Drawstring Goody Bags

I made over 20 of these bags and filled them with lollies and cookies to hand out to kids that came to Emmy's birthday party.

The fabric is a printed cotton drill that I bought at Spotlight.
Each measures 20cm across and 25cm tall. I decided on the size that would suit the purpose and chose a measurement that would use the fabric width without wasting any.
In this case the fabric measured just over 110cm, so at 20cm wide plus 1cm each side for seams, thats 22cm. I could fit 2.5 bags across 110cm.
The length of each bag is 25cm plus 1cm bottom seam and 2cm on top to create the channel for the drawstring, so thats 28cm. I wanted to make 25 bags, so thats 2.8m. I got 3m to allow for mistakes.

Fold over the fabric to a thickness that you'll be comfortable cutting through.
I folded mine into 5 layers, adding a little extra to allow for uneven folds.
Using a chalk or pencil, mark your lines. Pin through the layers, and also use something to weigh the fabric down to stop it from sliding around while you're cutting.

First thing to do is stitch and overlock one long side of each bag.

Then overlock partly on the opposite seam.

On the partly overlocked side, pin the seams 2cm from the top and again 1cm down from that. This will be left unstitched creating the opening for the cord.

Stitch and overlock the rest of that seam as well as the bottom seam.

Close up of opening

Time to finish off the top of the bag. On the side that will have the opening, fold the top down twice at 1cm, holding the seam open.

Fold 1cm

Fold 1cm again

Pin to hold it in place

Do the same on the other side, pin in place.

Stitch the top down, back tacking to prevent unraveling.

Trim any loose threads, turn the bag right side out and press lightly

Using a short bodkin or just a safety pin, thread the cord or ribbon through and knot.

Click below to download the pattern

BAG PATTERN