Jute and Paper Tote Bag ( Theme: Orbit of Planets)

Hello everyone, I’m here with my new Instructable which is a tote bag. I had made it with jute, paper and old leather belt. circular tote bags are very famous in Bali (Indonesia), which are made up of cane or grass but at the same time they are very expensive too. My friend loves bags and specially tote bags, so I made this with jute for her. which is as beautiful as the bags I had seen in Bali. I Had designed it in a theme of orbit of the planets. planets which are moving circular around 1 point(sun). For this project you will need some skills like leather works, paper cutting and working with paper. Don't worry if you don't know these we are going to learn it. I had explained every thing here in tutorial. which also includes the methods of cutting leather and using jute. Learning leather skills are little difficult but just follow the instructions and you will get the good outcome. its completely ok if you don't have exact material for this you can use alternative which you have available. It is of paper but then jute gives it enough strength. It is enough strong to protect your wallets, which you will realize later. It is very trendy and beautiful ant yet it has lots of space for your stuff. there is only 1 weakness of it and that is water. you cannot wash it because paper inside it will get wet and your bag will no longer get in use. never be a robot while doing creative things, let the creator inside you come out. it is possible that you will have problem in sticking jute because you are never going to get exact shape because jute will have variations in thickness some times. so just go with the flow and try to make it proper in shape and you will learn to adjust in some places when you will start making. i always prefer my fingers to apply glue on something but you can use another options, in which you are more comfortable. It is a perfect bag for beaches and parties and special dates. As there is always a room for improvements, so feel free to give feedbacks and your views on it. so let's get started.

Step 1: MATERIALS AND TOOLS

Jute ropes (4 to 5 mm of diameter)
Millboard (you can use any thick paper materials)
Fevicol (glue)
Cutters and it's blades
Thread and needle (thick)
Thread and needle (thin)
Steel edge
Rounder
Cutting matt
Paint brush / cotton
Bowl
Scissor
Tissues
Leather / leather old belt
Rivets for leather
Mallet (wooden hammer)
Manual puncher (for leather)
Cloth
Hot glue gun
Synthetic resin solution (i had used hexon)
Line 20 snaps and line 20 snap setter (for leather)(you can also use velcro instead of this)
Sharpe cutter
Set square
Awl (leather tool)
Pencil

Step 2:

With the help of rounder make circle of 25cm diameter.
With the help of sharpe cutter cut the circle.
Make sure you are cutting on the cutting matt or else your blades will get blunt so easily.
Now we will start with jute work. always cut bad ends of jute.
Spread fevicol (glue) on circle and from the centre start making spirals till the end of circle.
Make sure you stick jute nicely with paper board.
Apply glue on jute circles.
Make total 2 circle like this and allow it to dry properly.

Step 3:

now we have 2 circles and we have make curved surface of bag.
first we have to calculate the length of strip accouding to circle.
we have a circle of 25cm so we will calculate the length with the help of formula:

2πR= 2×3.14 (value of pi)×12.5 (radius of circle)

=78.5cm

now draw a strip. length 78.5cm and height of 6cm.
cut the strip with the help of cutter and steel edge.
always take care of your fingers while using cutter. keep enough distance of your fingers from cutter.
apply glue on strip.
stick jute on strip horizontally.
apply glue on one of the circle's edge and start sticking the strip on the edge of circle.
now you have a cylinder which is open from 1 side with height of around 8 cm.
take a bowl and mix water and glue in equal quantity.
apply it on the curve surface of cylinder with the help of brush.
apply flue on edges of curve surface and also on top surface's edges.
allow it to dry.

Step 4:

by applying glue on edges we had strengthen it, but it is still not enough. we need to strengthen it from inside also and we also have to cover the inside edges.
put tissue paper on inside part and apply glue and water paste on it with brush. do this on full inside surface and also on the inside edges.
allow it to dry.
applying tissue paper will make it more thick, more strong and hard. so your wallet and stuff are safe from thieves.
now we are going to make another strip like this, which will stick inside the cylinder for open close system.
measure diameter inside of cylinder and calculate (2πR) for the length of strip.
height of the strip will be of 5cm.
stick jute ropes on strip and let it dry.
put your strip horizontally and mark middle line of it. (2.5 +2.5)
now apply glue on 1 part of the strip amongs two.( refer the images for more clear understanding)
the part where you had applied glue will be stick inside the cylinder in circular way.
you have two portions in a strip 1 is glued and another with only jute. you have to apply glued part inside in a way that half of the part from 5cm height should stay outside of the cylinder.
now your cylinder is of total 8.5 cm height.
don't forget that the portion of strip which is not covered with jute will be facing inside.
apply glue and water with brush on inside strip and let it dry.
measure again and note the exact height of inside strip's area which is visible from outside.

Step 5:

cut another circle of 25 cm diameter.
stick it on the bottom part of 2nd circle which we had made before by applying jute. this circular part will be the lid of bag, which will be openable and movable.
apply weight on the circular part to prevent it from wove or writhe.
make another strip of the same height of 2.5 cm and length of 78.5 cm.
stick this on the edge of 2nd circle. (a lid)
apply glue and water on curve side and apply glue on circular side and edges as well.
allow it to dry.

Step 6:

now we are going to sew both the parts of bag ( base and a lid) with the help of thick thread and big niddle.
start sewing from inside of the box and from base part to the outside and again inside from lid.
again out from same hole of down base part and again inside from lid. do it repeatedly for stronger joints.
make total 2 joints.
make sure it opens and close properly and make sure lid fits properly to base.

Step 7:

cut a strip from leather or old leather belt. i had used strip of 120cm long and 1.5 cm wide. i had used it from old leather belt.
if you are cutting from leather: leather have 2 sides 1 grainy side and another is smooth side. always mark on smooth side so you will be able to see the marks.always cut leather in one stroke so it will be neat in cutting.
there are three types of leathers: chrome tanned, veg tanned and raw hide. leather comes in different thickness and it is measured in oz (ounces) One ounce equals 1/64" in thickness. Thus, a weight of 7 to 8 oz. means the leather is 7/64" to 8/64" in thickness or approximately 1/8" thick. The thickness of leather varies to some extent throughout the hide.
basic tools you will need here to cut leather are: cutter with sharpe blades, cutting matt, awl, steel edge, manual puncher, rivets, snaps and its sitters, mallet.
it is not necessary to have all these. i am explaining each tool here and also how to use it.
mallet : it is a hammer of wood. you cannot use metal hammer here because it can damage your tool. but if you use metal hammer with low strength then it is ok to use it because leather tools are quite expensive too.

manual puncher: it is a tool which helps to makes holes in leather. according to the size of rivets you will need manual puncher and not large or small. this tool is very cheap, it was just for 20 Indian rupees (less than a dollar). it is necessary to have this or rotary punch(it is expensive that manual punch).

awl: it is a sharp tool like needle and it is used to make marks.it is completely optional to have it.

rivets: it is use to fix something permanently.

snaps and sitters: snaps and sitters are used to make temporary locks which is openable and you can close it again.

now cut the leather belt and make two two holes on both the ends.
mark the place in base part of bag, where you want to fix the belt.
make hole in base part of bag with the help of awl or thick needle.
insert post part of rivet from inside of the bag.
insert belt in the head of post from outside and close the joint with cap and hammer it slowly.
use synthetic rubber solution in both post and cap for better joints.
do this with all other 3 holes.
your bag is all most ready with the belt now.

Step 8:

cut 16cm long leather belt.
make 1 hole on 1 end of it with the help of manual punch.
take a set of snaps and its sitters (total 4 parts)
take cap from 4 parts and fix it on the top side of belt on its down site fix socket and hammer them to fix permanently.
we are fixing this 4 parts as a lock of bag. mark the place on bags lid top. make sure mark is proper enough that the lock can work. mark should come exactly down the belts socket.
now make the hole with the help of awl or needle on bags lid.
fix post from inside the lid and stud on the post from outside the lid and hammer. ( you can also use velcro instead of snaps and sitters)
apply solution on belt and stick on the bag.
make cross pattern with thick thread and needle on the belt for more stronger joint.
so now you have bag which is stronger, beautiful, with leather belt and lock safety too, but it is still dirty from inside so we will work out on it in next step.

Step 9:

take a cloth and mark 2 circles of 25 cm diameter and cut them with the scissor.
mark two strips, 1of 8.5 cm height and 78.5 cm length and another of 2.5 cm height and length of around 71 cm.
stitch them together with the circles with thin needle and thread or with stitching machine.
now you have 2 parts one for bag's base and another for bag's lid.
take the part which have 8 cm height and stick it with hot glue gun on inside surface of bag and also stick another one with lid.
allow the glue gun's glue to dry and now your jute tote bag is ready.

I hope you had enjoyed a lot making it and i hope you also liked it. feel free to ask questions in the section below. i enjoyed sharing my ideas with you all. thank you!!!!