Simple bag tutorial

Hi there crafters!  Well what a lovely weekend.  The sun has shone and we have been out and about.  I have also been busy finishing off a commission and thought I would create this little tutorial as I was making my story stone bags. 

Simple lined bag.

This little bag really is a doddle! I'm afraid there are no measurements in this tutorial as I use scraps of fabric so bag sizes often vary.  If you want a rough guide then I would suggest starting off with a square of 60x60cm fabric.  If you wish to use a directional pattern then it will work fine with this pattern.

1.  Choose your fabric.  This is an ex-curtain scrap bought from my local fabric shop.  I has been big enough to create this bag, but I also made a much bigger bag as a present out of it.  It is always worth looking around I always feel.  A project feels far better for the soul when you are recycling I usually feel.

2.  Fold your fabric in half long ways,  pattern facing.  Pin along the three open sides.  You may not see here very clearly but I have drawn a blue chalk line around the edges to indicate where you will sew.  Along the long edge you need to leave a gap in the centre, approx 10cm.  (This will not be sew until later)

Here is a close up of the area in the centre of the long edge where I have indicated where not to sew.  Now sew along the open edges, leaving the gap in the centre of the long side.

3.  You will now need to pull the fabric right side out through the small hole you left.  This picture shows half of it being pulled through.  When you have done this flatten the fabric out.  This is also a good opportunity to iron the fabric! (I didn't as you can see... the iron was hiding.)

4.  If you now look at the opening you made earlier you will see that there is a possibility that the edges could fray,  also the cord you will use in a bit will pull them out and make the bag look messy. You now need to to sew along most of these edges. (but not sew them together.  You will still need an opening.) 

5.  Here you can hopefully see that I have carefully sewn the inside edges of the opening.  You could always use a blanket stitch here and make a feature of it.

6.  Now this bit is a little hard to explain but you need to fold the top part of your fabric into the base of the fabric.  You are in effect turning it inside out so that it sits inside the bottom section.  This will make the bag lined!

Here is the bag ... nearly finished.  I have folded the top half back inside the bottom part of the fabric as suggested in step 6.  I took particular care to make sure the corners are pushed into the other corners inside.

7.  Now you will need to sew about an inch down from the fold of your bag.  Start at one of the edges and work your way all the way around.  You are creating a section that will hold the bag tie.

Here is what it looks like now it is sewn all around.  (you can put the machine away now.) 

8. Last step is to thread your cord all the way through the section you just made.

Lastly I tie the ends of each end and then tie them both together.  If you are worried about fraying then put a dab of glue on each knot.  I used piping cord which was around 45ppm.  I suggest you measure as you go along as you may want a longer or shorter length than I used.  I used around 80cm of cord in all.

And here is my finished bag!  it has ended up being just under 30cm square.  

You could make this any size you like, although just remember it will only get more fiddly the smaller the bag is!

This bag is not only great for bits and bobs, but fab as a story sack, shoes and even for kids to play with and fill at their leisure!

xxx