Edited to add: In case there’s any question, I posted this tutorial in the spirit of generosity.  It is copyrighted material, however, and thus no one is permitted to reproduce the pattern or the bags made from the pattern for profit without my express permission. Sorry if that seems brusque–just trying to protect my intellectual property.

So, you’ve made the first fabric box.  Now make the second one.

Some things to consider . . . is the pattern on the fabric you chose directional?  This one is.

Which is why I was careful to pay attention to the design as I sewed the sides on to the base.  It seems obvious, but you’re generally looking at the wrong side of fabric as you sew, so double-check, particularly if you’re using some sort of overcasting stitch like I do.  They’re hard to pick out.   With some patterns, I’d be careful to match the pattern more closely than I did here, but this pattern is  too fiddly.

Also, make sure your corners are closed tightly.

Remember how I said not to sew the seams connecting the sides to the base all the way to the edge, so that you’d be able to sew up the side seams without trouble?  Well, you don’t want to leave any holes, either.  Double check before you proceed.

You’ve now made the two boxes you need, so let’s move on to the straps.

Line up the two long pieces, right sides together; and the two short pieces, right sides together.  And stitch up the sides.

Notice how the machine thread is still attached to the first piece and I’m sewing the second?  That’s called chain piecing, and it saves thread and time.

Once the handle pieces are sewn, you need to turn them right side out.  I use this handy contraption:

It has a latch hook on the end.  You feed it into the strap, hook it in to the side seam, and pull back the way you came.

Once the straps are right side out, press them flat.

And then run a quick little seam along each of the ends of the straps.  This will serve to reinforce them in the finished bag.

And now we assemble the parts.

Turn one of the boxes inside out and nest it inside its mate.

Make sure the corner seams are lined up, and that the two boxes are fitting well together.  Now start pressing down the top hems.

Once the hems on the top of both boxes are even and pressed nicely, start pinning everything together.  You’ll want to place the straps on opposite sides of each other and fiddle with them until you like how they’re sitting, and then pin them in place while also lining up the pressed top edges of the two boxes.

To pin the suede lace in place, you’ll need to rely on friction rather than actually pinning through the suede.  The photo below is fuzzy, but you can see that the pin passes through the fabric close to either side of the lace.  Once you have everything pinned together, stand the bag up and make sure things look right.  If they don’t, adjust whatever needs it.

Now sew it together.  For this, I’m going to abandon my policy of using contrasting thread so you can see what I’m doing, and instead match thread as closely as I can to the sides of the bag.  In this instance, that’s a light blue for the top thread and a dark blue for the bobbin.

I’m using a straight stitch, sewing slowly, and pretty darn close to the edge of the bag.  Also, I go extra slowly over the suede laces, the side seams, and where the handles attach.  So, really, that’s most of the top seam.

And that’s it.  One bag down, nine million, nine hundred ninety nine thousand, nine hundred ninety nine to go.

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