It has been far too long since I have shared a tutorial in this space and I will be remedying that today! As soon as I saw this fun Halloween fabric line, Spooky Hollow by Melissa Mortensen, I knew I wanted to make something to show off the amazing trick-or-treaters. They are just so fun! I settled on some Halloween trick-or-treating tote bags.

For each bag you will need:

1/2 yard for exterior

1/2 yard for lining

2.5″ x width of fabric for bag handle

1/2 yard interfacing (like shape flex 101 fusible interfacing)

Prep and Construction:

Cut (2) 12 1/2″ x 15 1/2″ of the exterior and lining fabrics. Cut (2) 12″ x 15″ pieces of the interfacing.

Follow the manufacturer instructions and fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the exterior fabric panels.

Fold the handle piece in half, with wrong sides together. Press down the entire length of the piece. Open it up, and then press each side to the center line you just made. Press.

Topstitch 1/8″ away from the edge of both sides of the handle piece you just made, then cut the handle in half so you have 2 pieces that are roughly 20″ long.

Place the exterior panels with right sides together. You will then sew along the sides and bottom of the pieces, using a 3/8″ seam allowance.

Next, sew together the lining pieces. You will need to leave a 3-4″ hole on the bottom of the lining so you can use it to flip the bag right side out at the end of construction. Sew the sides and bottom, minus the 3-4″ hole, using a 3/8″ seam allowance.

In order to achieve a tote bag shape, you will next need to box the corners of the lining and the exterior of the bag. Simply gather the bottom corners of the bag and pin them as shown below. Mark a line that is 1″ from the corner. This will become your sewing line.

Do this for the lining and exterior of the bag, trim off the corners, then turn the exterior bag piece right side out.

Pin the handle piece onto the exterior bag piece 3″ away from each side seam. Repeat for the other handle.

Shimmy the lining bag piece (with the WRONG SIDE facing out) onto the lining. The right sides of the fabrics will be touching. Pin like crazy to hold things in place.

Sew using a 1/2″ seam allowance around the top seam of the bag, then flip it right side out through the hole you left in the bottom of the lining.

Press the top so it is nice and crisp. Topstitch 1/8″ away from the top edge and sew the lining hole closed.

These tote bags are a fast, simple way to use a great focal print from a collection. My kids are looking forward to using these on Halloween, especially since we missed out on trick-or-treating last year!

Spooky Hollow will be hitting your favorite local quilt shop or online shop very soon and I cannot wait to see what you make with it!