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A DIY "Knitting Project Bag" Sewing Tutorial
With fall approaching, I know all I want to do is cuddle up on the couch with a cup of tea and knit. However, having a full-time job doesn't allow me this luxury as much as I would like and there are so many projects I still want to work on. Luckily, I am able to get a lot of knitting done during my commute. That is why I depend on project bags to tote my knitting around with me. Here, I'll show you how to make a project bag of your very own. The most exciting feature of this project bag in particular is that it's waterproof! (Please excuse the stains on my cutting mat throughout these photos. I forgot to wipe it down before I began. *Shaking my head*.)
Supplies:
- 1 yard ottertex canvas printed fabric
- 1 yard broadcloth fabric
- Ruler
- Pattern/craft paper (optional)
- Heat erasable marker
- Rotary Cutter and cutting mat or fabric scissors and craft scissors
- Wonder clips
- Straight pins
- Sewing machine
- Size 18 and 12 sewing machine needles
- Matching thread
- Snips
- 2 yards of cording
- 1 yard of 1" wide webbing
- Bobby pin
Time:
3-4 hours
Difficulty:
Easy
LET'S GET STARTED!
- Wash and dry the broadcloth fabric to pre-shrink it. I did not wash and dry my ottertex canvas fabric beforehand because the care instructions say to spot clean with a cleaning solution and soft bristle brush.
- For this step, I drafted out my pieces onto pattern paper beforehand to make sure everything was the right size and all of my corners were right angles. If you do not have pattern paper or craft paper, you can draw out your pieces directly onto your fabric by using a heat erasable marker. This way, you can iron out any mistakes. You will need one square that measures 12" x 14". This will be the body of your bag. You will also need a rectangle that measures 13 1/2" x 4". This will be the channel you draw your cording through in the very last step.
- I am usually partial to fabric scissors but for this project I decided to use my rotary cutter and cutting mat since I was only cutting straight lines. If you do not have a rotary cutter and cutting mat, fabric scissors are fine for the broad cloth but I would recommend using craft scissors for the ottertex canvas since it is very thick and plastic-like and could blunt your fabric scissors.
- Using your size 18 sewing machine needle, stitch 1/2" in from three edges of the body of your bag- 2 short and one long. The shorter edges are your sides and the longer edge is the bottom. Instead of straight pins, I used wonder clips to pin my pieces together before running them through the sewing machine. The ottertex canvas doesn't really have much recovery so any holes you poke into it will be there permanently.
- Fold one side seam down so that it is matched up with the bottom seam. Draw a line 2" up from the corner and stitch.
- Trim about 1/4"- 1/2" away from the seam you just sewed in Step 5.
- Repeat steps 5-6 for the opposite corner of your bag.
- Fold over all four short ends of your drawstring channels 1/4" and stitch.
- Using a pressing cloth as to not melt your fabric, press the drawstring channels in half lengthwise.
- Cut two pieces of webbing that are 16" long. Baste them 1/4" from the top edge of your bag with each side coming in 3" from the side seams. Make sure not to twist the straps.
- Baste the drawstring channels 1/4" from the top edge of your bag.
- Switch to your size 12 sewing machine needle. Stitch around the three edges of your broadcloth lining fabric but only sew the bottom edge coming in 3" from each side. You will need this gap later to flip your bag right side out.
- Switching back to your size 18 sewing machine needle, with right sides together, stitch the body of your bag to the lining 3/8" from the top edge. The lining should be on the outside.
- Flip your lining right side out and top stitch the bottom edge that you left open earlier.
- Cut your one yard of cording in half. Using a bobby pin, run one piece of cording through the drawstring channel going all the way around and coming out right next to where you began.
- Knot your two ends together.
- Repeat steps 15-16 but this time starting in the opposite direction.
- Finished! Time to load up your current work in progress!
