See how to make a drawstring bag. Use up your old scrap fabric and make these easy sew drawstring pouches – adding the sweet corner and casing details will make it unique – and it’s so easy!! Scroll down for the free tutorial.

This post may contain affiliate links. Thanks for your support. Check out THESE tutorials for easy bags:
- No time to make a lined bag? This Super FAST Diy Gift Bag – In Minutes!
- How To ADD pretty drawstring stoppers
- And this, How To INSERT Drawstring – Quick & Easy
- and THIS is a different type of a drawstring basket – so cute, and NO threading at all!
My kids were super happy when they caught a glimpse of my latest post package. They don’t usually pay attention to my fabric, but hey, these were the dinosaur and fossil prints coming to our home! For this project, I had let my kids pick their favorite prints. I myself couldn’t have chosen better! Since I love convenient storage (check out all these diy storage solutions!) I promised to make them a few treasure hunt pockets. Sewing time it was, immediately! Here are more drawstring bags ideas to sew, but the following one might be my favorite.
Check out a quick slide show for a few glimpses of these beautiful prints – and a bit on the drawstring bag how-to:

The prints are all from the Riley Blake Designs’ Fossil Rim collection (you can buy them here).
How To Make A drawstring Bag
These drawstring bags are so practical for anything you can think of: diy treasure pouches, bags to store tiny items, school pouches for art accessories (like those crayons that never stay in the original box? Or sharpies scattered all around the school bag?) These are perfect to store produce from your garden, too! Oh, and please remind me to get me some calico to make bread bags.

This time, I’ve made treasure pouches for little explorers. And I’m hoping my little dinosaur explorers will be happy to keep their tiny dinos neatly tucked into these diy drawstring bags.

If you like this post, you’ll want to see these too:
- How To Make A Hanging Storage Basket
- Mini Pouch Free Pattern
- How To Sew A Cosmetic Bag – Free Template
How To Sew A Drawstring Bag
Now, on to the diy draw string bag: the first batch I made were 8″ tall and 7″ wide (that would be 18 x 21 cm). They are wide enough so all the little treasures can be easily spotted.
Supplies:
- exterior, lining and accent fabric: less than a fat quarter altogether (you can use scraps, see measurements below)
- optional: light-to-medium interfacing like Pellon SF101 Shape Flex or Vilene G700 if you want to add stability
- twine, ribbon or cord (1 yard/metre per bag)
Cutting Directions
- Cut from outer fabric: For bag EXTERIOR: 12 1/2″ by 7 1/2″ (1 piece)
- From lining fabric, cut: For bag LINING: 10 1/2″ by 7 1/2″ (2 pieces)
- Cut from accent fabric:
- For CASING: 6 1/2″ by 2 1/2″ (2 pieces)
- For CORNER accents: 4″ by 4″ (1 piece) – cut diagonally into 2 triangles

Instead of accent fabric, you can also use lining fabric. This diy drawstring bag can be made with anything from 1 up to 5 different fabric prints.
Sewing Steps:
PART 1 – Prepare and Stitch the Corner Accents
Start with the corner accents: turn under the two SHORTER edges of each triangle by 3/8″ (1 cm) and press, notching the corner a bit to make a clean corner.

Take your outer piece and fold it in half crosswise (not lengthwise!), then press to get the center crease. Make sure to keep the width of 7 1/2″! The folded rectangle will measure 6 1/4″ by 7 1/2″.

Unfold and place the corner accents on the fold line, using the center crease as guide for placing: place the triangles so the long edge (the one NOT turned under) is aligned with the sides. Topstitch over the turned-under edges, attaching the corner accents to the outer fabric.

PART 2 – Prepare The Casing
Now take the two casing pieces (each 2 1/2″ by 6 1/2″) and hem the short sides, turning them under by 1/4″ and stitching. You’ll get this:

Fold them lengthwise wrong sides together and press.
PART 3- Sew 1st Casing Piece into the Bag
Grab the outer piece and place it on a flat surface right side up, then place one casing piece (folded WST) with the raw edges aligned with the top, and then place one lining piece on top, the raw edge aligned.

Pin and stitch using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

PART 4 – Sew The other piece of Casing To The other side
Repeat on the opposite edge of the outer fabric piece: place the outer piece right-side-up, then place casing on it, plus the other lining piece stacked right-side-down on top. Pin and stitch, again using a 1/4″ seam allowance.

This is what you get – all pieces assembled:

5 – Sew The Drawstring Bag Together
Fold in half, right-sides-together. Stitch along the sides, leaving a few inches in the bottom of lining, like this:

6 – turn And Close The Gap
Turn right side out, close the turning hole and press.

When done, I usually bury the thread ends. Here’s a popular how-to that can help you with neat seam finishing:
How To Finish Seam The Neat Way

Tuck the lining in – since it’s longer, 2 inches will peek out, making the drawstring bag look so much nicer! (This is the feature I love most!) Feel free to topstitch the top edge for even a neater finish.
7 – Insert The drawstrings
Cut the cord into two pieces of 20″ (50 cm) or a bit less and use a safety pin or a bodkin to guide the first cord through the entire drawstring casing. Both ends of the cord will come out of the same opening. Knot the ends of the drawstring or tie them together to prevent them from slipping through again. Repeat with the second cord and the second opening:

Your diy draw string bag is finished! Fill it with goodies – or fossil stones and tiny dinosaurs – and go play!

I couldn’t stop at one, so I made a few more. Such a fun project!
I will probably need to make two bigger ones for the bigger dinosaurs too, and since these cute bags are so easy to enlarge, no problem. I love all and any excuses to sew, and sometimes easy projects are so therapeutic!
Hoping you’ve enjoyed my tutorial. If you want to, check out more stuff I’ve got to sew, on the Free tutorials page here.
Make sure to save this tutorial for later:

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Sew up the Kalina, clip it to your kid’s backpack and they will never lose their lunch money again!
Jackie says
Thank you for making the instructions so very easy to follow! I made the bag a little larger and also incorporated some machine embroidery. Turned out very cute!
Damjana says
Jackie hi,
so happy to hear that. I’d love to see your embroidered drawstring bag, please tag me @applegreencottage if you post it on Instagram.
xoxo,
Damjana
Lauren Zaubi says
This takes a gift bag to a whole new level!! Going to be whipping these up with my scraps – thanks for a great tutorial!
nanajan says
Where can I send the photos?
Damjana says
Hi,
do you use Facebook? You can post anything you've made in our FB group! We're a friendly, creative bunch of people, join in! Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AppleGreenCottage/
Alternatively, feel free to send them ot me to damjana@applegreencottage.com
Can't wait to see what you sew! Thanks,
nanajan says
Great pattern and I love the way the lining ‘pops’ up but I’d like to make some larger ones; old age. I can work out dimensions for width but for the life of me I can’t work out the length of the lining pieces. I would like to make them approximately 9.5-10” finished
z0fLfGKfaVUocFGPHFlJIJQQwp6719 says
nanajan hi,
I can't find my drafts, so I did the calculation again, hope it works 🙂 For a 10" tall drawstring bag, your outer piece should be 16 1/2 inch tall, and each of the 2 lining pieces should be 12 1/2 inch. width is easy: just instead of using the 7 1/2 inch width for all the pieces, I'd probably use 2 inches larger, that would be 9 1/2 inch. Hope this helps, and I'd love to see your pouches when you finish them!
xoxo, Damjana
Trudy says
So cute, Love to make these soon. They would make a cute bag for kids in hospital that I do quilts for.
z0fLfGKfaVUocFGPHFlJIJQQwp6719 says
Trudy,
a great idea!
xoxo,
martachka says
Oh, they are so cute!!!
z0fLfGKfaVUocFGPHFlJIJQQwp6719 says
Martachka hi,
thank you, I'm glad you like them!
xoxo,