SINGER® PROJECTS

Jeans to Tote Bag

What do you do with jeans, a purse and bandanas you don’t use anymore? Well, you make a
practical upcycled tote and give new life to these items. The fun of making this project is you
are the designer, so your tote will be unique to you and the supplies you use.

PROJECT SKILL LEVEL:

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Shopping List
Everything you need to complete this project in one place. Use this
convenient checklist to ensure you have all required materials in
your sewing room, or take it with you while you shop for supplies.

o 2 Cotton Bandanas for Tote Lining

o Assorted pieces of Denim from Jeans for Tote

o Leather or Pleather Purse for Tote

o Craf-Tex Plus Double Sided Fusible Interfacing

o 1¼ yard x 21” Fusible Medium Weight Interfacing

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o SINGER Denim Sewing Machine Needle, Size 90/14

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o SINGER Heavy Duty 6600C Sewing Machine

o SINGER ¼” Foot
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o SINGER Non-Stick Foot

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o SINGER All Purpose Foot

o 40wt Rayon Thread

o 50wt Cotton Sewing Thread

o 60wt Bobbin Thread

o Rotary Cutter, Mat and 6” x 24” Ruler
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o SINGER SteamCraft Iron

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o SINGER Intelligent Steam Press (optional)

o Large Appliqué Pressing Sheet

o Chalk Marker

o Pins

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 o Clips

o Scissors

Cutting Instructions
Assorted Denim and Jeans (Cut up the jeans into the following)
o Remove pockets

o Cut into strips ranging in widths from 1½” to 2½” by 15” in length

Leather or Pleather Purse (Cut up the purse

into the following)
o Remove lining pockets

o Remove strap

o 2(4½” x 13”) leather or pleather for

decorative stitched band

Craf-Tex Plus Double Sided Fusible

Interfacing

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 o 2(13” x 14”)

Round the two bottom corners as illustrated using something curved as a template.
Mark and cut the curved corners.
Fusible Medium Weight Interfacing
o 2(21” x 21”)

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Sewing Machine Set Up
o Insert a SINGER
®️ Denim Needle Size 90/14 in your SINGER®️ sewing machine.
o Thread with 50wt cotton sewing thread on top and on the bobbin.
o Attach the SINGER ¼” Piecing Foot.
®️
o Select a Straight Stitch with a stitch length of 2.5mm.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Project Steps - Lining
1. Fuse the Medium Weight Interfacing onto the wrong side of the
2 bandanas. There are two methods for fusing the interfacing
to the bandanas.
®️
a. Fuse using the SINGER Intelligent Steam Press. This
gives consistent heat on the entire surface which results
in a better bond between the interfacing and bandana.
Set the press to the cotton setting. Place the bandana
on the pressing surface and then place the interfacing with the adhesive side
down on the bandana. Close the press to adhere the interfacing to the
bandana.

b. The other method is using the SINGER SteamCraft Iron and

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the SINGER Ironing and Crafting Station. Using the SINGER
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Ironing and Crafting Station gives you a large flat surface to lay
out your bandana and interfacing. Set the iron on
cotton and you can use steam or a dry iron whatever
is recommended by the interfacing fusing directions.
Press on the interfacing side with the hot iron and
apply firm, even pressure and keep the iron in place
for 10-15 seconds. Lift the iron and place it back
down in a new position, slightly overlapping the
previous areas. Repeat until all the areas of
interfacing have been fused to the fabric. Do not
slide the iron across the fabric, as you may shift the layers of fabric and
interfacing and cause distortion. Once you have pressed from the interfacing
side, flip the bandana over and repeat from the right side of the bandana to
ensure a good bond.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 2. Use the Craf-Tex Plus Double Sided Fusible Interfacing as a template and cut out the
two lining pieces from the bandanas.

3. From the remaining pieces of the bandanas cut out 1” x 15” strips to use for piecing
the outer part of the tote.

4. Take the lining pocket and scale it down to fit the inside of the tote. Mark the sewing
lines and sew on those lines.

5. Trim the excess fabric away and turn right side out through the opening.

6. Press.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 7. Pin the pocket in place on one of the lining pieces.

8. Sew around the pocket to attach it to the lining.

9. Place the lining pieces right sides together and sew using a ¼” seam allowance. Mark
and leave an opening at the bottom for turning right side out. Set aside.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Project Steps - Strip Piecing Outer Tote
1. Place the Large Appliqué Pressing Sheet on the SINGER Ironing and Crafting Station.
®️

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2. Set your SINGER SteamCraft Iron to cotton and use steam.

3. Place your Craf-Tex Plus Double Sided Fusible Interfacing on the

Appliqué Pressing Sheet and place your first strip down. Fuse in
place by holding the iron on the fabric for 10 seconds then moving it
until the entire piece is fused. Note: be careful not to touch the iron to
the interfacing.

4. Place the next strip right sides together with the first strip lining up
the raw edges. Stitch in place using a ¼” seam allowance.

5. Press the top strip away from the bottom strip and fuse in place.

6. Continue to add strips until the whole piece of interfacing is filled.

7. Stitch around the perimeter of the whole piece from the interfacing side and trim to the
interfacing size.
8. Repeat steps 3 - 7 for the second piece of interfacing.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Sewing Machine Set Up
o Thread with 40wt rayon thread on top and 60wt bobbin thread on the bobbin.

o Attach the SINGER Non-Stick

®️ Foot.

o Select a Straight Stitch with a stitch length of 3.5mm.

o Activate Needle Up/Down button.

Project Steps - Decorative Bands (Make 2)

1. Mark a ¼” line with a chalk marker along one of the long
edges of the 4½” x 13” piece of leather or pleather. Turn
under on the marked line and hold in place with clips.
a. Pro Tip: avoid using pins on leather or pleather as it
will leave a hole in the fabric.

2. Stitch the narrow hem in place, removing the clips as you reach them.

3. Repeat steps 1 - 3 for the second band.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 4. On both bands mark a 1” line from the hemmed edge, this will be the first line for your
decorative stitch.

5. Select a decorative stitch, always test the stitch on a piece of scrap fabric to see if you
need to make any adjustments to the stitch or maybe the stitch is not suitable for the
project. There are many decorative stitches to choose from on the
®️
SINGER Heavy Duty 6600C.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 6. Continue to mark lines on your fabric and choose a different stitch. Stitch until you
have filled your decorative band.

7. Use clips to hold the decorative bands on to the top of the pieced totes, with the raw
edges even along the top.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 8. Stitch along the hemmed edge of the decorative band using a decorative stitch
to attach it to the pieced tote.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 9. Stitch 1” from the top of the band to attach it to the top of the pieced tote.

10. To reduce the bulk at the top of the tote, mark ⅛” away from the stitched line on the
wrong side of the pieced tote.

11. Trim on the marked line but only trimming the pieced tote, leave the decorative
band intact.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Sewing Machine Set Up
®️
o Attach the SINGER All Purpose Foot.
o Select a Straight Stitch with a stitch length of
3.0mm.

Project Steps - Attaching the Pockets

1. Pin the pockets in place on both of the pieced totes.

2. Sew the pockets on to both tote pieces. Tip: When sewing on the pockets you want to
avoid having to backstitch at the beginning and end at the top of the pocket because
there is a lot of bulk to sew through and it will be difficult to manage. Start sewing
midway down on one of the stitching lines, (I followed the same stitching lines that
were on the pockets when they were on the jeans) do not back stitch just leave a tail of
thread for tying later.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
 3. Stitch around the three sides of the pocket leaving the top open. Pull the top threads
to the underside and tie to the bobbin threads. This will give you a nice finish on the
top side of your tote.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Sewing Machine Set Up
o Thread with 50wt rayon thread on top and on the bobbin.

o Attach the SINGER Non-Stick Foot.

®️
o Select a Straight Stitch with a stitch length of 3.0mm.

Project Steps - Handles

1. Cut the purse strap in half to make two handles.
2. Mark 1¼” in on both sides of the decorative band on both tote pieces.
3. Sew the handles in place.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Project Steps - Final Assembly
1. Place the tote inside the lining with the right sides together, matching the side seams.

2. Clip together at the top. Make sure the handles are down inside the bag and not close
to the seam line

3. Sew around the top of the tote. Note: use the free arm on the machine it will make this
easier to manage.

4. Turn the tote right side out through the opening in the lining.

5. Machine stitch the opening closed.

6. Place the lining in the tote

7.
8. Topstitch around the top edge of the tote.

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.
Enjoy your new
Upcycled Tote!

Singer, the Cameo “S” Design and Design are trademarks of The Singer Company Limited S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. © 2021 The Singer Company Limited
S.a.r.l. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.