Sewing Tutorial: Toy Storage Bag

My oldest isn't even three yet but already he's amassing collections of all sorts of little toys. You know, little cars, little wind-up-thinga-majiggies. Collections. In an effort to organize his growing assortment of mini-cars, I made a storage bag for them this week.

It took less than an hour and works well to contain the clutter and keep like things together. It's also easy for him to open and close on his own when he's picking up his toys. Here's a step-by-step.

I picked out some car-themed fabric and used a bag we already had {it came with another toy} as a template.
The finished bag measures 10" x 14". Calculating a 1/2" seam on both sides and allowing for an extra 3 1/2" on each top side {to fold over for the bag top}, cut an 11" x 35" rectangle from your fabric.

Fold the fabric in half, lengthwise with right sides facing each other. Then, sew 1/2" seams up both sides of the fabric. I also stitched the edges for added durability - may not be necessary in a house void of testosterone. Imagine the bliss....
Next, hem the top by folding the edges over twice, to hide the raw edge, and sew in place. Mine was about a 1/8" hem.

Fold the top of the bag down until about 3" of the right-side fabric is showing.

Line up the side seam stitches and stitch the top fold in place by sewing along the existing seam.

Lay the bag flat and draw a rectangle in the center of the top fold for a handle. You may want to pin the fabric around the top to hold it in place while you cut out the handles.

I found a pack of blue bias tape I got on clearance at Walmart for 25 cents and used a bit of it to sew around the raw edges of the handles.

See the pink bobbin thread? Yup. I was too lazy to change it. And I doubt my toddler cares.

Cut some Velcro to the approximate length of the handle. Sew below each handle on the inside of the bag.

Turn the bag right-side out.

Done.

Hello, little fleet.

Welcome home.

Just look at that smile!