craftgrrl | Tea Towel Tutorial (Reply)

OK, I see that this is a bit overdue. I apologise to

dubious_soul for the tardiness. Things started to get on top of me… Also, I don’t know how useful or explicit I can be. I am not the best person for these things (eg: I have a degree in Math, I tutored a kid in Math – he flunked!)

So, First things first, I start off by more or less trying to figure out the dimensions of the bag I want. The width of fabric you need should be double the width of the bag. The length of the fabric should be 2,3 times the length (from top to bottom) of the bag. I don’t think I am being too clear, but as soon as you see exactly how the bag is made, you will understand what I mean (or not...)
This is the fabric in the beginning:

Fold lengthwise in half, wrong side up, and sew the longer and one of the smaller sides

...so that it’s sort of an envelope

Turn it right side out. Tuck in the last side and sew on the outside along the top.

What you want in the end is a piece of fabric which is printed on both sides and doesn’t have any ugly edges because it’s all sewn.
Then, you can just fold where you think it’s best – you can make the flap longer or shorter, whatever – and sew the sides up.

If you are a forward thinker, you can sew the strap before sewing the actual bag. For anyone who is a little distracted, like me, I usually make the bag then sew the strap on the flap, so the bag doesn’t close perfectly.
The strap is usually one long strip of fabric (the same as the bag) folded in four and sewn on the outside.

I actually didn’t post the finished article. Sorry. And I have already given this to a friend. If I ever remember, I’ll post the finished bag here.

BTW, I used this technique for a larger bag this week. It came out pretty well, as I experimented with metal things (yes, I know that’s not the technical term!) for the strap: