Make a Little Time: A Lined Drawstring Project Bag Tutorial

← Back to What to Make With One Yard of Fabric

A sewing project feels a little more inviting when it has a home of its own. This lined drawstring bag keeps fabric, thread and the work in progress together, ready to carry from the worktable to the sofa.

Separate casings make a tidy top, and two drawstrings close from opposite sides. You can use one fabric throughout or bring in a contrasting lining from your stash.

What you’ll need

• 1 yard of 44–45" wide woven cotton, with at least 36" across × 32" along the length usable after washing. The example layout uses a 42" × 34" area. No additional lining fabric is required.
• Two 44" lengths of soft cord, narrow ribbon or cotton tape; a safety pin.
• Thread, needle or sewing machine, ruler, scissors, pins or clips, and iron.

Cutting list

All measurements are in inches. Cut measurements include the stated seam allowances. Measure fabric after washing and pressing.

Let’s make it

1. Cut and identify the pieces

Wash, dry and press the fabric. Cut the four panels and two casing strips. Mark two panels as outer and two as lining. Four panels fit in two rows across a 30" × 32" area. The casing strips fit in the remaining width. Keep panel tops marked if your fabric is directional.

2. Prepare the casings

On both short ends of each casing strip, press ¼" to the wrong side, then another ¼". Stitch the folded ends. Each strip is now 13" long. Fold each strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press, making a 1½"-deep folded strip. Center one on the right side of each outer panel’s top edge, aligning all raw edges; its ends sit 1" from the panel’s raw side edges. Baste ¼" from the top.

3. Sew the two bags

Place the outer panels right sides together. Sew both sides and the bottom with ½" seams; leave the top open. Keep the casings out of the side seams. Repeat with the lining panels, leaving a 3" turning opening in the middle of the lining’s bottom seam. Secure both ends of that opening. Trim the bottom corner tips clear of the stitches.

4. Join outer and lining

Turn the outer bag right side out. Keep the lining wrong side out and put the outer bag inside it, so their right sides face. Match side seams and raw top edges. The folded casings should lie between the two bags, pointing down inside them. Pin and sew all around the top with a ½" seam, catching the casing raw edges. Leave no top gap.

5. Turn and finish

Pull the outer bag through the opening in the lining. Fold the lining opening’s raw edges inward ½" and close with ladder stitches* or a narrow line of machine stitching. Tuck the lining into the outer bag. Press the top seam and pull the casings upward. If you like, topstitch the bag just below the casings, keeping their channels open.

6. Thread the drawstrings

Attach a safety pin to one cord. Starting at the left, feed it through the front casing, across the gap, then through the back casing, exiting again at the left. Tie that cord’s ends together. Feed the second cord around the same route starting and ending at the right. Tie its ends. Pull the two knots away from one another to close the bag.

Before you thread

Check that the safety pin fits easily through the finished channel. If your cord is very thick, use narrower cord rather than forcing it through.

A small extra

A fabric label or a few embroidered initials can go on an outer panel before assembly. Store the finished bag and its long cords out of reach of small children.

* A small stitch note: For ladder stitch, take tiny alternating stitches inside the two folded edges of an opening. Gently draw the thread snug to bring the folds together, then secure the end.

A little more making

There's no need to save your favorite fabrics for a big project. Let this small project become part of the everyday.

Explore the rest of this project collection · Browse fabric · Gather notions