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Make A Peeking Bag with Crafterhours
& Twilltape Giveaway! {Guest Tutorial}

By 151 Comments

Help me welcome Susan from crafterhours with a fabulous tutorial…and a Twilltape.com giveaway! Whoo Hoo!

Hi there EverythingEtsy readers!  I’m Susan from crafterhours.  Adrianna and I sew and craft and blog about life stuff that (mostly) relates to sewing and crafting.  All week we’ve been working on a series called “Twill Tape Week” and we thought it would be a GREAT thing to share with EverythingEtsy readers for two big reasons.

First, twill tape is inexpensive. We’ve had a lot on hand ourselves recently and we’ve found half a bazillion things to do with it. Which is the second big reason you might be interested– it’s so multi-purpose. Make labels, tie packages and gifts, embellish clothing, decorate, make organizers. Print, paint, stamp, draw and sew on it. Juuuust a few of many directions. And… here’s one direction in particular:

Drawstring bags are one of the things we’ve been making lately. Bags for function, bags for fun. And what makes them extra fun? A peeking window. For showing your friends what you’ve got stashed. And also, admittedly, for mom. Because as a mom I really don’t enjoy opening a random bag to find, oh, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from a week ago. Or looking eeeeverywhere for a favorite toy and giving up, getting through the crying spell with toddler over it only to find it the next day, hiding.

Since these bags have windows, you’ll want to line them with a cute fabric. Want to make one yourself? Easy enough. All you need is: – Two pieces of coordinating fabric: 10″ x 18″ – One strip of fabric: 3″ x 20″ – A piece of vinyl (from the craft store or repurposed from packaging) – Two grommets (optional) – about 36″ of twill tape

First fold your 3″ strip in half and press. Place your grommets (or buttonholes would work just as well if you don’t have or want to use grommets) at about 5″ in from one end. This will eventually be the front center of your drawstring top.

Cut your “window”. I chose to cut my vinyl window in a circle shape. You can trace any simple shape and cut it out.

Place your larger pieces of fabric right-sides together. Stitch.

Fold the fabric you want to line the bag around the edge so that you have a contrast band showing. Press.
On the opposite end, which will now stick out a little, fold the edge twice so that it rolls over the lining fabric. Stitch.
Fold your bag with the lining fabric facing like a book that’s closed so that you can decide on your window placement. Place the vinyl window where you’d like it to be on the bag, keeping seam allowances in mind. You don’t want to be too close to an edge. Open the “book” and stitch. Here you’ll want to do your best to keep the vinyl and the fabric from shifting much. You can tape it in place before stitching if you like and remove the tape when you’re done.
Trim away the center from the inside, leaving a border of 1/2″ or so.
Make some small snips all the way around almost to the line you’ve just stitched.
Fold those bits of fringe back as you stitch around your shape again with a decorative stitch. Here I used a contrasting thread.
The back will look like this. I kind of wish it was the front! Maybe the next one…
Now line up your two edges so that they overlap and make a tube. Pin the edges together without catching the back side in your pinning.
Now… this is possibly the trickiest part. You’re going to topstitch the edge of the tube. It requires some wriggling. When you reach the end of the wriggling process it looks like this, which looks like laproscopic surgery to me. But no certifications are required. Phew.
Shake that out. Stop and admire. Here’s where we are so far.
Press the edge opposite the grommets 1/4″.
Pin in place like so. Grommets on top, right sides together. Stitch.
Flip the casing around and pin on the inside. Topstitch from the outside.
Stitch across the bottom.
Clip the corners a bit.
Turn it inside out and stitch just inside the first seam. This is a French seam. No exposed raggedy edges anywhere in this bag. Weeee.
Very nearly done. Now we use a safety pin and pull our twill tape through. Safety pin doesn’t fit? You can squish it a bit with pliers. Or… your teeth. While the little ones are NOT LOOKING.
You can finish the ends of your twill tape by tying little knots, or you can stitch some decorative scraps on. Buttons would be cool too.
Ta da! No, that’s not enough. TAAA DAAAAA! There, that feels better.
Ready for action. Time to fill ‘er up and hit the road. C’mon peanut butter and jelly. I’m not scared.
Thanks, EverythingEtsy readers for strolling through this project with us! And check out the others on our blog any time you like. Hey, are you thinking that you need some twill tape? Kim has something you could really, really get excited about!
——————————————————–

Thanks Susan!  What a fun project and a great tutorial!

Be sure to visit Crafterhours for more Twilltape ideas and inspiration!

Here’s how to win a $25.00 gift certificate and one yard of custom printed twill tape:…

  • Visit Twilltape.com and leave a comment here telling us what custom design you would print on your tape. (You can change your mind later!) {1 entry}
  • If you spread the word by Twitter, Facebook, or blog post…leave a comment for each. {1 entry each}
  • If you subscribe to Everything Etsy or Crafterhours blog, follow me on Twitter, or you’re a fan of our Facebook page…leave a comment for each. {1 entry each}

You have a lot of extra ways to win, but you have to do the first one to qualify.

**This giveaway has ended.  Thanks for all your comments.  The lucky winner is Jessica!  Congratulations!

This giveaway ends April 22nd…good luck!

~Kim

Related posts:

  1. 101 Sewing Tutorials for Winter
  2. Handmade Silhouette Ornaments Tutorial & Le Papier Studio Giveaway
  3. Lavender Sachets {DIY & Giveaway}
  4. 7 Spring Sewing Tutorials

Comments

  14. Angie says

    I think I would print my daughter’s name over and over on the custom tape- then I could use that for the “tag in the back” of her clothes I make so she knows where the back is!

    Reply

  20. Mel says

    My girlie loves everything colourful and also the song “you can sing a rainbow”. I’d get the lyrics to that printed on the tape and borrow your idea of hemming the bottom of a (rainbow-y) skirt with it. Thanks for the chance!

    Reply

  27. Jingle says

    I’m pretty vain, so I’d probably get Just Jingle printed on it! HA! No…really, I would get that though, for when I send out cutely packaged stuff! jinglesells at gmail dot com

    Reply

  31. kelly O! says

    Love the bag. So cute!

    I would have my tyke’s name printed. She has a very unusual name, so it’d be nice to have some personalized tags just for her.

    k

    Reply

  32. kelly O! says

    Just became a follower of crafterhours (I’ve been reading it for months, there’s been a button on my menu bar but I hadn’t formally followed until now. Oops!)

    Reply

  38. little lizard king says

    Love the little bag. It’s just darling. If I won the twill tape, and I just adore it, I would probably print my dauther’s full name and sew it along the bottom of skirts or use it for shoulder straps on dresses.

    So cute!

    Reply

  42. This Is Mimi Leigh says

    Love twill tape!! I would probably use it for tags for the items I create or have a quote of some kind put on there. 🙂 I’ve been looking for a great supplier lately and this seems like a great one. Thanks for sharing!
    .-= This Is Mimi Leigh´s last blog ..Piece Of My Heart =-.

    Reply

  69. Missy Oakley says

    I would get tape with lighthouses on it.

    Those peep bags would make cute To/From tags for Christmas. Bigger bags as treat bags.

    Reply

  76. Katrina says

    I guess mine would have to say either “Live Laugh Love” or “Who Can Say if I Have Been Changed Forever but Because I Knew You, I Have Been Changed for Good” or “Yes, well I am polarmarized tree sap, and you are an inorganic adhesive, so whatever verbal projectile you launch in my direction is reflected off of me, and returns in its original trajectory, and adheres to you.”

    With I would probably create a purse or maybe even a little bag for my kindle or my knitting.

    Reply

  83. Amber says

    Love the bag! That is so adorable. If only I could sew.

    The twill tape is so cool! I would probably incorporate it into a cute bow or clippie somehow. Maybe with a sweet quote. Or a headband. So many possibilities!
    .-= Amber´s last blog ..New items! =-.

    Reply

  91. Stacey says

    First, I love, love, love the bag. Who knew a burlap sack could be so adorable.

    I’m a longtime follwer of Crafterhours and want me some of that twill tape.

    I’d probably print “Made By” or the names of my boys so I could sew in into tags for clothes.

    My favorite though is the big, fat, 1.25 in. twill tape. So, so many things I could do with that.
    .-= Stacey´s last blog ..True Men-in-Training (MITs) =-.

    Reply

  96. missyb says

    I have been loving all the twill tape ideas!! What to have printed? Hmmmm … I think either my surname or maybe “be as you are”. First time visiting Everything Etsy … off to check it out. Thanks!

    Reply

  103. claudia says

    oh this is such a cute idea… I can see these as part of my xmas sewing stash!

    I would love to get some twill tape that says “this is the back” so I could sew them in the back of my son’s boxers that I make him… he is forever asking which side is the back!

    Reply

  112. Lisa says

    oh my! What wouldn’t I want printed on them? I guess I will go with my name, blog link and my swap-bot user name so I can use them to attach to all the handmade stuff I made for my swaps!

    Reply

  120. april says

    On the twill tape? My name, for sure. Even the bags, pen cases, baskets and stuff that I MAKE gets sticky-fingered from my office. Usually I find it in a coworkers cube and they try and play it off, like they had the same lunch bag or something, even though I MADE IT and clearly know it was mine.

    So, I’m a bit bitter about it. But, my name. So that there would be NO questions 🙂

    Reply

  121. Susan Spiers says

    I would have “live, love, laugh” printed on the Custom Twill Tape in blue. This would look great as a trim on anything!

    Reply

  126. Heidi says

    I would love to get “YGWYGAYDGU” (our family motto) printed! This is such an awesome idea and I can think of so many uses for it! Thanks!

    Reply

  127. Tina says

    I’m newly engaged, so I would have twill tape printed with our names – Tina & Kraig- and use it for my various planned DIY projects for the wedding!

    Reply

  129. tara says

    love the bag! i have a bunch of plastic and now i know what i am going to do with it. who knew twill tape came in sooooo many colors!

    Reply

  136. deede says

    What a great idea! I would probably get stitched by me on the custom tape. In hot pink…with black.
    Thanks!

    Reply

  139. Vanessa says

    I would either put ” you are my sunshine” with a sun in between each quote this is an enduring song we sing to our daughter often or “jelly bean” with a jelly bean pic. since I call my sweet Bella my jelly welly bean sometimes : ).

    Reply

  143. Laila Smith says

    I would have it printed with ‘Help, I ‘ve lost my stuff!’ ‘cos with 2 preschoolers that happens alot, maybe we should have their names printed on it too!!

    Reply
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