Sew a Drawstring Project Bag

Cut one piece of firm cotton, denim, cretonne, or strong muslin measuring 30 by 76 cm (12 by 30 in). Straighten both cut ends by pulling a single crosswise thread free and cutting along the channel it leaves, so the ends run true to the grain. (If you would rather work with two pieces, cut them 30 by 41 cm / 12 by 16 in instead.)

Fold the piece in half crosswise with the right sides facing OUT. Folding it right-side-out is what allows French seams, which wrap the raw edges inside the seam so nothing frays where the bag is turned inside out in use.

Sew each of the two side seams with a narrow line of stitching 3 mm (1/8 in) from the raw edge, working on the outside of the bag. Trim off any loose ravelings close to this stitching before you go on, or they will show through the finished seam.

Turn the bag wrong side out and crease each seam exactly on the line you stitched, so the first seam sits right on the folded edge; press the crease flat, since cotton takes a hot iron directly on the cloth. Sew a second line 6 mm (1/4 in) in from that fold, which traps the raw edges inside and completes the French seam.

Leave the top 4 cm (1 1/2 in) of each side seam unstitched — these two openings must fall in the band that will become the casing. Finish the raw edges of each opening by turning them under 3 mm (1/8 in) and stitching along the very edge, the clean-stitch finish that keeps a raw edge from fraying.

Turn the top edge of the bag to the wrong side 6 mm (1/4 in), then turn it again 3 cm (1 1/4 in). Baste this fold in place, then hem or stitch it down along its lower folded edge.

Sew a second row of stitching 1.3 cm (1/2 in) above the first row, all the way around the bag. The channel between the two rows is the casing; the strip of cloth standing above it forms a frill when the bag is drawn up, and the side openings you left in step 5 feed into this casing.

Cut two drawstrings from tape, braid, or cord, each about 60 cm (24 in) long.

Fasten one drawstring to a bodkin or a small safety pin, then run it in through one side opening, all the way around the bag inside the casing, and back out the same opening it entered. Knot or stitch its two ends together.

Run the second drawstring around the casing the same way, but start it from the opening on the opposite side, and join its two ends. A loop now hangs at each side, and pulling the two loops apart draws the mouth of the bag closed from both sides at once — something a single drawstring cannot do.

Turn the bag right side out and press it. Since it is cotton, press with a hot iron directly on the cloth; pressing each seam as you finish it, rather than only at the end, leaves the bag a flatter, cleaner line than pressing after it is done.