Strawberry Drawstring Bag

This delicously cute drawstring is a pretty simple make, and a fun accessary!

You will need a red and green fabric for the strawberry and leaves, with matching thread colors. You can use rope for the straps. A third lightweight fabric for lining is optional. You will also need access to a sewing machine.

From the red fabric you will need two cut two basic shapes of the bag, and two little rectangles to hold the straps. From the dark green you will need to cut the leaves. If you wish to add a lining, cut that out from your third fabric.

To get the shape of the strawberry, I cut out a shape and curved it to a point to be shaped like a strawberry. You can draw your own shape for this, or use my measurements in the diagram. Feel free to alter it if you want a rounder strawberry or a fatter one, or whatever you wish.

The rectangles are just simple little rectangles, 2 inches by 4 inches.

To cut out the leaves I first cut out two rectangles the width of my strawberry and four inches tall. Feel free to alter that if you want longer leaves. You can again use my measurements or change them as you see fit. Then I cut out triangles to create the pointy leaves. **I used a pinking shears to do this, so my leaves won't unravel and I won't have to finish them. If you do not have a pinking shears, cut out four leaf patterns a few inches longer than needed for seem allowance. Sew two together along the sides and points, right sides together. Clip the corners and turn inside out. Do this twice for two sets of finished leaves that won't unravel.

Take only one of the strawberry pieces and one of the leaves and sew them along the top. Both fabrics should have the right side of the fabric facing up. The top will be a raw edge, but we will be folding it over later so that's okay.

Next fold over the sides of the leaf and hem the top few inches; see image two and three (This will keep the fabric from unraveling once it's folded over with the rope pulled through)

You should be left with two pieces with leaves attached and the top few inches of the sides hemmed. (look at the fourth picture.)

Cut two pieces of rope to the desired length, mine is 64'' each. Next, take one of the strawberry pieces and flip it to the back side. Place the rope at the top and fold over the fabric and pin; look at the first photo. Sew this, place the other peice next to it and repeat the same process.(see the second picture) Be very carful not to sew over the rope. If you do catch the rope, you will have to seam rip it and try again, because the bag won't be functional if the rope is sewn to the fabric. Also, make sure that both pieces have the leaves facing down.

Take the rope and fold it over. Sew it to it's other end. Be sure to sew it to itself, not the other strand. (You can check by pulling the rope slightly through and attaching it to the strand that it moves) See the third and fourth picture.

Fold tha bag together, so the leaves are now on the outsides. (First picture) Then, pull one strand of rope to the side without the extra. Arrange the rope so that the sewn ends of it are hidden in the fold of fabric. (Second picture)

Take your rectangles and fold them in half, the long way. Sew along the edge, and turn them inside out.

Lay out your main pieces so that the leaves are both face up; image one.

Image two: take rectangle and fold it around a rope strand, pinning it to the same side you pulled the rope from. I pinned mine 7 inches from the top. (Again you can alter this if you wish, just ensure that your arms will have room to slide through the straps.) Place the rope on top of the bottom strawberry piece.

Next, fold the top over the rope and pin in place. Sew around the bottom of the strawberry, starting where the hem from folding the leaves starts and ending on the same place on the other side. Do not sew all the way up the side over the rope, as this will prohibit the bag from closing. Also, be very careful not to sew over the rope in any place. You will never sew over the rope.

Turn the bag rightside out, and you're done! You should have a functional drawstring. If you accidently caught the rope in a seam, it will probably keep the bag from pulling together corretly. Take out that seam and redo it, being more careful to avoid the rope and you should be good to go!

If you want your strawberry drawstring to be more finished off, you can add a lining to it. Take the lining pieces and sew them together, right sides together, along the sides. Then, leaving it right sides together, slide it into your strawberry.

Adjust the lining so the side seams match up to the bag's side seams, and fold the top of the lining back and pin it. (Picture 1 and 2) Then sew along this, using the colored thread of your leaves, as this stitching will show on the outside.

Then you're done, and you've got a cute strawberry bag with a lining!