Sew a Drawstring Library Bag

My girls LOVE books.

I have always read to them. When I was pregnant I read aloud (only at home of course... crazy lady at 2 o'clock) and as babies I would sit them on my lap and read my magazines and books and their children's books to them, they still love being read to, only now that my eldest can read, she loves to read her books to her little sister.
When I'm asked what they would like for Birthdays, Christmas and so on, books are always on their list.
So it may surprise you that we have all only just joined the local library. The girls were beside themselves with excitement and couldn't wait to get their little hands on their very own library card.
On our first visit I gave them a limit of 3 books each. What a dilemma. I ultimately managed to convince them that they will be able to come back time and again and eventually borrow all the books they were deliberating over.
Once in the car the girls were chatting excitedly about their first visit to the library when my eldest pipes up with "Mummy we really should have a library bag to keep these books safe you know"

With those words came our next project...

Sewing a Drawstring Library Bag

It's easy I promise and will only take you about 15mins

You will need

Fabric 76cm W x 46cm L

1m of cord or ribbon

thread

and all the other necessary sewing equipment, sewing machine, scissors, pins and an iron. 

1. Finish all the edges of your piece of fabric either with an overlocker or zigzag stitch.

2. Turn over the finished edge of the fabric down to approximately 7 to 10cm on each side of the fabric and press, then turn over the top finished edge of the fabric and press. It should look like this...

3. Turn over the top edge again 2.5cm and press, this should create enough room for the drawstring to be threaded through depending on the size of the ribbon or cord you have selected.

4. Using a straight stitch, sew along the bottom edge of the fold ensuring you are catching the finished edge underneath and backstitch at the beginning and end.

5. Fold your fabric in half printed sides in together. It should look like this and measure approximately 37cm W now. 

6. Using a straight stitch, sew along the bottom and side finished edges, stopping about 1cm from the top of the folded edge. Don't forget to backstitch at the start and end.

Yay you're almost done.

7. Turn your bag right side out and thread your ribbon or cord through the drawstring sleeve. Sew or singe the ends of your ribbon to prevent them from fraying and tie them together.

DADA! Stand back and admire your handywork. Well done, I told you it was easy didn't I.

I don't like the ends of my ribbon even so I tied mine so that the ribbon ends fell at slightly different lengths. 

The girls both wanted the same fabric so they each chose different ribbons in order to tell them apart. Now they have some pretty library bags to keep their treasured borrowed books safe.

You may want to make some more of these, they come in handy for plenty of other things such as sports gear, toys, sleepovers and toiletries you could even make little ones to fill for party favours.

This is also a nice easy project to teach your little ones how to sew.

Happy sewing.

Love Jade xx