Tiny drawstring bags for Montessori reading materials

It started with a request from OneLittleImps' teacher last term to repair some aprons the kids use, and next I know I have agreed to make little draw string bags in pink and green and blue....

.. agreed to make 36 of the fiddly little suckers! LittleImp goes to a local Montessori school, and these little bags will hold the relevant colour coded levels of reading materials for her class room.

Here is how to make just one bag.

What you need - fabric & ribbon. This bag is pretty tiny - approx 5"x6". Obviously you can upsize the dimensions & still follow the same instructions below.

Cut a rectangle 5.25" x 13" from your chosen fabric.

Mark each end on both edges at two points as shown - at 0.25" and 1.25". These marks are on what will become the inside of the bag.

Fold over the first 0.25" as marked & iron a fold across each short end.

 Fold the bag right sides together, matching up the short edges.

Sewing machine time. Line up your needle with the 1.25" mark and straight stitch using a 1/4" seam down each long edge (to reduce fraying you can either use an edging stitch here as I have, or zig zag down each edge after the straight stitching).

Back to the ironing board. Fold back & iron the top 1" of raw edge as shown

Using a straight stitch sew down each of these side folds. The pictures show how I did this - sew down one side...

...then turn the fabric & turn & sew back up the other side (I also reinforced with a few back & forward stitches at the point where the side seams meet given these little bags will take a bit of use by little fingers).

 This is what it should then look like. Repeat on the other side.

 Back to the ironing board to iron down what will become the casing for the drawstring. Use the 1.25" mark as a guide & fold the edge down to meet this point (or there abouts) & iron the fold.

Repeat on the other side and then straight stitch each of these folded edges down, keeping your stitches close to the fold. Make sure to secure the stitching well at the beginning and end, again to withstand the forces of the drawstring pulling.

Snip all the loose/excess bits of thread. Turn bag right side out & use a sharp-ish object to poke out the corners.

Now for the ribbon. Cut 2x13" lengths of ribbon for each bag. Use a safety pin to then thread one ribbon through both casings. (If the ribbon starts to fray then try folding it over a few times before pinning it with the safety pin.)

Once you have passed through both casings then knot the ends of the ribbon together (as seen on the left side below). Take the next piece of ribbon & thread this through both casings, starting from the other (non-knotted) side, once all the way around join the ends of the ribbon & tie another knot. All done!

 Only 35 to go...

Library Bag

Another hiatus. Been way too long since I was in the Button room. Lots of other life stuff happening in the last few months. The few times I have managed to get in there I haven't managed a whole lot. I need a few big chunks of time to get in the creative groove!

A crafty catch up with a talented sewer friend last week helped me get things happening again. A few little dresses finished off over the weekend, and a nothing too fancy library bag for school.

Like so:

Finished size - approx 16" x 12" plus handle.

Basic How To:

Cut 2 rectangles (16.5" x 12.5") from each of the outer fabric and lining fabric.
If you want to embellish the outside with a name or anything else, now is the time to do that before you start to sew things together.
Next, place outer fabric rectangles right side together & stitch around 2 sides and base (leaving top edge open).
Place lining fabric rectangles right sides together & stitch around 2 sides and base (again, leaving top edge open) - making sure to leave a 3" gap in the base (for turning right side out later on).
Then sew boxed corners into each corner of the lining and outer bag pieces - I measured 1.5" in from each corner to make these. This will make sure there is a bit of space for books inside the bag.

At this point I also added velcro to the top edge of the lining of the bag.

Handles - I decided to make two small handles, one for each side of the bag. I only had felt to hand to reinforce the handles, so that is what I used.
Cut 2 felt pieces (1.5" x 15").
Cut fabric to cover the handles 2x (5" x 15")
fold over about 1cm and press a fold along both long edges of the fabric handle pieces. Place the felt along the fabric, roughly one third of the way down and then fold over the fabric (top down and bottom up) to cover the felt. Straight stitch the length of the handle, just near the edge of the fold to hold everything in place. I posisioned the fold so that it was abouth a third of the way down, so that when I then ran another line of straight stitching a third of the way up the spacing looked good.

Here you can see the right side (top) and wrong side (bottom) of the handles:

To assemble the bag:

Turn lining right side out and then slip inside outer bag (that is still inside out) so that the right sides of both fabrics are facing each other. Match the side seams at the top opening and pin together.

Pin each handle in place to the lining fabric, using the velcro as a guide for centre placement. Make sure the right side of the handle is facing the outer fabric (this will mean when you turn the bag right side out you don't see the folded edge on the 'wrong side' of the handle).

Then pin the outer fabric and lining together, matching the top edge as you go. Repeat the process for the other side of the bag, adding the handle and pinning along the top edge.

Then straight stitch along the top of the bag - all the way around. Trim excess handle fabric and then turn bag right side out through the opening you left in the base of the lining. Press the hole in the lining so that the edges are neat and then straight stitch close to the edge to close the hole.

Top stitch along the top edge of the bag - this will keep the lining neatly inside & also reinforces the handles.

Done!

Feeling Christmassy!

Someone is a bit excited about Christmas this year...

and so am I! Any excuse to be extra crafty & creative:) A Christmas Grinch dress/top for Little Imp that received the seal of approval.

Of course a Christmas hair clip is also required to finish the look. Same technique I've used before to make a felt hair clip. Simply cover a clip with felt sewn together with blanket stitch & then glue on something Christmassy - a wooden tree decoration in this case.
                               

Some Christmas 'stocking' drawstring bags. I had thought I would make proper stocking shaped stockings, but where would I hang them and what if the presents were too big to fit in the small opening? A drawstring bag seemed far better & this pattern for a lined drawstring bag by In Colour Order was fantastic. I just adapted the sizes a bit to suit what I wanted.

I think we are almost ready for Christmas day!

Just now it is time for another fruit mince pie though!
Instructions for the dress are here.