BIGGO Drawstring Project Bag Tutorial

I've been looking for giant project bags for my sweater knitting but haven't really been able to find ones that I like so I've decided to be brave and make one for myself. this bag uses fleece interfacing on the bottom portion of the bag for more structure. Here are the instructions along with a video to help visualize some of the steps better.

Materials:


BIGGO Bag -  this bag is designed to be worked with 6 fabric fat quarters - finished bag is approximately 15" W x 8" D x 13" H

• Main Outer Fabric - 2 fat quarters cut to two pieces 22"x 12"
• Contrast Fabric - 1 fat quarters cut to two pieces 22"x 6" 
• Lining Fabric - 2 fat quarters cut to  two pieces 22"x 18"
• Interfacing - two pieces 22"x 12" - I used a fusible fleece I found on Amazon 
• twill tape or cord 4'x 2
• Coordinated thread
• Sharp fabric scissors or rotary cutter - the set I have here is also on Amazon 
• Sewing Machine (I'm using a walking foot here) or hand stitch 
• seam ripper

If you are interested in the fabric I used in this tutorial, I purchased mine from Sew Modern 

All seams are sewn 1/4" from the edge, when measurements are given the altera

1. Cut the fabric as listed above, its not necessary but I like to center the design on the fabric if there is one. 
2. Iron the interfacing onto the main outer fabric
3.  Place the 1 main outer fabric and 1 contrast fabric, right sides together, and sew together along the center seam. Repeat with the other pieces of outer fabric. Press the seam towards the contrasting fabric.
4. Place 1 outer fabric and 1 lining fabric, right sides together, and sew together along the top seam. Press the seam towards the lining fabric and (optional) top stitch the seam to the lining. Repeat for the other side
5. Stitch all the way around the perimeter, leaving a 6" gap in the center bottom edge of the lining fabric
6. To box the corners of the bag. mark a 6" square at each corner. reach in through gap in the lining and align the marks drawn and pin. sew along the line and trim off excess fabric leaving 1/4". 
7. flip the bag right side out through the gap left in the lining fabric and press
8. sew a channel for the drawstring along the top edge of the bag, placing the first line 0.5" from the edge and the second line 1.5" from the edge
9. using a seam ripper cut open the space between the two stitched lines from step 8
10. loop your drawstring through a bobby pin or safety pin and thread your drawstring through the channel. Knot the ends.
11. Sew the gap in the lining closed by folding the edges of the fabric inwards and top stitching the gap close.

That's it! I hope this helps and please hashtag #biggobag and #pwcrafts so I can see your lovely projects =D