Halloween Pouch - Drawstring bag tutorial

Happy weekend all.... now that the machine is back looking all sparkly and efficient I thought it was time to give a tutorial a go!

So this is how to make a VERY BASIC drawstring bag, it may not be everyone's way of doing it, but its A way of doing it, and it works :-)

Supplies

You are going to need:

Spectacular fabric (amount depends on how big you want your bags) - my fabric strip is approx 38cm x 15cm.
Pins
Ribbon/string for the drawstring
Thread for sewing on your machine
Scissors
Pinking shears (optional)
Curious reptile (also optional - although I didn't have much say in the matter)

Step 1

Cut a rectangle of fabric; these are 38cm x 15cm - not an exact science just have a fold of your fabric and see how big you want the bags. My print was tessellated and so it didn't matter which way up the fabric was. If you have a print that you can only see one way up, you may need to cut 2 rectangles; 1 front and 1 back piece and join them together.

Step 2

Step 1 - fold tiny side hems in

Step 1 - sew tiny hems

Fold the long edges of the fabric inwards, on the 'wrong' side of your fabric - this can be very small, and we're doing it so that when the drawstring casing is finished, there are no raw edges showing and its nice and neat. Sew these folds all the way down on both sides.

Step 3

Step 3 - Finish raw edges

Step 3 - fold edge to create casing

Now this is entirely optional, but I like things to look neat - finish your top and bottom edges (narrow edges) with pinking shears or an overlocker. (If you don't do it - who cares, we're not giving out awards here - and if someone dares comment on your raw edges after receiving a lovely halloween bag you may want to rethink what kind of 'treat' went in there ;-)

Anyway, make another fold in this edge - this forms the casing for your drawstring. Make sure the fold is big enough to allow your chosen ribbon/string to fit through it. The fold on these bags is approx. 1.5cm. Sew the fold at the lowest edge - forming a tube through the fabric for your ribbon.


Step 3 - sew down the casing

Step 4

Take your fabric and now fold it together, right sides facing each other. Pin along the sides to hold it in place. Place a 'stopper' pin across the top of the bag to remind yourself to stop sewing! You don't want to sew all the way up - only to the line of stitching that created the drawstring casing, otherwise you wont be able to put your ribbon in...

Step 4 - sew your side seams

Step 4 - fold and pin to where casing starts


Step 4.1 - Fend off an attack to the knee

Step 5

Turn your bag inside out so its the right way round! You might want to push out the corners with a pencil or ruler to get them nice and sharp.

Step 5 - taking shape...

Step 6

Your bag is nearly ready! Now take your ribbon and measure out enough to go through the bag and have extra on either side for fastening in a bow. You can either have 2 bits of ribbon - one for each side of the casing - or 1 bit - that goes through one side of casing and back through the other side giving you a bow on one side only.

Step 6 - Cut your ribbon length

Feed your ribbon through the drawstring casing - the best way to do this is to attach one end of ribbon to a safety pin. Feed the pin through the casing and keep feeling your way across, pushing the pin through all the way - your ribbon pops out the other end!