Welcome to week one of the Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along! I'm excited to finally kick off our annual sew along today! Sew along with us for the next four weeks and make some gift bags for the holidays! Today's post is all about using upcycled materials.

I'll be updating the Sew Along Page each week with all the posts so that you can easily catch up or reference these posts after the sew along ends!

I hope you'll sew along with us! Sew from the tutorial or the patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern


Here are a few to-do items for week one of the sew along!

The main goal for this week is to plan out the bags you'll be making. Figure out how many bags you'd like to make, which sizes and choose fabrics. Here are a few posts from the archives that you might find helpful:

- My tips for choosing fabrics, specifically for drawstring bags. This post includes a bunch of sample fabric pulls too. Find it here: Tips for Choosing Fabrics for Drawstring Bags

- Guidance for making drawstring bags for wrapping gifts. There are also some gift ideas for each size, to give you an idea of what would fit in all the different sizes: Tips For Using Drawstring Bags to Wrap Gifts

- There are a few other bag sizes outside of the tutorial or pattern, you don't want to miss then! The Book Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial, Wine Bottle Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial and the Knit Drawstring Shoe Bag Tutorial.

- Can't decide what to make? I recommend checking out my Lined Drawstring Bag Pinterest Board. You'll find lots of finished bags to inspire you!


The last few years I have really been enjoying the challenge of upcycling material for my sewing projects. For me personally this means both purchasing fabric second hand and salvaging fabric that has another purpose. It's been really satisfying and has helped make my craft more sustainable. Today I want to share some upcycled drawstring bags that I've made to inspired you to upcycle for your next drawstring bag!

Unlined Tote Bags



I have had a small stash of unlined tote bags in my closet for years that I just don't reach for, but can't bear to get rid of. This Fall I realized I should cut them up and turn them into drawstring bags! I know they'll get a lot more use for me like this.

Tablecloths


Tablecloths make great fabric for drawstring bags, especially the larger sizes! Typically they're made of fabrics thicker than quilting cotton, so you get some added structure as a bonus!

Napkins


I've used a few napkin pairs to make small bags, since I typcially like to have 4+ in a fabric to actually use at the table. I belive these napkins were older ikea!

Sheets/pillowcases


Of course I've made lots of bags from vintage sheets and pillowcases! And I'm sure I'll make many more. I was afraid the fabric would be a little too thin to make good bags, but I was wrong, they're great!

Button Down Shirts


These two bags were made from thrifted button down shirts! I had fun reusing the pockets for the fronts too. So many possibilities here!

Aprons


Another repurposed pocket opportunity with this sweet vintage apron!

Leftover Quilt Blocks


I had a few blocks leftover after making this quilt, so I stitched them together and cut the Exterior Main pieces from it. A fun way to use them up.


A few other ideas I'd like to try out: tea towels, jeans, t-shirts, curtains, seasonal flags, receiving blankets, towels.

I hope you've enjoyed this post! I can't wait to see your bags! Please share them with me on instagram @jenib320 or via email (jenib320 @ gmail.com)!

Don't forget to pin this post to your Pinterest for future reference!


Happy Sewing!

2025 Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along Schedule

This year's Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along starts in one week! I wanted to share the schedule for the sew along so that you know what posts you can expect from me starting Wednesday, November 26th! If you'd like to break up your bag making across the sew along, I'm also sharing a schedule for making that you can choose to use if you'd like! Here are the posts I have planned for each week:

Week 1 - November 26th
Tutorial post: Upcycling Materials for Lined Drawstring Bags
To do: Plan your bags! This week your task is to decide how many bags you'd like to make, what sizes, and pick out fabrics.

Week 2 - December 3rd
Tutorial post: Tree Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
To do: Cutting! Now's the time to finalize your fabric choices and cut out all the pieces for your bags.

Week 3 - December 10th
Tutorial post: Scrappy Color Blocked Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
To do: Sewing! Sew your bags through step 10. If you're making a lot of bags and you're short on time, I highly recommend making them assembly line style. This isn't quite as fun, but it's definitely more efficient!

Week 4 - December 17th
Tutorial post: Leftover Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
To do: Final touches! Tackle those drawstring casings, make fabric ties or prep twill/paracord ties. Pull ties through the bags and finish them off with a simple knot or some fun beads!

Each week's post will go up on Wednesday! I'll update this post and the Sew Along page with the links as we go. You can find all of the previous year's sew along posts on that page too!

Participating is easy, we'll be using Instagram to share our progress. Not on Instagram? That's okay! Feel free to sew along and if you'd like, share your bags with me via email!



Sew from the free tutorial, the pattern or the expansion pattern! Shop here:

Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

Happy Sewing!

Announcing the 2025 Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along!

Are you ready to sew some gift bags this holiday season? It's almost time for our annual Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along! Using drawstring bags to wrap your gifts is a great way to reduce the amount of single-use wrapping paper you need. Every year is an opportunity to build up your stash of bags and use up some of the beautiful fabrics you probably have kicking around in your fabric stash! Within our immediate family, we keep reusing the same bags year after year. I love pulling my older bags out and adding new ones to the mix. I hope you'll sew along with me and make a few bags this year!

This year's sew along is going to look a little different, since we're moving in the middle of November. I have pushed the start date for the sew along one week and most notably, I am not currently shipping any notions. I hope that after we land in PA I can reopen that part of my shop, but that's a bit up in the air at the moment. I'll be sure to update you all if I'm able to make that happen. Now, onto the details!

When:
The Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along will officially kick off on Wednesday, November 26th and will run for four weeks!

Where:
Each week of the sew along I'll publish a blog post with a new tutorial or informational post. Here is the dedicated sew along page, which I'll update as we go along. It's a great place to find all the posts from previous year's sew alongs, there is so much good information and inspiration there, so be sure to check it out.

How to Participate:
As always, this sew along is casual and no-stress. Participating is easy, we'll be using Instagram to share our progress. Please tag me @jenib320 too, I love sharing your projects throughout the sew along! Not on Instagram? That's okay! Please join in the sew along and if you'd like, share your bags with me via email! (jenib320 at gmail.com)

Patterns & Tutorial:

Sew from the free tutorial, the pattern or the expansion pattern! Both patterns are 20% off today through 11/19/25. Prices are already marked down.

Shop Patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

Thank you for your continued support. Can't wait to sew bags together!

Happy Sewing!

Shop News: Moving Sale!

Happy Friday! Things have been a bit busy behind the scenes over here as we prepare to move to PA. We're in the process of finding a place to live (fingers crossed), listing our current house on the market, decluttering, packing and managing regular life with a toddler. I'm also working on our annual Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along, because I just can't miss it!!

This has left very little time for sewing lately. I wanted to destash a lot more stuff before our move, but I'm quickly running out of time I did want to share what I have been able to list in my online shop! I've lowered the prices of most of it, so there is something at most price points! And all physical orders still come with free mini patterns while supplies last!


I have a couple of scrap bags left, specifically solids and flannel scraps. US shipping is included in the prices on those.




I just reduced the prices on all of my remaining vintage sheet fat quarter bundles! There are some good ones still left.


If you'd like a surprise, I have mystery fat quarter bundles too.


And mystery seconds fat quarter bundles that have noticeable stains, holes, etc.


And finally a few more scrap packs of narrow hems. Make yourself a wrapped wreath with one!

All of these things can be found here: Jeni Baker Patterns. I would say hopefully I'll be back soon with some sewing updates, but who knows! It's going to be a wild next couple of months!