Simple living. Simply loving.: Tutorial: How to make a simple drawstring bag

In order to reduce waste, Matthew and I have reused plastic bags for bulk and produce goods at the store. However, plastic bags get holes, are difficult to clean, and end up in the garbage quicker than they need to. I felt like we should just go ahead and have fabric bags. Buying bags is an option, but it costs a fair amount of money per bag, and they are so easy to sew...

I almost had a dilemma when buying fabric. I didn't have enough scraps to make bags, but I wanted to avoid buying new fabric. (Organic fabric is fairly expensive, and growing non-organic cotton involves a lot of chemicals... but that's another story.) I had a light bulb moment - Used sheets! We didn't have time to wear out our sheets, but I found some old sheets at Goodwill. Upcycling!

Without further ado, here is how to sew a drawstring bag for your produce and bulk needs!

Materials:
1) Enough fabric to make whatever size bag that you want. Remember that you will lose a few inches to seams.
2) Thread that goes with your fabric.
3) Scissors or rotary cutter and board.
4) Pins
5) A safety pin
6) Enough yarn or cord to make a drawstring.
7) A sewing machine unless you prefer to hand sew!

Steps:
1) Cutting out your fabric

The main goal here is to end up with a rectangular piece of fabric that, when folded in half, is just a bit bigger than the bag you want to result. The piece that I am cutting here was 19"x28". If you can't cut that big of a piece, you can cut two equal sized pieces. Just remember that if you do this, you will lose a little extra to a second side seam.

2) Sewing the bottom seam
First fold your bag in half with the printed side on the inside of the bag as seen below in the picture on the left. Next fold up and turn in the raw edge of the bottom of the bag. Pin it as you go. You can see this in the picture below and to the right.

This is what you should see when you are finished pinning. Now you are ready to sew your first seam.

As you can see here, I am sewing a seam very close to the tucked under edge. When this seam is complete, you are finished with the sewing the bottom of your bag.

3) The side(s) of the bag
The pinning process will be generally the same as with the bottom of the bag. If you need to sew both sides, first sew one side completely as you did the bottom seam. One side seam will need to stop about 3 inches from the top of the bag as seen below. (The top three inches are needed to create the case for the drawstring.) Pin and sew this side making sure to leave the 3 inches on top.

4) The drawstring casing

First make a small cut just above your side seam so that the top three inches of fabric are not being twisted by the side seam.

Next baste the flaps onto the bag as seen below.

Next you are ready to fold over the fabric for the drawstring casing. Make sure that you tuck under the raw edge so that it is not left out. First pin both of side of the casing at the side seam, then continue pinning in a circle until the entire top is pinned. This process can be seen in these two pictures. (Sorry that the first one is a bit blurry!) After pinning, sew your seam.

5) The drawstring

Take your yarn or cord and lay it folded across your bag so that you can cut the appropriate amount. Make sure to leave a little to make a knot. I actually use a double strand of yarn to make it a little thicker.

Loosely tie your yarn to the safety pin and use the safety pin to help push the yarn through the casing.