Why a Reversible Tote Earns Its Keep

There is something quietly satisfying about a bag you have made yourself, and a reversible tote gives you two for the price of one. Plain natural canvas on the outside one week and a cheerful print the next, simply by turning it inside out. It is the ideal next-step project if you have got to grips with straight seams and basic machine stitching, because there are no zips, no buttonholes and no curved seams to wrestle with. The only genuinely technical moment is the boxed corners, and once those click you will be boxing every bag you make.

The bag I make most often finishes at roughly 40cm wide, 40cm tall and 10cm deep along the base. That is generous enough for a loaf of bread, a paperback, a water bottle and a folded raincoat, without swinging about like luggage on a busy bus. The handles are long enough to sit comfortably on a shoulder over a winter coat.

Choosing Two Fabrics That Play Nicely Together

Because both sides are on show, both fabrics need to be sturdy enough to be an outer layer. Aim for a similar weight in each — anything from roughly 200 to 260 gsm behaves beautifully. Cotton canvas, medium-weight denim, cotton drill, furnishing-weight cotton and mattress ticking all press crisply and hold their shape. Steer clear of anything very stiff, such as heavy upholstery fabric, because the bag will fight you at the corners, and avoid slippery dress fabrics entirely if this is your first reversible make.

Wash and press both fabrics before you cut anything. Cotton shrinks, and a bag that shrinks after assembly will pull its seams out of shape and leave the top edge rippling. A hot wash followed by a hot tumble dry, then a thorough press, is the safest approach. You will need half a metre of each fabric at 140cm wide, plus a little extra if your print has a large repeat or a directional design that needs matching.

What You Will Need

• 0.5m each of two medium-weight woven fabrics, 140cm wide
• All-purpose polyester thread in a colour that suits both fabrics
• A size 90/14 machine needle for medium weight
• Pins or clips, fabric marker, long ruler, sharp scissors or a rotary cutter
• An iron and ironing board — pressing does half the work here
• Optional: a loop turner or safety pin, and an overlocker or zigzag stitch for neatening seams

Cutting Out and Making the Handles

From each fabric, cut two panels measuring 42cm by 45cm, and two handle strips measuring 8cm by 62cm. Take one handle strip, fold it in half lengthways with right sides together and pin. Sew along the long raw edge with a 1cm seam allowance, then turn the tube right side out — a safety pin pushed through and secured at one end makes short work of this. Press the handle flat with the seam running down the centre back. Repeat for the remaining three strips, so you have two handles in each fabric.

Now mark the handle positions on the top edge of each panel. Working along the 42cm edge, measure 9cm in from each side and draw a short line. Place the raw ends of one handle at those marks, with the handle loop pointing down into the bag and the raw edges sitting flush with the panel's top edge. Tack each end within the seam allowance, roughly 5mm from the edge. Do this for all four panels, keeping each fabric's handles with its own panels.

Stitching the Two Bags

Working with one fabric at a time, place the two panels right sides together. Pin along both side seams and the bottom edge, then sew each with a 1cm seam allowance, pivoting sharply at the corners rather than sewing off the edge.

For the boxed corners, open out one bottom corner so that the side seam sits directly on top of the bottom seam, forming a flattened triangle. Measure 5cm down from the point, draw a line across at right angles, pin, and sew along it. Trim the excess to 1cm. Repeat on the other corner, then neaten the seams with a zigzag stitch or overlocker. Press the seams open where you can. Repeat the whole process with the second fabric, so you now have two complete bag shapes — one turned right side out, one still inside out.

Joining, Turning and Finishing

Slip the right-side-out bag inside the inside-out bag, so the two are right sides together and the handles lie flat inside their own panels. Match the side seams, pin generously around the top edge, and sew all the way round with a 1cm seam allowance, leaving a 12cm gap at the centre of one side for turning.

Pull the whole bag through the gap. It will look like a collapsed heap for a moment — keep going. Push one bag down inside the other, poke the corners out with a blunt pencil, and press the top edge firmly, easing the gap edges together until they meet neatly. Topstitch all the way around the top edge, 5mm from the edge, which closes the gap as you go. A second row of stitching 2cm below the first adds real strength and stops the layers shifting about in use.

Finishing touches worth the effort: press the base so the bag stands up on its own, and consider a patch pocket on one side of each layer, stitched on before the panels are joined. A small tab of ribbon with a key ring attached, tucked into a side seam, turns a good bag into a genuinely useful one.