How To Sew A Drawstring Bag

I haven't ever met my mother's grandmother. But from what I hear she was highly creative at sewing. She'd make these drawstring pouches and give them to everyone. Recently I learnt how to make them too.

Here I'm going to show you how I make the drawstring pouch above. It's fairly simple. I'm not an expert at sewing and I'm not taking any classes. My stitches are not very neat since I'm still practicing and trying to learn on my own. I'm putting up the process of making a drawstring pouch here for people like me who are looking for easy projects that they can start with. You can, of course, try variations of the design shown here. Do let me know what you come up with! 

The things you are going to need are:

- Felt

- Ribbon

- Thread

- Needle

- Scissors

- A safety pin

To make the bow, first cut a small rectangle. (It should be the size you want your bow to be) I had a pink bow so my rectangle is out of the pink felt. 

Now thread your needle and start at the very middle of your rectangle.  

Start sewing in a line in the middle.

When you pull at the thread, the rectangle will shape itself in a bow.

Pull the thread and tie the thread in a knot. Now cut off the excess. 

Now to begin the pouch, cut a piece of felt that is the size of two squares. You could cut two squares if you want. I think this way I don't need to sew the base of the pouch. 

When folded, this is what the felt piece looks like. 

Now sew on the bow somewhere on the lower side of the square.

As you can see, I have sewn a little piece of felt in the middle of the bow to give it a cleaner look. 

Now flip it over and pin down small portions of the felt from both top and bottom. This is going to be the place where the string is going to pass so you want it such that after you sew it down, there is room for the ribbon to go through.

Start sewing in a straight line. I think that this part should be sewn strongly as the drawstring will be pulled through it many times. 

This is what it looks like when both sides have been done. (Your stitches might be a bit more neat, mine aren't that much)

Now you have made two "tunnels" for the ribbon to pass.

This is what the front looks like now. 

Keeping the piece of felt in the same place (ribbon side up), fold it back into a square. The bow is now hidden inside. 

Now sew both sides, right and left. Basically, we're sewing on this side so that when we turn it inside out, the seams will be hidden. 

This is what it looks like when I turn it inside out after sewing. 

The seams of the side are not seen from this side. For the top, you might want to use a matching thread, mine doesn't match but I think pink looked fine.

You will need two pieces of ribbon. Each piece should be double the horizontal length of the pouch. Maybe a little more if you like.

Attach a small safety pin to the ribbon.

The safety pin will make it easier to pass the ribbon through the "tunnel".

Pass it in a complete circle and you will have something like this.

Tie a double knot to secure it. Now attach the safety pin to the other ribbon. You will pass it through the circle the same way but this time you will start at the left side. 

Tie both ends with double knots. 

If you pull at the strings knots in opposite directions, the bag will close.

Drawstring pouch/bag is now ready! 

Note : I have used hand stitching for this pouch and I do not take responsibility if you place things that are too heavy or too precious in it and lose them.