Gifts for Men: Bike or Car Storage Bag with French Seams

My brother’s birthday was last weekend. I wanted to make him something special and was sort of at a loss. I decided to make a car tote. He can attach it to one of the headrests in his car. I don’t know what he can put into it…maybe cans of tennis balls? His lunch? Anything he doesn’t want to roll all around the back of the car, I guess.

But anyway, as I was forming the idea for the project in my head, I was observing how my Land’s End tote bag is constructed. (No, they are not paying me. I just really like their merchandise. And did you see this bag I pinned on Pinterest? I might have to knock that one off using the technique I’m about to mention.)

Anyway, I observed from the Land’s End bag that it is not lined. Yet there are no raw edges showing. I determined that they hid the raw edges inside the seam somehow.

That ‘somehow’ is called a French Seam. So I made this bag as practice French Seam project. I even did gussets in the bottom.

 

I used an old t-shirt for the binding plus did a little freezer paper bike on the front.

My experimental technique worked out well. I’ll be sharing a how-to for another bag soon. But that will have to wait til another day.