After seeing all the beautiful bags you all had made, I decided to give it a try. I have several questions and would appreciate your suggestions. Are there any particular fabrics which work better than others? Do you use matte board on the bottom or is there something else you prefer? I have never used fusible fleece ... is it readily available at most stores?

Thanks for any ideas you may have!

(this is a second post as I put it in the wrong section previously ... )

I have bought fusible fleece from Walmart and Joanne's and it's not expensive.

I've used upholstery fabric and regular quilting cottons. Both worked well.

I have not made the bow tucks yet, but have made others. Make sure you don't use any fabric softener or dryer sheets when washing your fabrics. Fusible won't stick to the fabric if you do.

Good luck with your totes!

There's also a good tutorial over in the tutorial forum.

I used the fusible fleece in my bow tucks. I doubled cardboard, taped it together, then covered it with fabric for the bottom. I've done this in a lot of totes and purses and it works just fine for me. If you're worried about dampness, you could always wrap the cardboard in plastic wrap or something to protect the cardboard. I felt I could replace the bottom very easily, so I didn't do anything for dampness.

Someone on here posted a while back that election signs make good bottoms for bags, so if you know anyone who has signs in their yard, hit them up for the signs after the election is over. Good way to recycle those things.

I also save shoe boxes and boxes that come in the mail. If they are a little thin, just double or triple them. I keep one old rotary cutter just to cut up boxes. It's easy to cut them straight with the rotary cutter.

I use 2 pieces of plastic canvas. Use a running stitch of yarn to put the two together then slip it into a sleeve. I like it better then cardboard because it won't crease.

Glad you asked these questions. I have been wondering a few things for a while and finally broke down and ordered a kit off of ebay. Can't wait for it to get here so that I can try it.

Plastic canvas does work good Dingle. Also try fiber board that you can buy at Dollar Store.