Fat Quarter Lined Drawstring Bag: A Tutorial

Welcome to my first tutorial! I know there's about a gazillion other bag tutorials out there on the web, but I'd like to share how I made this one. It is so simple, and takes only 30 minutes to make. I sincerely hope I don't fuddle your brains. I hope you enjoy!

Supplies:

-One fat quarter (18"x22")

-About 24" of ribbon, bias tape or other drawstring material

- Large button

-Sewing basics

Here we go! Cut your fat quarter lengthwise down the middle, making two rectangles measuring 9"x22". Fold each rectangle in half, right sides together, lengthwise. It should look like photo (1) below. 

Starting with the outer fabric, stitch both long sides, leaving a 1/2"-1" gap 2 1/2" down from the open end on one side only (See photo 2). Hope I didn't lose you there, notice that my measurements are loose. The gap that you left open will be for your drawstring, so as long as your drawstring is thin, 1/2" to 1" will be plenty of room. Mine ended up being 3/4". (I know, shame on me, I don't measure. Not one bit.) Sew up the sides of your other rectangle in the same manner, only don't leave a gap this time - just sew straight up both sides.

Returning to the outer fabric, press the seam open where the drawstring opening/gap is. Stitch around the opening, creating a nice finished edge.

Please excuse my less-than-straight stitching. :)

Now for the fun part: turn the outer fabric right side out and put it inside the lining fabric, so that the right sides are together. Line up the side seams, pin, and sew around the upper edge. Leave at least a 4" gap for turning as shown in photo (5) below. (I always learn the hard way here - I try to sneak by with leaving the smallest gap possible, and then kill my fingers trying to shove all the fabric through the tiniest gap in the world. Do it every time too.)

Pull the outer fabric through the gap while pushing the lining fabric into the gap. It should end up looking like photo (6).

You will now push the lining fabric into the outer fabric so that it looks like photo (7). Press the bag, especially the top edge that you just sewed.

There are two options for closing up the gap in the top edge: If you're feeling ambitious (which, surprisingly, I was today- as you can see in photo 8), then you can hand-stitch the opening closed with a hidden ladder stitch. Or, you can just topstitch very close to the edge all the way around. (My favorite.)

Now we will make the drawstring casing. You will start at the top edge of your drawstring opening (which you stitched around) and sew all the way around the bag. If you're worried about stitching a straight line, you can measure the distance from the top of the bag and place pins all the way around. Once again, I never measure, so I just guessed. And sewed really fast. 

Next, sew the bottom edge of the casing. Starting this time at the bottom of the drawstring opening, stitch all the way around the bag the same way you did the top.

Photo (11) is what it should look like when finished!

I dug some orange ribbon out of my stash, and using a bodkin (or safety pin), threaded it through the casing twice. This is SO difficult to explain, so I drew a little picture to help me out. Hopefully this doesn't make it more confusing! :)

I hope that helps! Pulling both ends of the ribbon out of the drawstring opening, i threaded each end through this cute flower button, (Which, according to the packaging, is from the late 80's. Who. Knows.) and then knotted the ends together. 

Push the button up the ribbon, and pull the bag closed!

Yay for pretty bags. All done! I used this one to hold the alphabet magnet set that I made for my sweet little cousin. You can find the tutorial for these magnets here, on Chez Beeper Bebe. (One of my favorite blogs, by the way.) The only modifications I made to the pattern was to use strip magnets that come in a roll, that way I could cut them to size, rather than using round ones.

Happy stitching! <3

Baby Pants: Funny Farm.

Greetings from 1:28 AM. I'm currently listening to my husband and dog snoring together down the hall. They've got rhythm. I just feel like posting again. These baby pants make me laugh. I made them the other night, just to try out a new pattern with some scrap fabric. I love the pattern, and will be using it to make lots of pants for The B.E. And I must say, the fabric is growing on me as well. ;) I'm pretty sure it's left over from a project my Mom made in the early 90's. <3 Goodnight!

The Minky/Silky Blanket, a quick tutorial.

My first Blog post! I'm excited to be joining the online crafting community. This is a quick how-to on one style of a silky baby blanket. Another style coming soon!

My 4 year old son was gifted a silky blanket at my baby shower, before he was even born. I had no idea what a huge part that blankie would play in our lives! That blankie (and another similar one that we got later on)  trained him to sleep on his own. It has healed many boo-boos and dried many tears with its magical powers. It has gone up and down the East Coast on many occasions. Unfortunately, it is in really bad shape. And the reason is...(dun dun dun dun) he eats it. Yes, he sucks on his blanket. If asked what he's doing, he simply says "I'm eating my blanket".  I try to put it through the wash frequently, but even still, it is plainly clear it's time for a new one. 

Blankets like his are not only expensive, they're hard to find. The ones in stores are always either "lovies" or not quite the right combination of fabrics or colors that I'm looking for. So, I launched a mission to make one myself. 

First came a hazardous family trip to Joann's in a blizzard. (Extreme Exaggeration Disclaimer: it was about 1 inch of snow. Buuuut, due to the fact that we took the pretty new 2-wheel drive Volvo instead of the ol' AWD Subaru sleigh, it felt like a blizzard.) I found the minky plush fabric and flannel-backed satin, and after color approval from The Buddy, we were all set. I understand now why the blankets are so expensive, because the fabric is super pricey on its own!

Next came the construction. I wanted this blanket to be smaller than the first, as I'm trying to use it as a weaning tool. I cut 24x36" rectangles of each fabric, shown below.

With right sides together, I pinned around the edges and stitched, leaving about a 5" opening for turning.

After turning, this is what it looked like. 

I top-stitched around the edges, closing up my 5" turning gap.

And it was done! I put it through the wash and laid it out for The Buddy to see the next morning.

Thanks for visiting!