Bag #31: Drawstring Bag

It’s the start of the school holidays here in the UK but the shops are full of ‘back to school’ supplies.  Now would be a good time to make a child’s PE Bag.  However, this drawstring bag would also be the perfect size for a project bag.  I made this one for an elderly lady to use for storing a holiday knitting project.  There’s room for some yarn, her knitting needles and the sections she has already knitted. She’ll look very stylish on her next cruise!

It’s always nice to make a personalised item because it has obviously been made especially for the recipient.  It also means that no one is going to pick up their bag by mistake.  In fact, I think I’m going to make one for myself when I have time. It would be really useful to take to craft events.

For this bag, you will need a 13½” / 34 cm strip of calico which is usually sold on bolts/rolls which are very wide and 2 ½”/6.5 cm strips of several different fabrics which could be cut from a fat quarter pack or jellyroll.  The letters were cut from the same fabrics.

The finished size is 12½”/31.5 cm wide x 14½”/37 cm high.

I used my normal stitch length (2.5) throughout but increased it to 3 for topstitching.  I used ¼”/6 mm seams for the outer bag and slighter wider seams for the lining.

I have included metric and imperial measurements but they are not exactly interchangeable, so you should stick to either one or the other.

Skills used in this project:

• Using satin stitch

• Using decorative machine stitches

• Inserting eyelets

• Using jellyroll strips

Step 1: Cutting out

Cut out the following:

12” x 13 ½”/ 31.5 cm x 34 cm Bag bottom (cut 1 calico and 1 medium weight iron-on interfacing)

2 ½” x 17”/ 6.5 cm x 43 cm Fabric strips – assorted fabrics (cut 7)

14” x 13 ½”/ 35.5 cm x 34 cm (cut 1 medium weight iron-on interfacing)

Small amount of fabric which co-ordinates with the fabric strips for the letters

16 ½” x 13 ½” / 42 cm x 34 cm Lining (cut 2 calico)

Heat n bond (small amount)

86"/218 cm Cord (I used 4 mm cord – about 3/16”)

Eyelets (I used 5.5 mm eyelets - about ¼”)

Stopper toggle button

Step 2: Attaching the letters

Draw letters for your chosen name onto the paper side of a piece of heat n bond.  Cut out the letters roughly, slightly larger than you drew them.  The letters will need to be back to front because they will be attached to the wrong side of the fabric.

Place each letter with the non-paper side on the wrong side of your chosen fabric.  Iron to attach.

Cut out each letter, accurately following the line you drew on the heat n bond.

Attach the interfacing to one side of the calico bag bottom (this will be referred to as ‘the wrong side’).

Fold the calico in half so that the 13 ½”/ 34 cm raw edges meet -  the right side of the fabric will be on the outside.  This will enable you to see where the name will go. The fold will be the bottom of the bag.

Decide where you want each letter to go, peel off the paper backing and iron them in place. They will now be the right way round.

Stitch them in place using a stitch of your choice e.g. satin stitch, blanket stitch, free motion embroidery.  I adjusted the zigzag on my machine to create a satin stitch.

You could also add an appliquéd image on the other side of the bag, but I chose to leave mine plain.

Step 3: Joining the fabric strips

Pick 2 fabric strips and sew down the long side, right sides together, to join them. Continue joining strips until they are all joined together.  Press the seams open. 

Now is the time to add decorative stitches along each of these seams if you want to.

Cut the strips in half to create 2 identical pieces.

Attach interfacing to the wrong side of the strip fabric.

Step 4: Creating the bag

Sew the bag bottom to the fabric strips, right sides together.

With right sides together, sew up the bag sides.  

Turn right side out.

Step 5: Attaching the lining

Join the 2 lining pieces, right sides together, by sewing down both the long sides and one short side (this will be the bottom), but leave a gap of about 4”/10 cm in the bottom for turning. You will also need to leave a gap at the top on one side for the drawstring.  The top ¼“/ 6 mm will be the seam allowance but the next 1”/2.5 cm will be the drawstring channel. This is where you will need to leave a gap in the seam large enough for your drawstring. Topstitch either side of the drawstring gap to secure the seam allowance.

Place the lining over the outer part of the bag, right sides together, and sew all round the top.

Sew up the gap at the bottom of the lining.

Push the lining inside the bag and secure the bottom corners by pinning them in place.

The lining will be longer than the outer fabric so it will overlap onto the outside of the bag to form the drawstring channel.  Find the new top of the bag and press.

Top stitch along the top and bottom of the drawstring channel.

Step 6: Attaching the eyelets

There will be an eyelet in each of the bottom corners which will go through all layers of the fabric.

Attach the eyelet by punching a hole and hammering the eyelet into place.  I used an eyelet kit which included the eyelets and fixing tool.

Step 7: Inserting the drawstring.

Thread the cord through the drawstring channel.

Thread the cord through the stopper toggle.

Thread a cord end through each of the eyelets and knot the ends.  I chose to have the knots on the front of my bag.

If this is for a child’s PE kit, they’ll probably have a new kit for next year.  Why not pack it away in their new PE kit and forget all about it until September?  When they return to school, they’ll be the envy of all their friends and you’ll have lots of requests for PE bags.

With this bag, Vera can get her holiday project ready and forget about it until it’s time to travel, knowing that she has everything she needs for the most important part of her holiday.

In this project I learnt:

• My sewing machine doesn’t have a satin stitch.  Instead I altered the zigzag stitch.  I tried different widths and lengths and in the end decided to use a 3.5 stitch width with 0.5 length (very close together).  I found it really difficult to do.  Every so often my machine would get stuck and keep sewing in the same spot, so I had to stop, unpick it and restart.  I had researched how to turn corners but it was hard to be consistent.  I went quite slowly but it took a long time and a lot of thread.  I doubt if I’ll use it again in the foreseeable future but I’m glad I tried it.

• I used decorative stitches along the seam lines of the fabric strips.  I have had my computerised sewing machine for just over a year and haven’t really used the decorative stitches.  I wanted a chance to try them out and this was it.  Some of the stitches looked lovely e.g. the snowflake and I shall certainly use that again, but most of them took a long time and weren’t anything special.  I’m glad I tried them but I think I’ll stick to functional stitches in future.

• I’m getting more confident at using eyelets now.  I’ve used them often enough to no longer have to read the instructions each time or worry that I’ll ruin the whole project.  Eyelets weren’t really an essential in this project but I like the look of them – I think it adds a professional finish and I’m going to keep using them whenever I get the chance. I now have them in several sizes so there’s going to be no stopping me. 

• I used a cotton cord which wasn’t very good quality.  As it was rubbing against the eyelets and the toggle it was already starting to fray.  I think I’ll replace it with a synthetic one when I have the opportunity.

• I like bags made with lots of different fabrics but I’m not confident at mixing colours and fabric because I’m not sure they’ll look good together.  Using a jellyroll or fat quarter bundle is a safer option because they have usually been selected to co-ordinate.  I didn’t have a jellyroll so I cut the same size strips (2 ½”/6.5 cm) from fat quarters. Using the same fabrics for the letters worked well.  I shall certainly try to incorporate more colours/fabrics in future bags.