x 2 1/2″ H | Orange | |
| 4 | 2 3/4″ W x 2 1/2″ H | Black | |
| 4 | 2 3/4″ W x 2 1/2″ H | Light Purple | |
| E | 4 | 2 1/2″ W x 2 1/2″ H | Black |
| F* | 2 | 7 1/2″ W x 8 1/2″ H | Green |
| Sparkle Vinyl | 2 | 12″ x 2 3/4″ | Black |
| Handles | 2 | 4” x 16 1/2″ strips | Use scraps |
| Lining | 2 | 12″ W x 13″ H | |
| Fusible Woven (a) | 2 | 10″ x 15″ (or large enough to hoop, applied to F) | |
| Fusible Woven (b) | 2 | 4″ x 16 1/2″ (for handles) |
*Wait to cut this until the design is embroidered
Monster Tote Cutting & Layout
| Piece | # | Size | Color |
| A | 2 | 12″ W x 2 1/2″ H | Purple |
| B | 4 | 2 1/2″ W x 8 1/4″ H | Purple |
| C* | 2 | 8″ W x 8 1/4″ H | Black |
| Sparkle Vinyl | 2 | 12″ W x 3 1/4″ H | Steel Grey |
| Handles | 2 | 4” x 17″ strips | Use scraps |
| Lining | 2 | 12″ W x 13″ H | |
| Fusible Woven (a) | 2 | 10″ x 15″ (or large enough to hoop, applied to C) | |
| Fusible Woven (b) | 2 | 4″ x 17″ (for handles) |
*wait to cut this until the design is embroidered
Embroidering the Designs
Once you have gathered all of your supplies, it is time to start embroidering your trick or treat tote bag. Start by cutting your background fabric to 10″x15″ or large enough to hoop. Apply fusible woven to the wrong side of the background fabric. Fusible woven is our favorite fabric-prep stabilizer; it’s great for preventing fabric from shifting in the hoop and puckering. Hoop your prepped fabric with OESD Heavy Weight TearAway stabilizer and embroider the design according to the instructions for the collection.
Piecing the Exterior of the Trick or Treat Bag
Trim your embroidered fabric around the design. For the Monster Trick or Treat Bag, we trimmed the fabric to 8″ wide by 8 1/4″ tall, centering the embroidery design. Piece together your fabric pieces around the embroidered section using a 1/4″ seam allowance until the bag front measures 12″ wide and 13″ tall. For best results, sew together B sections to the center embroidery, and then sew A section to the top of the sewn together B, C, B sections, followed by Sparkle Vinyl at the bottom. Press seam allowances towards B strips, and A strip. Instead of pressing the vinyl, we prefer to warm it so it is supple and then finger press into place.
To add extra body to your Monster Trick or Treat Tote Bag, apply a piece of Fuse and Fleece to the wrong side of the exterior bag pieces
The Handles
Creating the Handles
Apply Fusible Woven to the wrong side of the handle fabric. Our Fusible Woven is sold in white and black, so if you are using a dark fabric, you can use the black Fusible Woven. Fold the handle fabric in half, wrong sides together, open back up, and fold each long side inwards once more towards the center crease and press. Fold the handle in half again. Topstitch approximately 1/8″ from each edge with a 3mm stitch length.
Attaching the Handles
Once your handles are sewn, measure 3″ from each outside edge of the exterior bag pieces and make small mark. For darker fabric, try out the Perfect Pencil! Align the outside edge of the handle with the marks as shown below, making sure the handle is not twisted. Use OESD Button Clips to hold straps in place. Stitch the handles to the exterior at 1/4″, backstitching to ensure the handles are strong enough for candy!
Sew Exterior and Lining into Trick or Treat Tote Bag Shape
It’s time to see your Trick or Treat Tote Bag start to take shape! Pin the two lining rectangles right sides together. On the center of one of the 12″ sides, mark a 5″ opening; this will be the bottom of the tote bag. Stitch together the sides and bottom of the lining with a 1/2″ seam allowance, leaving the 5″ opening.
TIP: Put two pins close together to signify a start and stop stitching point for your opening.
Pin or clip the two exterior bag pieces right sides together. Stitch together the sides and bottom of the exterior pieces with a 1/2″ seam allowance; do not leave an opening at the bottom edge.
Box Corners
Box corners are what gives this bag its tote bag shape! To create them, press the seam allowances you just sewed open. Bring the side and bottom seam allowance together at the corner and pin.
Measure 1 1/2″ down from the point and draw a horizontal line that is 3″ long.
Stitch on the drawn line about 3 times, slightly offsetting the stitches each time.
Trim off excess fabric 1/2″ away from the seam line and repeat for all corners, including the lining.
Sew Exterior and Lining Together
Turn the exterior bag right sides out and place exterior bag into the lining bag, right sides together. Make sure the handles are sandwiched between the exterior and the lining. Pin around the top edges, matching the side seams, and sew around the top edge with 1/2″ seam allowance. Remember that hole we left in the lining? Time to use it! Turn the bag right side out through the opening in the lining.
Topstitching
Topstitching will take your project from looking homemade, to professional. Next up, tuck the lining into the exterior bag and work the top seam so that the lining is almost at the top, but still not showing on the outside. Pin, press, and topstitch with a 3mm stitch length around the top of the bag at a 1/8″ seam allowance.
Closing The Lining for your Trick or Treat Tote Bag
Unless you want candy getting stuck deep in belly of your Trick or Treat Tote Bag, you’ll need to close up the lining. The next step is to tuck the seam allowance into the opening in the lining and stitch it closed with a 1/8th” seam allowance (you can also hand stitch it closed). Give the bag a good press and enjoy a fun night of trick or treating!
Enjoy your Trick or Treat Tote Bag!
We hope you are finishing this tutorial with an adorable Monster or Quilt Ghost Trick or Treat Tote Bag! These patterns are so versatile and just by swapping out the colors and embroidery design, it can be used for different seasons. Looking for more DIY Machine Embroidery inspiration this fall? Check out this post which takes you through making spider web lace, or this post that teaches how to make a pumpkin-shaped mug rug!
