For quite awhile, I've been meaning to sew up some project bags - something to keep my knitting, crochet, or embroidery in that keeps it together, safe, and looking nice. Pretty much anything would have been a step up from what I've been using .... Ziploc bags! Don't get me wrong, I love Ziplocs but you do have to admit that they don't make very classy project bags!
Besides just how my works in progress look, there's been another development that's made it a bit more imperative to get them made. The "kittens" (who are now 10 months old, very large, and not kittens any longer but are stuck with the handle) have fallen in love with yarn. They're pretty hard on whatever they decide to love and several skeins and projects I'm working on have bitten the dust. Since they can see right through Ziplocs, they know yarn is in there, chew their way in, and liberate the wonderful "toys." It's a good thing they're so cute....
On to the new project bags ....
*about 1/3 yard fabric
*about 1/3 yard lining - I like a light color so I can easily see what's inside, so I use white muslin
*large decorative button
Cut two 11 x 14 inch rectangles from the main fabric and the lining. Sew around three sides of the main fabric with a 1/4 inch seam and leaving one of the shorter sides open for the top. Fold under 1/4 inch around the top and iron.
To make a box bottom, pick up the bag and fold the bottom up on one side so that it forms a triangle - make sure the two seams (bottom and side seams) match. Draw a straight line two inches from the point of the triangle - if you have a marked cutting mat, line one edge of the triangle up along the 45 degree marking. Sew along the pencil line and trim. I got the photos below in the wrong order - the middle picture is first, the first picture is second, and the third is really third and in the correct spot!
Repeat with the lining fabric.
Leave the lining with the seams on the outside and insert it into the main fabric bag, adjusting so that the seams all match. Fold the top of of the outside bag over the top of the lining and sew a bit up from the folded edge.
To make the tab, cut two 3 x 6 inch rectangles from the main fabric. Put right sides together and fold long wise in half. Using a small circle (I used a custard cup), draw an arc at one end. Cut along the drawn line.
Sew together with a 1/4 inch seam, leaving the top open. Turn inside out and press, turn under edges of the open end and press. Make a button hole near the curved end of the tab. Line up the tab in the middle of one side of the bag's top so that the tab goes over the bag about two inches. Sew close to the edges of the tab to attach to the bag.
Sew button on in the middle of the other side of the bag, right below the top sewing lines.
And your project bag is finished!
Much nicer looking!
And here's the finished project that got to use it first - a vest for Henry!
Happy Creating! Deborah
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