How to Make a Wine Tote

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Unwind at the end of the day with a glass of wine and friendly conversation. With this simple wine tote you can easily take your wine to a neighbor’s boat or house. We designed this padded tote to conveniently carry two bottles of wine (or liquor if that’s your preference) to wherever sundowners are being had. We’re going to share the full step-by-step tutorial with you so you can make your own simple wine tote.

Materials List:

2 yards bag fabric
1 yard Fabric Backed 1/4" Sew Foam #124306
Lightweight thread

Tools List:

Cutting tool of choice
Sewing pins
Marking tool
Tape measure
Sewing machine

How to Make a Wine Tote

Choose any bag fabric for this wine tote bag DIY. Go to the menu on the Sailrite® website, find the "Hobby Fabric" section and click on "Bag Fabric." Cordura® or nylon would make great fabrics for this wine tote. For the padding in our tote, we added 1/4" Fabric-Backed Sew Foam. The backing on this foam allows you to sew through it, which makes it great for padding in projects like this.

How to Make a Wine Tote

1. Double your bag fabric so that you have two layers of fabric on top of each other.

2. To create the bottom of the bag, take a wine bottle and set it on your fabric. Trace half of the shape of the bottle onto your fabric. Measure over 11" and trace half the bottle again. Connect the lines.

3. Add 1/2" all the way around the shape outlined. Cut out both layers of fabric together at the 1/2" line.

4. Cut a piece of foam to match the bottom fabric. Then, layer the three bottom pieces so the foam is in between the two pieces of fabric.

5. Take the assembly to the sewing machine and sew around the perimeter 1/4" away from the raw edge.

6. Fold the base in half and mark the center with pins or chalk.

7. Using a soft tape measure, follow your stitches and measure the perimeter of the bottom piece. Use this measurement to pattern the width of your side panels.

8. Cut two pieces of fabric for the side panels using the perimeter of the base as your width (ours was 27") and a length of 10".

9. Next, cut a 3" x 20" piece of fabric for the handle of your tote.

10. Cut a piece of Sew Foam that is 1" smaller in each direction than you side pieces of fabric. Our foam dimensions were 26" x 9".

11. Lay the foam between the two body pieces of fabric so that the foam lines up flush with the fabric at one long edge. This edge will be the bottom. Pin the assembly together.

12. Find and mark the center of the body piece. Then find and mark the halfway point between the center line and the short edge of the fabric on each side of the center.

13. Take the body piece to the sewing machine and stitch down each marked line as well as across the bottom of the piece, 1/4" away from the raw edge.

14. Fold the body piece in half widthwise and pin the open end together. This should make your piece a circle. Then sew a row of stitches down the pinned side.

15. Turn the top, unsewn edge of the body piece down towards the wrong side of the fabric 1" and pin in place. Do this all the way around the top. When pinning, be sure the side seam is lying flat before you fold the top over. This will help the seam lie nicely inside your bag.

16. Stitch the top fold in place with one row of stitches 1/4" away from the raw edge. Just above the first row, sew a second row of stitches.

17. Now it’s time to attach the base. Line up the center of the base with the two center seam lines on the body. Pin the base to the body with the right sides together. To fit the body around the curve of the base, you can snip relief notches in the seam allowance of the side piece.

18. Sew a 1/2" seam allowance around the base of the bag.

19. Turn the bag right side out.

20. Next, make the handle. Take your handle piece of fabric, fold it in half lengthwise, and crease the fold.

21. Open the fabric back up and fold each side in to meet the crease in the center of the fabric. Fold the entire piece in half again lengthwise and pin.

22. Sew a row of stitches down each long side of the handle piece.

23. Pin the end of the handle in place on the front, inner side of the bag. The front is the side opposite the splayed outer seam with the visible topstitching. Sew the handle in place to secure. Sew in line with the topstitching on the bag for a clean look.