Mesh Laundry Wash Bags 2

Making a mesh wash bag is so quick and simple and yet it is something that's stayed a firm favorite on my 'to do' list for a long time. They are brilliant for all sorts of uses like protecting lingerie, keeping children's socks in separate piles through the washing machine to save sorting after, stopping cloth wipes or little socks from getting stuck in the seal of a washing machine door, protecting the raw edges of your precious new fabric as you prefer-wash it before seeing with it, storing vegetables in, keeping your after-swimming toiletries in, or simply for taking to the beach to collect shells in.

What you will need:

Mesh fabric double the size you want your bag to be.
A zip the same length as the bag's width.
Bias binding
Optional - fabric scrap(s) approx. 2 inch or more x bag width

How to make it:

Fold your fabric in half. The side opposite the mesh fabric fold is your bag width.

Attach bias binding to each of the mesh width raw edges then trim off the excess flush with the bag width.

Now attach your zip to each side of your bias binding.

I find that using a zipper foot on my sewing machine makes it so I can keep my stitching closer to the zip edge and more uniform

Lastly, run bias binding down each side of your mesh bag. I use a bias binding foot on my sewing machine and just sew down the ends after, but you can equally use a standard presser foot and do it as you go. You can alter the zip placement to wherever you like on the bag as with your zip you should now just have a cylinder of fabric. For this bag I put the zip at the top so just folded the mesh perfectly in half.

Make sure to tuck the raw edges of the bias binding under at each end of your mesh laundry bag.

It's now finished and ready for use! How's that for a quick 10 minute project!

If you want to make your mesh bags a little more decorative then it is really simple. Take a strip of fabric the width of your mesh bag and just over twice the height you want showing. Press the edges under and press in half.

Then simply treat it like a big bit of bias binding and attach to one or both sides. Attach your zip in exactly the same way.

When folding the bag I just folded the mesh slightly off centred to put the zip at the front.

And here is an example of using fabric on both sides of the width. To make it look even prettier, I just used bias binding up the edges as previously, but continued it right round over the top before coming down the other side.

All 1 pattern, 3 different looks!

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!