Easy Lined Drawstring Bags - tutorial

Hello, and welcome! I've been having a busy couple of weeks, which left me almost no time for blogging, so I'm very happy to finally be able to share this tutorial!

These drawstring bags can be made in any size you want and are great to use up fabric leftovers. 

To make them, you need:

• two rectangles of fabric for the exterior of the bag
• two similar sized rectangles of fabric for the lining
• two pieces of ribbon or cord (slightly longer than double the width of the fabric rectangles)
• two plastic or wooden beads (optional)

The first step is to place the two exterior fabric rectangles one over the other, right sides together, and mark about 6 cm from the top.

Then sew around the two sides and bottom of the bag, taking care to sew the sides only up to the marks previously made.

Now go back to the edges you left unfinished. Fold inward, as shown below, and hem each one individually. I like to use a zigzag stitch for this. 

Here's how it will look:

Now sew the two lining pieces right sides together (sides and bottom). In this case you don't need to stop sewing the sides in any place, you can sew them to the top.

Once this is done, place lining inside the exterior fabric and fold the edges of the exterior fabric inward, as shown below:

Pin in place:

Now fold the edges of the lining inward as well. In this case, you will be folding more, in order to leave the folded edges of the exterior fabric uncovered:

Pin in place as well:

Sew all around, as shown below:

Your bag is almost read. Now you just need to add the ribbons:

Using a safety pin, insert the first piece of ribbon as show below (all around the bag):

And the second piece of ribbon in an exact mirror position:

If you're not using beads, just tie each pair of ribbon edges together. In my case, I do like to add wooden beads to these bags:

The easiest way to pass the two pieces of ribbon together through the hole of the beads is to use a bit of masking or painters tape, as shown below:

This way it's very easy to get the beads in place.

Remove the masking tape, tie a knot at the edge of the ribbons and your new lined drawstring bag is ready to be used:

Here's how it will look inside:

And when you pull the ribbons:

 

As it's obvious from the photo above, I made two almost identical bags, just changing the shape of the beads. I had enough of both fabrics and I wanted matching gift bags for a birthday party:

These drawstring bags are really very easy to make, and the lining gives them a polished look. I hope you like this tutorial, and feel free to leave any questions in the comments - I'll try to help you the best way I can. 

Have fun, and happy Wednesday!

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Painted Barrel Wood Spacer Beads