Drawstring Wet Bag Tutorial 4

I needed a new wet bag for dirty cloth nappies out and about and being heavily pregnant now, the quicker and easier to make, the better! This bag would work equally well for football boots, cloth sanitary protection, swim stuff, washable wipes etc!

What you need:

1 fat quarter of cotton
1 fat quarter of waterproof PUL
Just over a metre of ribbon

How to make it:

First double check your fat quarters are the same size, as the size refers to how the fabric is cut so will depend on the bolt or roll width.

I trimmed all round my cotton piece with pinking shears so it's less likely to fray making it more durable with use and repeated washing (PUL doesn't fray).

You need to sew your lining and outer fabric separately, so fold each in half right side together. Mark with a pin 2 1/2 inches down from the top of the raw long edge. Leave this bit unsewn. Sew together the rest of that edge and the bottom. Repeat with the other material and you should  now have 2 sacks. (You might find it easier to sew the PUL with a knit foot or walking foot to reduce how much it sticks and stretches which distorts it as you sew. This is only a problem when the laminated side has to pass under the presser foot. For all other stages you can either face that side down so that it passes underneath and the machine feed dogs pull it along, or you are sewing the fabric side to the fabric).

Turn the PUL sack right side out. Leaving the cotton inside out, put the PUL sack inside it. You should now have right sides together of the 2 materials.

Pin the tops together all the way around.

I chose to fold back the excess with the raw edge I had left unsewn down the side. You could just sew around it though. Sew all the way around the top leaving an opening somewhere away from the 2 raw edges along the top of around 3 inches. Try to make your stitching continuous along that open folded back section to seal it in fully.

Now turn the whole bag through the hole you left.

Poke the lining back into the outer cotton. Fold under the opening and top stitch all the way around then fold the top down on itself and pin in place

Follow your horizontal top stitching all around so you are making a channel for your ribbon to go through (leaving those ends open at the sides).

Top tip - if you are using satin ribbon and want to stop the ends fraying where you have trimmed it to size, then hold the end a couple of inches over a candle for a couple of seconds to melt the fibres (too long and you'll singe it).

Attach a safety pin to your ribbon to make it easier to move it inside, then pass it through your tunnel.

Tie a knot or bow on the end to stop the ribbon ends being pulled back through into the bag when you use it in a hurry and your done!

We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk

Happy Sewing!