Three Big Bags From One Jelly Roll Tutorial: Jenny Doan's Easy Tote Bag Project

🧵 1 Jelly Roll (40+ strips of 2½" × 44" fabric) — 12 strips per bag. Shop jelly rolls here.

✂️ 1½ yards of lining fabric — for the lining, handles, and pocket (enough for all 3 bags)

🧶 1 yard of batting — for quilting the body and filling the handles. Shop batting here.

✂️ Rotary cutter, ruler & cutting mat — for clean, precise cuts. Shop rotary cutters.

📌 Pins or clips — to keep layers aligned while sewing. Shop pins & clips.

🪡 Sewing machine with a standard presser foot

Step 1: Choose and Sew Your Strips

Open up your jelly roll and choose 12 strips that coordinate beautifully. Look for a nice mix of lights, mediums, and darks — or go wild with a scrappy look! Place two strips right sides together and sew down one long edge with a ¼" seam allowance. Press the seam open, then continue adding strips one at a time until all 12 are joined into one wide panel.

Step 2: Quilt the Panel to Batting

Lay your sewn strip panel on top of a piece of batting that's cut slightly larger than the panel. Smooth everything flat and pin or spray baste to hold the layers together. Take it to your sewing machine and quilt straight lines down each strip — Jenny sews about 3-4 lines per strip, spacing them evenly using the presser foot as a guide.

This quilting step gives the bag its structure and that gorgeous quilted texture. Don't overthink the spacing — just keep your lines relatively straight and even.

Step 3: Trim and Cut the Lining

Once quilted, use your rotary cutter and ruler to trim the batting flush with the fabric panel edges. This gives you clean, straight edges for sewing the bag together. Here's the clever part: use the trimmed quilted panel as your pattern to cut the lining fabric to the exact same size. No measuring required!

Save those batting scraps! You'll use the leftover strips of batting inside the handles for body and strength.

Step 4: Make the Handles

Cut 4 strips of lining fabric, 4 inches wide, to your desired handle length (Jenny cuts hers about 22-24 inches). For each handle:

• Press ¼" under on one long edge
• Lay a narrow strip of batting (about ¾" wide) down the center
• Fold the raw edge over the batting, then fold the pressed edge over the top to enclose it
• Stitch three lines down the length — one close to each edge and one down the middle

This triple-stitching creates sturdy, professional-looking handles that can carry a load.

Jenny shows how easy it is to transform simple jelly roll strips into something you'll carry every day!

Step 5: Add the Pocket and Handles

Cut a piece of lining fabric for your pocket — fold it in half, press it, and position it on the lining where you'd like it. Stitch the pocket in place along three sides (leave the top open!). Then pin your handles to the top of the quilted panel (the outside of the bag), about 4-5 inches in from each side edge, with raw edges aligned at the top.

Step 6: Sew the Bag Together

Fold your quilted panel in half (right sides together) and sew the bottom seam and both side seams with about a ½" seam allowance. To create a flat bottom for the bag, square the corners: pull the fabric out at each bottom corner, flatten it so the side seam sits on top of the bottom seam, draw a line about 2 inches from the point, stitch on that line, and trim the excess. Repeat for the lining.

Step 7: Insert the Lining and Finish

Turn the quilted bag body inside out and keep the lining right side out. Slide the lining down inside the bag, matching up side seams and the top edges. Fold the top edges inward, pin them together (sandwiching the handle ends between the layers), and topstitch around the entire top edge to close everything up and secure the handles. Give it a good press and you're done!

• Mix your strip arrangement — Alternate light and dark strips for maximum visual impact, or create an ombré effect by arranging them from light to dark.
• Use a walking foot for the quilting step — it feeds both layers evenly and prevents puckering, especially with batting.
• Adjust handle length to suit the bag's purpose — shorter handles for a handheld tote, longer for an over-the-shoulder bag.
• Interface the lining if you want even more structure — iron lightweight fusible interfacing to the lining before assembly.
• Add a magnetic snap at the top center before sewing the lining in for a professional closure.
• Make all 3 at once — assembly-line style! Sew all three strip panels, quilt them all, cut all your handles, then assemble. It's much faster.