Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial

Hello and welcome to another Wednesday :) Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the US!  I have a lot of projects going at the moment, most of which are not in very photogenic stages. Today I am going to finish the ZigZag strip for the Fair Isle Quilt Along.  I also have the blue and brown string quilt basted and quilting will begin today. ...As soon as I make up my mind how to quilt it. 

But in the meanwhile, I made a quick, lined drawstring bag last night, and I took pictures so I could share the how-to :)

CUT: outer fabric 7.5" x 16.5", lining 7.5" x 19.5", drawstring (2) 18" long.

These instructions make a bag that finishes at 7" x 9", but you could easily adjust them for a smaller or larger bag. Just remember that the lining should always be 3" longer than the outer fabric.

Use your button hole foot to make button holes on the right side lining fabric on all four corners as shown. Use a 1/4" diameter button in the foot.  The holes should be 0.5" in from the side and just over 0.25" in from the ends.

Don't cut these open yet, it will be easier to wait til later.

Fold both the inner and outer fabrics in half longways and sew the long sides closed with a 1/4" seam. Zig zag or serge the edges to keep fraying in check.

Leave a gap along the lining piece somewhere close to the folded end for turning later.

Turn the outer piece right side out and slide it inside the lining piece so they are right sides together. Pin along the top edge, nesting the seams at the sides.  Sew with a 1/4" seam all the way around the top.

Pull the bag right sides out through the hole left in the lining fabric, then top stitch or ladder stitch that hole closed.

Push the lining down in to the outer fabric of the bag. Because the lining is longer there will be some left at the top.  Make sure the amount of lining fabric showing at the top is even all the way around and that your button holes are completely on the outside, not rolled over the top.

Pin through both layers of the bag near he top of the outer fabric the keep the lining from shifting. Then sew along the seam between the two fabrics, creating a sleeve of the lining fabric at the top.

Now use your seam ripper to open up the button holes, being careful to only go through one layer of fabric.  Then clip a safety pin to one end of one of your drawstrings and thread it though one of the button holes, all the way though the sleeve, not going through the other set of button holes, just passing underneath them, and back out next to where it went in.  Knot or sew the ends together and repeat with the other drawstring on the other side.

And there you have a fully lined and quite professional looking drawstring bag!

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.