How to Make a Laptop Tote
In today's workplace, home life, or school environment, carrying your laptop in a convenient, portable tote is a necessity. Totes for laptops can be expensive, but with moderate sewing machine skills you can make a laptop tote in fabric that expresses your personality and interests. Individualize your tote with fabric that you love instead of the traditional blacks, blues, and browns offered by most retail laptop totes. By using quilted fabric, you eliminate the time involved in sewing a padded layer, thus finishing your tote faster so that you can start using it right away.
Things You'll Need
- 2- quilted fabric rectangles 17 inches long by 19 inches wide
- 2 - rectangles of same quilted fabric or a different fabric-- for handles, 14 inches long by 5 inches wide
- Straight pins
- Tape measure
- Sewing machine
- Thread
Instructions
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1
Fold one 19 inch edge over 1 inch against the wrong side of the fabric, on each rectangle. Pin. Sew, using a straight stitch. Remove pins.
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2
Place the two 17 x 19 inch fabric rectangles, right sides of the fabric touching, onto a flat surface with the hemmed edges on top. You'll be looking at the wrong side of the fabric. Pin the two 17 inch sides and the unsewn 19 inch bottom edge. Sew, on the sewing machine, the two sides and bottom of the tote--using a 1 inch seam allowance and a straight stitch. Remove pins. Set aside.
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3
Place one 14 x 5 inch fabric rectangle onto a flat surface with the wrong side of the fabric facing you. Fold the rectangle in half vertically, so you are looking at the right side of the fabric. This is a handle.
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4
Fold the 14 inch edge of the fabric under 1 inch, inside of the folded fabric, and against the wrong side of the fabric so no raw edges are exposed. Pin. Top stitch, on the sewing machine, with a ¼-inch seam allowance, and a straight stitch, removing pins as you sew, along the edge. This is a handle of the laptop tote. Repeat with the other 14 x 5 inch rectangle for the other handle.
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5
Fold the raw fabric edges at the two ends of each handle inside of the handle "tube," ½ inch. Pin. Top stitch across the top and bottom of each handle. Remove pins.
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6
Turn the laptop tote right side out by reaching inside and grasping an edge and pulling it through the opening. Smooth the tote flat on a hard surface.
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7
Fold one handle strap in half and hold the center fold with your hand. Measure 8 ½ inches toward the tote's center from the left and right sides at the tote's top edge. Place a pin there.
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8
Position a handle so the handle's center is aligned with the center pin. Pin the ends of the handle 2 inches down from the tote's top edge, one handle end on each side of the center pin. Repeat for the handle for the tote's other side.
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9
Insert the tote over the sewing machine table/bed, and lift the pressure foot, sliding the tote and handle beneath. Sew a 1 inch square at the end of each handle, aligning the bottom of each square with the bottom edge of each handle end. You'll sew four squares.
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10
Slip your laptop into the laptop tote. Hold the tote by the two handles.
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