I have made lots of patchwork tote bags over the past six years – in fact ‘How to Make a Patchwork Tote Bag’ was the first sewing class I ever taught!

The fabric totes last well, withstanding being scrunched into handbags and frequent visits to the washing machine. However, over time, the fabric handles do get grubby and the top stitching frays.

Rather than replacing like-for-like handles on this tote I decided to use durable webbing and make a detachable, soft-grip handle. I first made a detachable handle grip for a bag earlier in the year. It’s such a simple thing – just a mini rectangular quilt sandwich with Velcro fastenings. The Bag Grip has so many things going for it: comfortable to hold, protects the handles from wear and tear, can be easily removed to clean, and it’s reversible!

The completed Bag Grip. Just wrap it around the bag handles!

I’ve written a quick Bag Grip pattern. You are welcome to download it for free from my Payhip store 🙂

Back to my old tote…. First I had to unpick the stitching securing the handle ends in place.

Then it was just a case of tucking the ends of the webbing strips into the open seams before securing them with some fresh stitching.

Webbing handles stitched in place and the Bag Grip attached. Job done!

It’s really satisfying to have revived this bag. With the new handles and the removable Bag Grip I think there’s plenty more years of use to be had from this old favourite 🙂

Don’t forget if you’d like directions to make a Bag Grip then you can find the free PDF download here.

Allison