A Laundry Goodie

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I hate doing laundry.

But, we must.

This past year, we made an effort to hang our laundry on the line to dry.

I did okay, but somedays it was just easier to toss it in the dryer.

One obnoxious thing:  keeping up with those silly clothes pins.

I’d seen some different tutorials for a clothes pin bag. 

Some I liked.  Some I didn’t.

I really liked this tutorial, but I didn’t have a super-cute vintage placemat to use.

So, I tweaked it and made my own clothes pin bag.

Start with 1/3 yd of fabric, about 18 inches of ribbon and a button. (You could also use a fat quarter, but your clothes pin bag would be a little smaller than mine.101_9190

Cut 2 rectangles, each 12 x 18 from your fabric.  (If you are using a fat quarter, yours will be about 11 x 18.)101_9192

Center your ribbon along the top edge of the right side of one rectangle of fabric.101_9194

Top that with your other rectangle, right side down.

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Pin the edges.101_9196

Stitch around your rectangle with 1/2 inch seam allowances, leaving a 3 inch hole for turning.101_9199101_9200

Trim your corners.101_9202

Turn your piece right side out and press it well.101_9204

Fold your rectangle in half.  Pin the edges.101_9205

Sew these side seams with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.101_9206

To make the boxy corners on your bag, pinch the sides down to the bottom.  101_9208

Match the center seam and the center bottom.  101_9209

Make a line about 1 inch in from the tip of the corner. This line should be 2 inches long.  101_9211

Stitch along this line.  Stitch another seam, just outside of the first.  101_9212

Trim your corners with pinking shears.101_9214

Top stitch around the top edge of your bag.  (I forgot to take a picture of this step.) 

This will close the opening you left for turning.

Decide how long you want your ribbon.  Mine is just long enough to wear on my wrist. 

I folded under the raw end of my ribbon.  Then I put a buttonhole in the grosgrain.  (If you don’t like to do button holes, you could just do velcro here.)101_9215

Add a button, inside the bag on the same side as the ribbon.  101_9219

Embellish the front of your bag with something fun.  I choose this “Count Your Blessings” label from my stash!  101_9218

Hopefully, it will remind me not to whine about the laundry!

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