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Weekend sewing: peg bag


While I had planned to do more work on perfecting the top pattern over the weekend, on sunday I woke up and realised I'd left some laundry outside in the thunderstorm – along with the plastic ice-cream tub of pegs. Spreading the pegs out to dry, it occurred to me that for years I'd been thinking I could do with a proper peg bag, and now I have a sewing machine it should be really simple to make one.

I had some fun, sparkly deer fabric in my stash. It's by a Japanese company, Kokka. Is it kitsch? Is it twee? Possibly both. Somehow being kitsch seems better than being twee! I cut out the back of the bag using a small wooden coathanger as a guide, then pieces for the top and front. I folded over and sewed both opening pieces, then carefully whip-stitched by hand some vintage lace to the top portion. Then I sewed all three pieces together.

It's not entirely successful None of the fabrics I had were pale enough to make a good lining for the bag, and the proportions are a bit off. Still, it'll do the job for now, and is much more cheerful than that tatty old plastic tub. As I still have a bit of the deer fabric left, one I've got some lining fabric I think I'll unpick the seams, reduce the height of the top part of the bag, and make a new, deeper bottom part, and restitch it all when I make the lining. (The old bottom bit can go back in the stash, as it might do for lavender bags, covering little boxes or something else. Seems a shame to waste it.)

If you have any suggestions for why the bottom part of the bag is, well, baggy, I'd love to know how to fix that. Will lining it help? Should I perhaps sew the top and bottom together for about an inch to stabilise the opening? That's something else it would be good to fix when the lining is put in.

And there's still the top to work on...
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Comments

  1. Porcelina23 April 2018 at 17:41

    I made a peg bag too in my sewing forays last year! I will have to check how I stopped it sagging open, it was either a) a bit of horizontal sewing on the top of the bottom flap for an inch each side, or b) a vertical stitch over both flaps down each side. Your fabric choice is way more fun than mine though! X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mim27 April 2018 at 09:06

      It was bought on a whim and has been in my stash for YEARS. Nice to put it to good use.

      Now I need to find a use for my robot-patterned canvas...

      Delete
  2. Vix23 April 2018 at 18:06

    You're on a roll! that fabric is super cute - I haven't seen an OBD (Obligatory Blogger Deer as Curtise, Tania and I liked to call them) in ages!
    How about some iron-on interfacing? I always add it to the bags I make for a bit more stability. It's really cheap on eBay.
    Keep up the good work. xxx

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    Replies
    1. Mim27 April 2018 at 09:07

      I think deer are off-trend nowadays. Not that that ever bothers me!

      Delete
  3. Polyester Princess23 April 2018 at 18:54

    I cannot give you any advice on sewing, but what I know is that I just love that fabric! Nothing wrong with a bit of kitsch. Sparkly deer, be still my beating heart! xxx

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    Replies
    1. Mim27 April 2018 at 09:08

      It's just so cute. And who doesn't love a bit of sparkle?

      Delete
  4. Goody23 April 2018 at 23:19

    no good advice but oh what cute fabric.

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  5. Melanie Folly Bird27 April 2018 at 10:34

    That fabric is so lovely! I have such a soft spot for kitsch animal prints and really love Scandinavian mid century designs xxx

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  6. Bibi Maizoon27 April 2018 at 14:40

    Amazingly I hang clothing on my clothesline without pegs- it all gets dry in an hour too!
    Cute bag & fab fabic!

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    Replies
    1. Mim30 April 2018 at 14:12

      Mine would blow away if I tried that. Doesn't dry as quickly either. But I'm so glad it's now dry enough to hang stuff out - line-dried clothing smells the best.

      Delete
  7. Miss Magpie28 April 2018 at 19:15

    Love the deers! My Mum made me a peg bag out of an old pair of monkey print pyjama bottoms, she lined the pocket and that did seem to help stop it stretching/sagging.

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    Replies
    1. Mim30 April 2018 at 14:12

      I deffo need to give that a go. I'll keep an eye out for suitable fabric.

      Delete
  8. Vronni's Style Meanderings2 May 2018 at 20:48

    How cute is that fabric? I think you've done a brilliant job, Mim.

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  9. Mother of Reinvention6 May 2018 at 10:29

    What absolutely gorgeous fabric. I have no idea how to stabilise it beyond lining or interfacing. What a brilliant thing to make. Peg bags are so handy. Xx

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  10. Meremary Q Contrary2 July 2018 at 12:51

    You have probably fixed your peg bag by now, but I think you need to box the corners. Basically you sew two seams on the bottom of the corners of the bag and it creates a rectangular base for the bottom of the bag. Turn the bag inside out and draw a line across the corner. The corner is a 90°angle, and you want to draw the line to create a hypotenuse--the line (which you will sew on) will make a triangular offcut. The length of the line determines the width of the base of the bag. So a very bigger triangle offcut will make a squarish bag bottom, and a tiny triangle offcut will make a skinny bag bottom. Zigzag st over the raw ends and turn right side out! If you are going to interface the bag I would use iron on woven interfacing before boxing the corners.
    But it still looks great anyway. I am using a broken yoghurt container for mine :)

    ReplyDelete

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