How to Sew the Sides of a Knitted Tote Bag to Be Felted
A felted tote bag is a project that requires only basic knitting skills. Once you have made the two main pieces of the tote bag, you're ready to sew up the sides before you begin the felting process. Use nonwashable yarn for your felted tote bag so it can shrink up. When you sew up the sides, be thorough and firm so the bag will last a long time and be capable of holding heavy items.
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Instructions
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Finish knitting the tote bag you wish to felt. The felting process will significantly shrink the size of the tote bag. To put the shrinkage in perspective, plan on using about 1,250 yards of yarn for a large tote bag. A bag that measured 22 inches by 25 inches before felting will measure about 20 inches by 20 inches after felting.
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Sew the bottom seam by putting the right sides of the tote bag together and matching up all four corners. Thread a yarn needle with the same yarn you used to knit the tote bag. Sew up the bottom seam with a straight stitch, firmly catching stitches from both sides of the tote bag with each stitch. Cut a 6-inch tail of yarn and weave it back along the seam you just created to hide the yarn's end.
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Sew up the side seams. For each side seam, thread the yarn onto your needle and sew up the side of the bag, keeping the lengths of the sides even. Use a straight stitch, and when you get to the end of the seam, weave the 6-inch end back on itself so the tail disappears into the bag.
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Turn the bag inside out. and set the bottom seam on your work surface. Flatten out the bottom of the tote bag so it's as wide as you want it to be. Create triangles on each side of the tote to help it stand up instead of fall to the side when you set it down. When you've decided how wide you want the bottom of the bag to be, you'll have two triangles, one on each end of the tote bag. Make the two triangles as even as possible. You should have a triangle on each side and a rectangle in the middle.
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Thread your needle with yarn again, and stitch straight across each of the triangles to give the bottom of the tote bag definition. As with the side and bottom seams, leave a 6-inch tail when you finish your seam, and weave the end back through the seam. Your tote bag is now ready to felt. If you've stitched up your seams well, they'll become even tighter during the felting process, and you'll have a tough, well-constructed tote bag.
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Tips & Warnings
Use the same yarn for stitching up the sides that you used for knitting the tote.
Don't tie knots in the yarn to finish off a seam. Always weave the end back into the knitting.
References
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