Look, I Made This: Drawstring Ditty Bag

So who loves those Vera Bradley Drawstring Bags? This girl. I had one at some point in my life but somehow between moving back and forth from college 4 times, traveling the world, and generally having too many things, I have lost it. So a few weeks ago I decided it can't be that hard to make one, right? Hey, I was right! I searched and found a few tutorials, but Kim's at Oh, Sweet Joy! was my favorite. I pretty much followed her instructions, except I pinned the pieces together and didn't make mine for toiletries, so I just used regular cotton fabric. I also didn't leave at much space at the top for a cute little ruffle like hers has, but that's ok because this was a practical project for me, not a cutesie one, so I am satisfied.

These little bags are PERFECT for keeping your undergarments in when you travel. I'm going to make another one out of this cute teal chevron remnant I found a while back so I'll have two: one for clean and one for dirty! They would make adorable gifts, too. It's quick, too, I think total time it took me about an hour to finish, but I was doing other things and got distracted and oh look my dogs are cute...that is how my brain works. Let's get started, shall we?

Materials:
1/2 yard of fabric (I used regular old calico/cotton/"normal," if you will, but if you want this to hold toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, etc., follow the advice in the link above and get laminated cotton or oilcloth or maybe line it with vinyl or something similarly waterproof/washable.)
Coordinating thread
Scissors
Pins
Ruler
Bowl or circle pattern for base (I'll explain what I used below)
Iron
Sewing machine & basic notions
Seam ripper

Seam ripper not pictured.  I assume you know
what one is.

Be sure to wash & dry your fabric as you will the final item before you sew it. Mine got all tangly and frayed in the dryer, but it turned out ok after I snipped the frayed edges off. I probably won't wash the final bag much, anyway. This is also probably a good time to say that I am not very good at ironing. When I say not good, I actually mean I'm really terrible at it. It took me longer to iron out these pieces of fabric than it did to sew the entire bag. Not kidding. Ugh, but they were so wrinkly and I had to.

Cut out your pieces. I used Microsoft Word to create an 8" circle and printed/cut it out for my bottom pattern, the link above used a bowl, you use whatever you want. The following measurements are based on an 8 inch base. If you choose to make it bigger or smaller, you'll have to pull out your old geometry knowledge and figure up the circumference of the circle and apply that to the length of your body piece. Hint: it isn't difficult.
The piece I used for the body was 26"x15x and the drawstring piece was 2"x29".

I need new scissors. 

To make the drawstring, fold your fabric in half lengthwise, iron, fold in half again, iron, stitch. That easy. I had to use pins to keep it folded and then as a sewed down the center (no one is going to see it, yay for ugly stitches!) I pulled the pins out. Set aside.

Next, pin the body piece of fabric around the circle base piece, matching up the edge of the circle to the long side of the rectangle, right sides together. If your fabric is stiff you can cut little notches or slits in the long edge of the rectangle to help it curve. Mine was still kind fraying so it did alright.

Stitch around the circle. The trick here is to go slow, make sure your two pieces stay lined up correctly and don't bunch up under the foot. If it starts to fold or bunch, stop sewing, gently flatten out your fabric, and continue. Sew all the way around, leaving the excess rectangular fabric sticking out.

Remember to go slow. 

Next, pin together the short sides of the rectangle (the height of your bag). I winged it and didn't really measure, but just laid it on a table and laid a ruler up from the edge of the circle to the top and pinned along there. Then I sewed just to one side of the pins. If you want it to be perfectly cylindrical, lay it flat and measure the same diameter of your circle and sew it there. Sew it up. Ta-da: bag! Not quite finished, though.

"winging it"...

Still inside out, fold the top out and down about 2", wrong sides together. I didn't measure this either. I sewed close to the bottom edge and then again about 3/4" above that. Make sure there is enough room between your two rows of stitches to fit your drawstring through, depending on how large your drawstring ended up being. Mine was 1/2".

You can see the first stitch line and approximately how far it is from
the second one...

Turn your bag right side out! Yay, almost finished! Next, find the spot between the two rows of stitches where the big seam runs through. Being very careful, use your seam ripper to open up that seam INSIDE the two rows of stitches. I tore my fabric a little, it's ok. I think.

Just a little slit. 

Next, thread your drawstring through that little hole and all the way around. In theory you should be able to attach a safety pin to one end of your string and use that to work it through, but I couldn't find a pin anywhere. So i tied a knot in one end of my drawstring, inserted it in, and then used a chopstick to push it through as far as the chopstick would go, and then I just used my own nimble fingers to work it through the last few inches and out the same hole!

Voila, drawstring bag. Tie a knot (I did a double) on each end of the drawstring, fill the bag up with goodies, enjoy!

I think this picture is blurry, now that I see it on the computer...

Not the prettiest, but it's functional. Again, I am satisfied.

Be on the lookout for my next post: A step-by-step guide to a great (and budget friendly) Valentine's Day feast.