Reversible Bag Tutorial

I recently finished making the bean bags for the kidlets we have for Christmas this year {ManDork has so many siblings that they don’t all exchange gifts with each other every year and this year we have one of his sisters and her family}. I wanted to make a simple drawstring bag in which they could be stored.
So I did.
It was super easy.
And now I’m going to show you how to make one too.

You will need:

• 2 rectangles of fabric 23”x14'”. When you cut your fabric make sure that one of the 23” sides is the selvage. I used two different fabrics so my bag was reversible, but you could use the same fabric if you want.
• matching or coordinating thread
• about 2 feet of matching or coordinating bias tape {mine was leftover from my onesie-turned-t-shirt project}

This project can be completed in approximately 0.5 Naptimes.
Fold a rectangle in half {14” end to 14'” end} with the right side of your fabric facing in. Pin and sew the bottom and the side. The bottom is the non-selvage side. Leave the selvage side open. I did 1/2 inch seam allowances and trimmed off some of the excess.

Repeat with your other rectangle.
Now flip just one of your bags inside out so that the right side of the fabric is no longer on the inside.
  

Stuff the bag that you did not flip into the bag that you turned inside out. Line up the top edges {the selvage edges} as best as you can. They’re not lined up in the picture below because I wanted to make sure you could see that one bag was now inside the other bag.

Now you will pin your bias tape along the top of both bags. Leave an opening where the two ends meet. You won’t want to sew that closed or else you won’t be able to do the drawstring.
 
Make sure you leave some inner open space between the top of the bags and the top of the bias tape {see illustration below…if you’re still confused let me know}. You will need that empty space for the drawstring. Fold over the ends of the bias tape so the raw edges don’t show. Sew the bias tape on with a zig zag stitch that overlaps the edge of the tape.

Then all you need to do is thread the drawstring. I used some string leftover from a non-sewing project but you could use ribbon if you wanted to. Just use a safety pin to help you guide your string through the casing created with the bias tape. Knot the ends together and seal them to prevent fraying. I used a lighter to seal the ends and to melt the knot itself a little to make sure it didn’t come untied.
Voila! Reversible bag for storing bean bags, fabric scraps, the evidence from your secret crime, or whatever else needs storing. You could also make this in different sizes to suit your fancy, embellish it with ric-rac or applique, or use a pretty ribbon to make the caseing instead of bias tape.

 

If any of these instructions are too confusing just let me know in the comments.