A TEA TOWEL? YES, A TEA TOWEL!
Yes, you've read that correctly.
Today's craft project is a mini drawstring bag made from a tea towel. Here at GLTC, we love storage so much that we've even transformed an average cloth in to a useful bag. And who doesn't love a bit of pom pom customisation? They make brilliant bags for keeping children's small treasures together and are also great for hanging off a handy peg rail in a utility or laundry room as they're the perfect size for and popping pegs or washing tablets in to.
Fancy attempting one (or two) of your own?
They're simple to make and only require the most basic of sewing skills so perfect for novice sewers and children to try.
SEW YOUR OWN MINI STORAGE BAG TUTORIAL
Here's what you'll need:
- tea towel
- iron
- sewing machine or needle and thread
- scissors
- cord - approx 1.5 metres in length
- wooden skewer
- wool
- pom pom maker
STEP 1: Take your length of cord, place it across the tea towel - near the top, on the reverse side - and fold top of your tea towel over it. This is the gap that you'll thread the cord through. Then, remove the cord and run an iron over the crease to give it a bit more definition.
STEP 2: Sew - with your sewing machine or with a needle and thread - the fold down as close as possible to the original hem. Tie knots to secure the thread and snip away any excess. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with the bottom end of the tea towel.
STEP 3: Fold the tea towel in half with the right side facing inwards and the top and bottom touching. Sew each side up, as close to the natural seam of the tea towel as you can, but obviously don't go right to the top and seal up the holes we've just created to thread our cord through. Again, tie knots to secure the thread and snip away any excess.
STEP 4: Turn the tea towel the right way round and thread the cord through the gap all the way around the top of the bag. If you struggle with this part, try taping the end of the cord to a skewer to make it a touch more rigid and easier to push through.
STEP 5: Tie the two ends of the cord in a knot.
STEP 6: Make your pom poms but leave two long tails when you secure the wool to take it off the pom pom maker. Finally, tie the poms poms to the cord (find the little gap in the fabric where you threaded the cord from one side of the tea towel to the other).
STEP 7: Finally, stand back and admire your tea towel storage bag!
You might have spotted that there are pom poms dotted across the top of the blue and white version in the photographs - these were positioned by using a darning needle to push the pom pom tails through the fabric before tying them in a knot on the inside of the bag.
SHARE A SHOT AND WIN £100
If you decide to make your own tea towel storage bag, don't forget to share a snap with us. Every month, we run a competition for one lucky person to win £100 to spend at Great Little Trading Co. All you have to do is share a photo of your newly made bag or one of our products in your home (on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter) using the #MyGLTC hashtag.