Hi everyone!
As promised, here is a 'How To' post for lavender bags. It is very simple but I love them so much! You can make them for yourself and put them into your wardrobe or drawers to make your clothes smell lovely or you can even give them as part of a present to friends or family - they are so quick to make so this would be perfect!
For this make, you will need:
- Lavender
- Lightweight floral cotton fabric
- Paper for template
- Pins
- White cotton thread
- Sewing machine/needle
- Thin ribbon
To start with, make a paper template for the lavender bag - I drew and cut out a 10x16cm rectangle, including a 1cm seam allowance around the whole thing, but you can make it any size you like. Pin this to the cotton floral fabric and cut out the first rectangle. Then cut out a second rectangle in the same way using the same fabric.
Then use a zigzag stitch to edge the top short end of each piece. This is so you can use just a single fold hem without the fabric fraying, as I find that lavender bags look a lot better when the top hem is not too bulky.
Next, pin both pieces together, fronts facing and zigzagged hems at the top. Sew around all but the zigzagged edges 1cm from the edge, either by sewing machine or hand. Then take out the pins and turn the bag the right way round, using a blunt pencil to poke out the corners.
Hem the opening by folding down the zigzag stitched edge once by 1cm and machine or hand stitching this in place, half a cm from the edge.
Now with the bag finished, you can fill it with lavender. You can use lavender bought from a shop or the internet, or even from your own garden. I used lavender that I picked in France which I then dried.
The easiest way of filling the lavender bag is to use a teaspoon to scoop the lavender into the bag - I find it a lot less messy! I filled my bag about two thirds with lavender.
Once filled, use a length of pretty ribbon to tie the opening closed. If you like, you can add a couple of stitches to secure the ribbon in place.
I hope you enjoy making these - they are so quick to make and don't use very much fabric either, so it is a great way of using up scraps!
Helen xx
Blimey. It has been a while. But I'm back - and with tonnes of ideas for Sew Lily Rose so I hope it was worth the wait!
But where have I been, I hear you ask. Well... not far. Not far at all in fact - I have no exciting holiday to speak of, no crazy adventure in which I scaled tall mountains and jumped out of planes at terrifying heights. Nope. The only mountains I have encountered are mountains of coursework and revision notes. I have been at home, working hard towards A-levels. Thrilling.
I've finished now, however (yay!) so now I have lots of free time - a lot of which that I want to devote to this blog in the hope that it will be more productive than catching up with all the Neighbours episodes that I have missed over the last few weeks or watching too many YouTube vlogs...
One idea that I've had is to do more everyday chatty posts - chatting about what I've been up to, if I've been anywhere nice, any lifestyle-y things that I want to share with you guys. Obviously that will be on top of the usual crafty posts, but it will just be something extra for you to enjoy. I aim to blog at LEAST once a week - even if it's a small catch-up or quick make - but it will mean that you will have a little something every week to enjoy.
On Sunday I'm doing a 'How To...' post - so watch out for that! It is small, simple but I have to admit, I am a little crazy for them!
Helen xx
