Tutorial: Double-drawstring bag

 My son loves those little Velcro wooden fruits that you can cut into pieces with the wooden knife.  The set Santa brought was in a cute little wooden crate, but at the end of the day, a wide-open, boxy crate isn't going to cut it as a storage vessel at our place.  Instead, I wanted to make a little drawstring bag to keep them all together (without taking up a crate-sized amount of space).  And I had the perfect fabric. 

Here's a little tutorial to create a handy double drawstring bag.

 Step 1:  Cut the two pieces of fabric to whatever dimensions you need for your bag, but be sure to add at least 2-3 inches to one end for the fold-over drawstring casing.  Pink edges, if you want (except the open edge) and place fabric right sides together.  Then, mark about 2.5" in from the end that will have the drawstring (see Note below image).  Repeat on the other side.  Stitch around the three open sides, being sure to stop where you've made your measurement.  I like to use two pins to remind myself where I must stop a seam, if the end isn't at the end of the fabric.

Note: your measurements can vary here, depending how large you want your casing to be.  Mine will be a 1" casing, so I need 2 inches for the casing, 1/4 inch to fold under and another 1/4 for...the ease of the opening, I guess is the best way to put it! 

Step 2: Along the both open sides, turn under 1/4" and stitch in place.

Step 3: Then, open the side seams and press to the same width as your seam allowance.

Step 4.  Stitch around the slit opening to tack down the seam allowance.

Step 5: Fold over the fabric again, to create your drawstring casing.  Stitch along the casing, close to the edge. 

Step 6: Repeat for the other side.

Step 7: Make your drawstring!  You will need two pieces that are at least 3 times the length of your open side.  Lots of options here, but I used my handy bias tape maker to create a strip of bias (7a), folded it in half (7b), then zigzag-stitched along the edge (7c).  Simple.

 Step 8: Using a big safety pin, thread one of your drawstrings into one of your casing openings (8a), loop around to the other side (8b-bridging the gap between openings on the other side) and ending on the same side you started (8c--the front casing has been folded down, to show both ends of the drawstring).

Step 9: Knot the two ends together.

Step 10: Repeat with the second drawstring, beginning and ending with the other pair of casing openings.

Pull both ends of the drawstring together and you're done!

Now get the kids to clean up their toys!

Enjoy your new, space-saving and efficient storage bag!