The Last of the Mini Series Drawstring Bags

Back in 2022 when I joined the Mini Series Sew Along, I had in mind to use the 4,5" unfinished blocks as focals for a collection of small drawstring gift bags, and I've finally made it happen. 16 in all - 15 sew along blocks + my first chevron block that was the wrong size. What a variety, right?

For the majority of the bags, I made use of stashed prints, though a few were made of solids - one each of Essex cotton-linen blend, textured cotton, and AG Kaleidoscope. It was my original intent to use Essex natural and quilt the exterior, like the first bag shown below; but when I realized I was low on that fabric, I figured why not use up some other stash?

The finished bags range from 6.5" wide x 8" tall to 8" x 10", all depending on the amount of a particular fabric I had.

The drawstring ties are a mix of 1/2" natural twill tape, which I purchased from Jeni Baker Patterns; 1/2" white twill tape purchased from Beyond Trim on etsy; and 2mm black waxed cord from Amazon. I always keep these options on hand for projects such as this.

It feels great to have that project finely completed, and a couple of the bags have already been gifted.... just as I'd hoped. I'm happy to have a stock of them, and I look forward to sharing more of them in the months ahead.

Mini Log Cabin Bag

It was September 2022 when Alison Glass @alisonglass and Giuseppe Ribaudo @giucy_giuce hosted the Mini Series Sew Along. I made 15 - 4.5" unfinished blocks, with the intention of eventually making them into small gift bags. I'm finally ready to make that happen!

First up is also the first block I made in the sew along - a log cabin. Though I'm not following a pattern per se, I have the basic technique of the Project Drawstring Bag by Svetlana @sotakhandmade in my head, and am doing something very similar. Though of course, first, I had to remove the papers from the back of the paper-pieced block.

Fabrics for this first bag are Essex in Natural for the exterior, the Ledger print from Carolyn Friedlander's Architextures for the lining - which was also the background for all of my mini series blocks - and a coordinating stashed blue print for the casing. I'd made similar bags after taking a class with Giuseppe back in 2018, and for those, had quilted the exterior. I chose to do the same this time, and since I wasn't using interfacing or batting, the quilting kind of made the fabric pucker a bit. I pressed it after, of course, and actually like the texture the quilting adds. 

As a reference for future bags, I cut the exterior pieces for the front sides 2.5" x 4.5", and 3.5" x 9" for the top and bottom framing the log cabin. I sewed those pieces on, then quilted the front, then trimmed it slightly to square it up a bit. I cut the backing 9" x 10.5", quilted, then trimmed to match the front. The final bag measures 8.5" x 10", including the casing.

What fun! I hope to continue to make more drawstring bags with my mini blocks in between other projects. Already mulling over which block to use next.