I’m off for a visit and hopefully some pillow photo ops in the California Wine Country. Pillows aren’t heavy but they are quite cumbersome and bulky. I have a great bag that will hold 4-5 pillows and I decided to make another one. I looked it over closely and it’s really quite simple. I scrounged through my fabrics and had almost everything I needed, except the outside color. I decided green was a good choice, hopefully hiding dirt and smudges. I added the feather designs from a stamp I made but of course that’s optional. A print fabric would be beautiful too.
I’ve chronicled everything I did so you can make one if you need a great big bag. It’s really quite perfect for car travel.
I used a fairly heavy canvas weight. Denim would be good also. Cut 2 pieces of fabric, one for the outside and one for the lining; 48” X 36”. Fold in half, right sides together (the long way) and stitch up the side of each piece.
The next step is the only tricky part of the whole thing. I took several pictures because it’s difficult to explain. The white overstitched line is the side seam. Pull the seam sideways and flatten and mark about 3”, then stitch straight across. We’re giving the bag a sort of false flat bottom.
This is what it will look like from the outside when you’re done.
Sew the lining exactly the same way. Here are a couple of pictures of the lining. After you stitch the straight line across your little triangular flap, flip it up to the seam and stitch it into the seam line. Do this on both lining and outer fabric.
I decided a big bag like this needed a bit of embellishment so I inked up my feather stamp and added all the detail I needed.
A large bag like this needs some structure so I cut 48” of heavy interfacing called Craf-Tex. It’s only 20” wide so I just ran it from one top edge, smoothing it down and across the bottom and up the other side. Stitch across top edges.
Tuck the lining into place with its wrong side against the interfacing and outer fabric. Line up the side seams, pin top edges and stitch all the way around the top joining the lining and outer fabric. It’s unruly with the stiff interfacing, so I suggest clearing everything off the sewing machine.
Cut one long 3” wide piece of fabric to go all the way around the top. Allow at least 72”. Press under 1/4” along one side.
Work from lining side. Pin raw edge to top edge of bag then stitch in place. You can either measure carefully and stitch the two short edges together (forming a circle) before stitching around or adjust and stitch when you’re sewing it in place. I stitched almost all the way around and then stopped and stitched the short sides so it would fit perfectly. Press the seam up. This is kind of like sewing on a waistband.
Fold the band over to the front and stitch in place close to the seam line on the outside of the bag.
Mark location of handles, making sure they are the same length. I cut two pieces of webbing 24” each and measured in 7” from each side seam. (To seal the ends of the webbing run the flame from a lighter across the cut edge.) Pin, then stitch into place. That’s it.
So there you go. You can make a great big bag for yourself. Let me know how my instructions are. I can answer questions, adjust and make changes if necessary. There are other ways to finish the top edge. Next time I’ll try something different.




