Here’s another sewing tip that I had to learn the hard way. Boxing corners looks easy enough on paper, but when it comes to actually making those corners square, eyeballing it hasn’t been good enough for me. So for a tote bag that you’ve made by folding a rectangle in half and sewing up the sides, give that bag some depth by boxing the corners. And prevent those corners from being wonky by measuring carefully.
First, snip the seam open at the top and lay the side seam down the center of the bag. Press the seam open. Next, make sure the seam is truly centered by laying a ruler on the seam. Place a line on the ruler directly on top of the seam line, and as many inches down as you are supposed to box the corner. In this case, it is 3 inches (which is a very deep box as far as bags go).
Make sure that the fabric on the left side of the seam (A) is exactly the same as the fabric on the left side of the seam (B). If A does not = B, then adjust the box and measure again.
Now draw a line across the bottom of the ruler and pin fabric into place.
This is the line you will sew on. I always double stitch this line because I’m all about sturdiness and I also backstitch at the begining and the end.
This is a bag with an ~1 1/2″ box.
Happy corner boxing!
hi!
now that I’m starting with sewing (and my real first project is a tote for supermarket shopping) this is a great idea! thank you!
manela
Thanks for sharing. Great tip that we can all use
Thanks for the great tip! It will come in very handy.
Thank you for making that sew easy… I think I have to go and box some corners…
Marking it is such a good idea. I get lazy and then my corners are all wonky.
You are full of great tips–thanks for another one! :o)
Thank you! I quilt and yet I never sorted that one out. It seems such a simple concept, but sometimes you need someone to put it up there and go here! that’s how it’s done! =)
I will take any tips you got!
I found your blog when looking up diaper bag patterns on Google. Just ordered one through etsy. Now I’ve also found another great sewing blog! Happy sewing!
Ohh I bookmarked this one. I can never get square corners. This sounds and looks simpler than any other tutorial I’ve tried.
Thanks again, for another great tip.
I made my very first make-up-a-pattern bag this weekend (a fun tote bag) and used this method - thank you! The corners look great.
(Post to come on my blog, hopefull soon!)
Thanks for this tip … I usually just eyeball it when I’m ready to stitch that tab.
Thanks for the tutorial. I’m a bit confused about snipping the seam open at the top. Where and how much do I cut? My corners aren’t really wonky, but I can’t make the bottom and side seams line up exactly. I’m not sure why I can’t get it.
Holy cow, you sooo just made my day! I have been trying for a week and a half now to figure out these corners, looking all over online for a tutorial on this. Thank you so much!
I know I just posted and all, but I had to come back and say that I just made my first successful box corners and it’s all thanks to this blog. So one more time, a huge thank you!
Your tips for boxing corners are great, best of all is the ruler. I don’t have one, off to buy one now. Thanks for your tips.