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Ragged Edge Tote in Two Sizes

With Reverse Box Corners
EDITOR: Liz Johnson
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Ragging. Slang defines it as, “Picking on someone in an annoying way.” Well that’s not very pleasant. We prefer the sewing definition, which is: assembling a project so your seam allowances are visible on the outside and left to gently fray or “rag.” That sounds so much nicer!

We’re done several ragged edge projects (Woolies Flannel Rag Quilt, Ragged Edge Toss Pillows, Baby Rag Quilt), but hadn’t ventured outside traditional blanket/pillow application… until now. These cute totes have fluffy ragged edges along the sides and around the top. It’s a soft, casual look with a touch of the “outdoorsy” about it.

For this project, and really any ragging project, you should stick with woven fabrics with a high cotton content. We chose a duck canvas for our exterior with flannel for the lining. The fabric is layered with both fusible fleece and a lightweight interfacing to provide soft yet sightly slouchy structure. 

All these wonderful layers mean you’ll be sewing through some thickness. Not a problem for our favorite machines: Janome! They have the power, precision, and the best options for fabric feeding. Our thanks to Janome America for sponsoring, which helps us continue to bring you the instructions, photos, and templates free of charge!

Although we did use both our standard presser foot and a Quarter Inch Seam foot for some elements of construction, for the majority of the steps, we strongly recommend either an Even Feed/Walking foot or engaging your machine’s built-in fabric feeding system. We used the amazing Janome AcuFeed™ Flex fabric feeding system. If you are unfamiliar with the mechanics of how fabric feeding works, here are the basics. A machine’s lower feed dogs are those things that look like plates with little teeth directly under your presser foot. They work underneath to help move the fabric across the needle plate. An Even Feed foot or a feeding system, like AcuFeed™ Flex has additional feed dogs incorporated into the foot that work from above. The two sets of feed dogs are matched and integrated so they work together to keep your thick and/or difficult fabric layers moving with precision and without shifting across the plate. 

You’ll notice from our photos that we added a monogram to the large tote. This is optional, but since we were using the Janome Skyline S9 Sewing + Embroidery machine, we couldn’t resist adding a bit of embroidery. But, we didn’t want the embellishment to leap out at you, and so we opted for a tone-on-tone stitchout through both the canvas exterior and its fusible fleece layer, which added some definition for a subtle, textural finish. 

For this project, we chose a unique combination of fringing and ragging. The steps are detailed below, including our recommendations for how to pre-wash. We found that a bit of fringing around all edges of both panels prior to a second washing and drying yielded the best finish. As always, you are welcome to do your own tests and pick your favorite ragging method. You could certainly simply wash and dry your panels multiple times to try to increase the look of the rag without any fringing. The key to keep in mind is you need the rag to go all the way up to your ¼” basting line. If it doesn’t, you could end up with solid fabric behind the rag once the final side seams are complete; that could cause the seam allowance to be floppy rather than fluffy.

The recommended yardages shown below should provide enough fabric to allow you to test your ragging, interfacing options, and monogramming – as well as to allow for shrinkage (flannel is especially famous for shrinking) during washing and drying, and to insure you are cutting your panels on-grain. The cutting diagram included below in the Getting Started section shows you all the particulars of each tote. You’re always welcome to adjust your fabric purchase to best fit your needs and skill level.

Adding metal hardware goes well with the overall “outdoorsy” look of the Totes. It is important your grommets, rivets, and swivel clips all match in tone. We chose brass. Steps are included for grommeting and riveting as well as how to achieve the cool look of the reverse box corners. 

Our thanks again to Janome America for their support of this project and many of our other popular projects. If you’re shopping for a machine for yourself or someone you’re teaching to sew, visit a local dealer for an in-person test stitch on any number of the frustration-free Janome machines. To find out more, visit their website, and follow them on social media.

The supply lists and cutting details are separated so it’s easy to make just one Tote or both. The Large Tote finishes at approximately 16” wide x 12” high x 4” deep. The Small Tote finishes at approximately 13” wide x 12” high x 3” deep. Both Totes feature double loop handles with a 10“ drop. 

Sewing Tools You Need  

Fabric and Other Supplies

NOTE: As mentioned above, the recommended yardages shown here should provide enough fabric to allow you to test your ragging, interfacing options, and optional monogramming – as well as to allow for shrinkage (flannel is especially famous for shrinking) during washing and drying and to insure you are cutting your panels on-grain. The cutting diagram included below in the Getting Started section shows you all the particulars of each tote. You are always welcome to adjust your fabric purchase to best fit your needs and skill level. 

Large Tote

Small Tote

Both Totes

  • All purpose thread to match fabric and webbing
  • See-through ruler
  • Tape measure
  • Fabric pen or pencil
  • Seam gauge
  • Seam ripper
  • Iron and ironing board
  • Scissors for cutting panels
  • Small, sharp, pointy scissors for opening the grommets holes
  • Rotary cutter and mat
  • Straight pins 
  • Fabric softener for pre-washing fabric
  • Lighter to melt/finish the ends of the webbing
  • Small hammer to set rivets; we recommend a ball peen hammer
  • Heavy metal, stone or wooden block to use as a cutting and hammering surface; we like to use a small granite block

Getting Started: Cutting, Template Download + Ragging Instructions (some machine work needed)

NOTE: The majority of the instructional photos show the Small Tote. Other than the optional monogram we added to the Large Tote, construction is the same for either size.

  1. DOWNLOAD AND PRINT the Interfacing Cutout Templates. There is one set of templates for the Large Tote and one set for the Small Tote. There are TWO templates for each size so you can pin both in place on your batting/interfacing, cutting out both rectangles at the same time. Refer to the Cutting Diagram below best understand the placement. Cutting out these sections from the fleece and interfacing keeps it out of the reverse box corners; you don’t want/need a lot of extra bulk in those corners. Using a template insures the size and placement is identical on both sides.

    IMPORTANT: This pattern download consists of ONE 8½” x 11″ sheet. You must print the PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page. Print as “landscape” not “portrait.” There is a guideline on the page so you can insure your final printout is the correct scale.
  2. Cut out the template pieces along their solid lines.

Pre-cutting wash/dry/press

  1. Put your full canvas and flannel yardages in the wash. Wash on hot and dry on high to get the most consistent shrinkage. We also added fabric softener to the wash cycle. It will be up to your fabric color selections as to whether or not you can launder the two fabrics together or if they need to be separated to avoid any colors running together. You can also add a color-catcher treatment.
  2. Press both fabrics. A little side note: we actually always recommend pressing your full yardage cuts prior to cutting – whether it requires pre-washing or not. Trying to cut around or across wrinkles and folds is never truly accurate.

Large Tote

  1. From the canvas, cut ONE 16½” x 28” panel.
  2. From the flannel, cut ONE 16½” x 28” panel.
  3. From the fusible fleece, cut ONE 16” x 27½” panel.
  4. Fold the fleece in half or measure to find the horizontal center line. 13¾” from the top down. As shown in the Cutting Diagram above, place a Cutout Template at either side of the panel, center the template on the center line of the fleece panel.
  5. Pin in place on either side and cut out the template from each side.
  6. From the lightweight interfacing, cut ONE 16” x 27½” panel. Follow the same steps as above for the fleece, to cut out each side of the interfacing.
  7. Cut the webbing into TWO 22” lengths.

Small Tote

  1. From the canvas, cut ONE 16½” x 27” panel.
  2. From the flannel, cut ONE 16½” x 28” panel.
  3. From the lightweight interfacing, cut ONE 16” x 27½” panel.
  4. From the lightweight interfacing, cut ONE 16” x 27½” panel.
    NOTE: As you did above, find your center point and use the Small Template to place and cut out rectangles at either side of both the fusible fleece and the lightweight interfacing.
  5. Cut the webbing into TWO 22” lengths.

NOTE: It is very important to make sure you are cutting your fabric on the straight of grain. This will not only help with the standard ragging that happens with washing and drying; it is critically important for the “ragging/fringing” technique we suggest below. To make sure your cuts stay on-grain, rather than using a rotary cutter and ruler, we recommend drawing in your cut lines with a fabric pencil and using scissors. With both the pencil and the scissors, you can actually kind of “feel” the weave of the fabric and notice when/if you fall off grain.

Basting

  1. Using a ¼” seam allowance, machine baste around all four sides of each panel: the exterior/canvas panel and the lining/flannel panel.
    NOTE: Use a contrasting thread for your basting so it’s easier to see the thread to remove it later. We switched to our Quarter Inch Seam foot and checked our manual to set the needle for a perfect quarter inch seam. It is important your seam is precise.

Ragging/Fringing

  1. We did several tests to determine how to get the best fluffy ragged edge for our panels. Our recommendation is a combination of fringing and ragging. To do this, you’ll start with the fringing. On both your exterior panel and lining panel, gently pull out each thread from the cut edge all the way back to your ¼” basting line.
  2. All you need is a long straight pin or T-pin and a bit of patience. The panels aren’t that large and you can really finish this step quite quickly. The increased fluff is worth it.
  3. Once each panel is fringed all the way around. Toss the panels into the wash once again on hot with fabric softener. Then toss in the dryer on high to finish the ragging of the fringed edges. A light press across the center of the panels should be all that is needed if you grab the panels right out of the dryer.

NOTE: As always, you are welcome to do your own tests and pick your favorite ragging method. You could certainly simply wash and dry your panels multiple times to try to increase the look of the rag without any fringing. The key to keep in mind is you need the rag to go all the way up to your ¼” basting line. If it doesn’t, you could end up with solid fabric behind the rag once the final side seams are complete; that could cause the seam allowance to be floppy rather than fluffy. 

Apply the fusible fleece and interfacing

  1. Center the fusible fleece panel, which should already have both cut-outs done, on the wrong side of the canvas panel. The fleece should be flush with the basting line on all sides. Following manufacturer’s instructions, fuse in place.
  2. Repeat to fuse the lightweight interfacing panel to the wrong side of the flannel panel.
  3. When complete, remove your basting lines.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board to Finish

Optional Monogram

  1. We added a classic three letter monogram in matching thread to the front of our large tote, positioning it X” from the top of the exterior panel. We wanted a “textural” effect rather than a look that jumps out from you. By embroidering in the matching thread at this point – through both the canvas and the fusible fleece, it adds some extra dimension but retains the subtle feel we were after.
  2. We used the Janome Skyline S9 for our monograming. This pretty three letter monogram within a diamond shape is one of the machine’s built-in designs. 

Layer panels, mark for grommets, add upper/lower stitch lines

  1. Layer your exterior and lining panels wrong sides together. Both panels should have their stabilizers fused in place. The ragged edges of both panels should be flush all around and the side template cut-outs should match up on both layers. 
  2. Find one of your grommet washers. You’ll use it to mark the hole placement.
  3. Start along the top edge of your layered panels. 
  4. Use your fabric pencil to mark the center of each grommet. On the Large Tote, the grommets should be 6” apart – 6” from the center of each grommet. Find the exact center of your panel then measure 3” to the right and 3” to the left. The top curve of the grommet should be approximately ⅛” below the inner line of the ragged edge. The photo below shows placement on the Large Tote. On the Small Tote, the spacing should be just 5” – so, 2½” to the left and right of exact center, ⅛” below the inner line of the ragged edge.
  5. Find your seam ripper and flip it upside down (sharp side up, dull side down).
  6. Place your ruler ⅛” below the lower curve of the grommet, matching the ⅛” space above the grommet. Hold the ruler firmly and
  7. This creates create an indented guide line through both layers. Could you just use a fabric pen or pencil to draw a line? Sure, but we feel this option was a bit more precise and the pressure kind of helps press the layers together. If you are a paper crafter, you may have other tools to help make this kind of an indent.
  8. Remove the grommet washer.
  9. Make sure your machine is threaded with thread to best match the exterior in the top and to best match the lining in the bobbin. Our colors were quite close; we used a hunter green in both the top and bobbin. Slightly length your stitch. 
  10. We also switched to our Janome AcuFeed™ Flex foot. You could also use an Even Feed/Walking foot. One or the other is strongly recommended to make sure the thicker layers move across the needle plate without shifting. 
  11. Stitch along the bottom “crease line” first.
  12. Re-set to stitch along the top just inside the ragged edge.
  13. Repeat all of the above along the BOTTOM of the panel. 

Insert the grommets

  1. Using a cutting tool (we used our rivet cutting tool – you could also use an awl or sharp, pointy scissors) create an initial hole at each center grommet point. This initial hole can be small but should go through ALL the layers.
  2. Center the grommet washer over each hole and use your fabric pen or pencil to trace the inner ring of the washer. This the how big your finished hole needs to be to fit the grommet into position.
  3. Use sharp, pointy scissors to enlarge the hole to the diameter of the drawn ring.
  4. Find all your grommet/washer pairs as well your grommet setting tools, which include a post and anvil.
  5. The grommet is the part with a “stem” and is the front-facing side. For our project, this means you need to insert the grommet from the front canvas side through to the lining flannel side.
  6. Slide the anvil underneath the bag and seat the grommet onto the anvil. Slip the washer over the stem of the grommet, and using the anvil, hammer to seal the two parts. We always recommend doing your hammering on an extra hard surface such a a block of hard plastic, stone or metal.
  7. Insert all four grommets – two at the top and two at the bottom.
    NOTE: If you are brand new to working with grommets/eyelets, we have a full tutorial you can review prior to starting.

Stitch the side seams and create the reverse box corners

  1. Fold your panel together. Take extra care to insure your ragged edges are flush along both sides. You can trim any extra long “strays” but be careful; the fluff is important, don’t get crazy with any tidying cuts. 
  2. Pin along both sides. 
  3. Using the same ¼” seam as you did above when originally basting the panels, stitch both sides. However, don’t switch back to a Quarter Inch Seam foot. It’s better to continue using an Even Feed/Walking foot or your built-in fabric feeding system, which is what we did, continuing to use our AcuFeed™ Flex.
  4. Remember to re-set for a standard stitch length.
  5. You are stitching right along the inner edge of the ragging through all the layers.
  6. With the Tote still right side out, flatten it, aligning the side seams as well as the grommets front to back.
  7. Press the corner points nice and flat
  8. The Tote in the photos below is the Small Tote, which is designed to have a 3” reverse box corner – all the steps would be the same for the Large Tote but with a 4” reverse box corner.
  9. Move your ruler up from the corner point until you find your finished horizontal width; 3” in our example. You can also check your measurement vertically, measuring from the point vertically up the seam for HALF the finished with; 1½“ in our sample.
  10. Draw a line across the corner at your box measurement.
  11. The machine should be threaded with thread to best match the exterior in both the top and bobbin. Re-set for a slightly lengthened stitch. Continue to use either an Even Feed Walking foot or your built-in fabric feeding system. 
  12. Stitch across the corner along the drawn line.
  13. Fold up the corner along the stitched line, aligning the point of the corner with the side seam.
  14. You’ll insert a rivet through this point to secure the folded up corner. To do this, first create a hole through both the point of the corner as well as through the side of the Tote. The hole in the corner should be approximately ½” down from the point. 
  15. We used our rivet cutting tool to make our hole through all the layers. You could also use an awl or small, sharp scissors.
  16. We found it easier to insert the stem side of the double cap rivets from the front all the way through to the lining.
  17. Snap on the cap on the lining side.
  18. It might feel like you need four hands to keep everything in place, but we promise you can do it. Have your setting tools at the ready so as soon as the two parts of the rivet are snapped in place, hold the anvil against the exterior side of the rivet and set the exterior down against your work surface. Place the post against the lining side of the rivet and hammer to seal together the two pieces.
  19. Repeat to create the opposite reverse box corner.
    NOTE: As with grommeting, if you are brand new to setting rivets, we have a full tutorial you can review prior to starting. Don’t be afraid; using hardware is easier than you might think – and you get to hit stuff with a hammer! You are going through quite a few layers at this point, which is why a rivet is your best option to secure the thickness. As mentioned above with grommet setting, having a strong, hard surface on which to work when riveting is important. If you’d like to review some other bags on which we used this reverse box corner technique, take a look at our Sturdy Summer Tote or our Bright Spot Tote (this super-duper thick tote used Chicago Screws rather than rivets, but the steps are very similar – and these screws are another option to try on this project should you have any issues with the rivets).

Make and attach the handles

  1. Find the four lengths of webbing and the four swivel clips. 
  2. If, as we recommended, you used a nylon or polyester webbing, you can simply seal the ends by passing them through a small flame once or twice. Just a light melt is all you need; don’t burn the place down.
  3. Slip a sealed end through each swivel clip, pulling the end back on itself about 1”.
  4. Re-thread the machine with thread to best match the webbing in the top and bobbin. 
  5. Switch back to a standard presser foot but keep the slightly lengthened stitch. 
  6. Stitch across the webbing through both layers. We stitched across three times to insure a super tight seal since handles can take a fair amount yanking.
  7. Clip the handles through the grommets.

Contributors

Project Design: Anne Adams
Sample Creation and Instructional Outline: Kathy Andrews, What Sew Ever

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