Easy Lingerie Bag
"In this post, I’ll show you how to make a lingerie bag in which to wash delicate or easily damaged items. I bought one of these, and it fell apart after a couple of washes—it just disintegrated and the zipper ripped out. So I decided to sew a sturdier one, while still making it pretty, of course! I made this one out of lace fabric, cord, and a drawstring toggle, since the zipper on the store-bought one caused problems. Read on for the free tutorial and pattern."
Project TypeMake a Project
Time to CompleteIn an evening
Sewn byMachine
Instructions
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I folded my lace in half and placed the fold on the far right side of the cutting mat. I made the bag 13” tall and 16” wide on the fold, so it’s really 32” wide when opened up.
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Lace is a pretty flimsy fabric, and I wanted to make sure that the edges would hold up to a lot of washing. For the top edge of the fabric, I used lace seam binding tape to reinforce it and give it more durability. Sew the seam binding onto the right side of the lace fabric, letting the edge of the seam binding poke over the top of the fabric slightly (maybe 1/8” or so). You’re going to fold this down later to create a tunnel for the drawstring, so you want it to completely cover the raw edge of the lace fabric. I used a wide zigzag stitch to attach the seam binding.
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Then I used a rolled hem foot to enclose the raw edges on the side of the bag and along the bottom of the bag.
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Once all of your raw edges are enclosed, pin or clip together the bottom and side of the bag, right sides together. Along the side of the bag, leave the top 2 1/2” open. Don’t sew above where the last red clip is on the side seam. Use a 1/4” seam for the bottom and side. The top will be turned down for the drawstring.
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Because of the 1/4” side seam, the unsewn part at the top of the bagwon’t match up with the bottom part of the bag exactly anymore—it will be slightly wider. Fold down these unsewn edges, line them up with the fold of the seam, and then sew them down.
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Now you can fold down the top part to create the tunnel for the drawstring to go through. Fold it down so that the edge of the lace tape is 1 1/4” from the top of the bag. Sew along the black lace tape all the way around the bag. The right sides of the bag are still together. You’re working on the inside of the bag.
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Now you can turn the lingerie bag right side out and add the drawstring. I used a safety pin to pull the string through the tunnel at the top. Then add your drawstring toggle and knot the edges of the cord so it won’t come out.