• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sew Fearless

overcome your fear of needles

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact
  • Cart
You are here: Home / Sewing Tools / Taking This Show On The Road: A Cutting Mat Tote

Taking This Show On The Road: A Cutting Mat Tote

July 21, 2011 by Jodi 11 Comments

This was a pretty straightforward project –  simple tote bag. One that was large enough to accommodate my cutting mat, and has a pocket to hold my 6 x 28 ruler and rotary cutter. Perfect for hauling to craft nights, or just around the house.

Now, who wants to have me over to sew? 🙂

Filed Under: Sewing Tools Tagged With: cutting, quilting, sewing, tote

Previous Post: « Embroidered Needle Book
Next Post: Pickin’ for (Purse) Gold »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Molly says

    July 21, 2011 at 6:07 am

    really cute!

    Reply
  2. Shel Baker says

    July 21, 2011 at 6:17 am

    Love the Colours!!! Lovely project!!

    Reply
  3. sassycrafter says

    July 21, 2011 at 9:08 am

    Excellent idea! I end up travelling with my cutting mat pretty frequently since I use it in some of the classes I teach. I’ll have to whip up a tote like this to make transport easier! P.S. Love the pocket for the ruler!

    Reply
    • Jodi says

      July 21, 2011 at 5:15 pm

      It was necessary for me. I couldnt haul the mat AND my machine AND a project bag. 🙂

      Reply
  4. eileensideways says

    July 21, 2011 at 9:43 am

    fabulous!

    Reply
  5. Karen Chockley Mitzel says

    July 21, 2011 at 10:39 am

    I want to have you over to sew! Great tote! I have been pondering options for storing my cutting mats when not in use… but to be able to just pick it up and go, now that’s thinking!!

    Reply
    • Jodi says

      July 21, 2011 at 5:13 pm

      I’ve been storing it in the tote on a coat rack. The mat bends a bit when hanging a long time, but not too bad.

      Reply
    • Jodi says

      July 21, 2011 at 5:13 pm

      And see you soon!!

      Reply
  6. Leslie Arnold says

    September 4, 2012 at 7:01 pm

    Love looking at your projects on your site.

    Here’s a suggestion for the cutting board tote and anything else that is big and might be carrying weight. Sew/attach your straps to the main bag in longer stretches so the weight will pull from a more distributed area rather than one spot. The strap attachment might be stronger and lay flat if you sewed along the strap towards the top of the bag creating a rectangle shape rather than a square.

    I recently made a computer tote bag for a laptop and it is heavy. I actually had the straps as a continous circle and sewed the straps from the opening on one side of the bag, around and down under the bag back to the other side of the opening.

    Hope this makes sense.

    Cheers!

    Reply
    • Jodi says

      September 5, 2012 at 1:20 pm

      I actually thought about setting them wider apart, and for a heavier load that would be best, but because the mat is so bendy, I was worried it would buckle inward while carrying.

      Reply
  7. Patti says

    March 8, 2013 at 1:46 pm

    Add layers of various sized pockets inside and out before sewing the two layers together: smaller ones for templates, etc.
    Use masonite or foamcore/foamboard to stabilize. Cut it the overall size of the bag. Consider wrapping handles the entire length of the bag. You can also shorten the straps to carry in your hands and/or add one longer strap at either end of the top for a shoulder strap.
    Use plastic/vinyl as a “window” for the smaller exterior pockets. Bind with contrasting fabric. Screen mesh (the plastic kind) works well, too.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Jodi

Jodi - Sewing Advocate - Mother of 7 - Lover of Swings and Deadlifts - Catholic

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS

Top Posts & Pages

How To Finish A Shaped Quilt Edge Without Binding
Is the tension on my machine broken?
Convert A Bra Into A Nursing Bra
The "Manly Poppins" - a DIY Camera Bag

Subscribe to The Newsletter!


Categories

  • Announcements & Site Updates
  • Baby
  • Bags
  • Blog Crush
  • Children's Clothing
  • Clothing
  • Crafts for Kids
  • Embroidery
  • Featured Fearless Sewists
  • Home Goods
  • Knitting
  • Maternity
  • Non-Sewing Crafts
  • Quilting
  • Round Ups
  • Sew Fearless Original Patterns
  • Sew-Along
  • Sewing Books
  • Sewing Tools
  • Tutorials
  • Updates & Project Progress
  • Vintage (very old posts)
  • Women's Clothing

Footer

Connect

Sew Fearless is about a reckless pursuit of the sewing craft. It is about not letting your fears talk you out of your dreams. It is a place to go for encouragement, information, and sewing camaraderie. It’s a place where “done” is better than “perfect”, and where saying “I didn’t try” is worse than “I failed”. Read More…

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS

ABOUT

CONTACT

SHOP

DISCLOSURE

Sharing Policy

I am glad to have you here and happy to have you share my posts and ideas with your friends. However, please respect my content and do not repost it, except for maybe 1 or 2 photos as a teaser. If you do use my photo, give credit to Sew Fearless and link to the original blog post. Please do not use photos of my children.
Copyright © 2023 Sew Fearless · Site developed by Autumn Street