DIY Drawstring Laundry Bag For FREE!

Laundry is something that I don't necessarily dread, but you won't catch me jumping for joy on

laundry day either. In fact, it's down right frustrating when I am one load away from being done, when my padawan decides to waltz into my room with arms filled with clothes he's hoarded in his bed for days. To [hopefully] combat this, I decided to get him his very own laundry basket. But instead of paying money for one, I opted for a simple DIY! The best part is that it came out perfectly and I absolutely had to share it with you guys! In fact, this DIY could be recreated if you simply need storage bags! 

Sewing has always been a fun outlet for me, but with a new set of skills that my son and I recently learned (using our sewing subscription box, which you can see HERE), I decided to put them to the test. 

First off, this DIY "tutorial" isn't as professional as majority sewists would write, but I'm trying. Secondly, I'm not EXACTLY recreating the "lesson" we learned from our subscription box (I goofed and forgot a step), but it IS closely resembling it. The entire DIY isn't perfect, but to be completely honest I'm quite happy with the end result. 

The way how this all kicked off - besides doing laundry - was after I had to replace our shower curtain. I looked at the soon-to-be-trash white curtain and thought, "what a waste of fabric". It was being thrown away because it was colored on, but not the entire curtain. So when the wheels began turning, I got to work. 

You're going to need: 

- a shower curtain (or any fabric really)

- ribbon or strong string

- a sewing machine (including the thread and needle of course)

- scissors

- a safety pin

1. Fold your sheet of fabric in half, from top to bottom. This will give you the bottom to your laundry bag without actually having to sew anything, saving you time as well. 

2. Cut your fabric to the width of your desire, using the edge of your shower curtain as one of your sides. Since the shower curtain already has a seam on the outside, this will make sewing easier down the line when using this as a side.

3. Flip your curtain to where the "inside" of your bag is now on the "outside". You don't want the seams to be seen, therefore you'll be sewing on the "inside" of your bag. 

4. Begin sewing the cut edge by lining up the edges and folding over a small flap to one side using both edges. Sew along the outside to give a super clean seam and stopping any edges to fray. This also adds strength to the entire bag. 

5. Now line up the edges on the other side (the side with seams on the outside) and simply sew them together. Since they already have a strong seam, you won't have to worry about fraying or weakness.

6. Once you have everything sewn together, simply flip down a good portion of your top edge (the opening of your bag) to give you a compartment for your string/ribbon to go. Make sure you have enough room to easily slide a ribbon through. 

7. Once you've finished sewing, flip your bag and now you should have the "outside" of your bag on the outside and the "inside" of your bag on the inside. Everything is as it should be. Simply slit a small hole in the compartment you just sewed for your ribbon (preferably on the inside near one of the seams, but not too close you'll rip the stitches). This should be hand sewn around the hole, to keep anything from fraying (this is where I goofed from our lesson, but all well).

8. Attach a safety pin to one end of your ribbon and carefully slide the ribbon (or string) through the bags compartment on top. Once it's through, attach the ends to one another, fold them over, and sew down to create a strong end. Don't sew too much or you won't be able to open up your laundry bag. 

Ta-da!!! You've just finished creating your very own drawstring laundry bag! Now you can hang it up, use the ribbon as a handle, close your bag, and re-open it. Perfect for laundry day or storage if you went that route. 

Because I used a shower curtain AND I made sure to keep the loops in the sewing plans (they are located on the inside, towards the top of the bag), I can now loop a hanger through the hole and hang it in the closet for my little guy to easily access the opening for his dirty clothes. Making me one happy momma. 

I have to say, this is freaking awesome. My little guy loves it and has been good about using it, but it's only been one day. Hopefully this will keep things clean though, because every parent knows anything that makes our cleaning lives easier is a huge success. Therefore this is a huge success and I hope it will continue to be.