Friday 7 March 2014

::Sewing:: Practical Present - Nifty Peg Bag

Wow, we're already in March. When the heck did that happen!
I'm still totes gonna tell you about a handmade gift I made for my Mum last Christmas :)

When I visited my mum late last year I notice that she was using an old shopping peg to store her pegs. So I decided I would make her a peg bag, but there were a few features that I wanted it to have to set it apart from the generic ones you can buy in the shops. After looking at the interwebs to see how other peops had made peg bags I decided to draft my own.

It needed to have a curved bottom. I hate it when you're down to the last few pegs in the bag and you can't find them because they're hiding in the corners. Ok hate is a strong word. It's a nuisance.

It needed to have a fold over tab at the top to hang it from either the clothes line or a clothes hanger. I could have sewn it to a clothes hanger, but what if the hanger needed to be replaced?

It had to be deep and have a large opening so that it could hold lots of pegs and be easy to use.

So with a basic shape in mind a drew up a small scale of the pattern and tried to figure out the best way to sew it all together. I wanted to find a way to sew it quickly but make sure that it was well finished and robust.

I took some fabric out of my stash (yeah stash-busting) and made up the final product.

Peg Bag on clothes hanger
The peg bag is fully lined with an interfaced fold-over tab at the top. That way it can be attached to a clothes hanger or the clothes line.

Peg Bag front
My mum is a big fan of lime green so I thought I'd personalise it with some interesting retro printed mystery fabric from my stash for the outside and a lime green lining. That's the whole point of handcrafted gifts is it; you can personalise it.

To make the bag I cut out 6 pieces - Opening outer & inner; Back outer & inner; Fold-over tab front & back. I interfaced the Fold-over tab back.
I sewed the hand opening by placing outer & inner RST and sewing around the curve.Then clipped the curve and turned RSO and pressed the opening. The back inner was attached to the opening inner at the bottom curve.

Peg Bag
I didn't want the snaps to be seen from the outside so I attached them to the Folder-over tab back. Then I sewed Folder-over tab front to the top of the Opening outer and lining pieces and the Folder-over tab back to the top of the  Back outer, making sure to leave a gap in the middle (you'll see why in a tick)

Fold-over tab
With RST I sewed the Front and the Backs together all the way around the outside. Then, with corners and curves clipped, I turned it the right way out through the opening left between the Back Outer and the Fold-over tab back. I closed the gap in the back by stitching in the ditch at the front, but it would have looked nicer if I had sewn it closed by hand using blind/ladder stitch.

Close up of the snaps on the Folder-over tab
If I were to do it again. I would try to make the bag a bit bigger and make hand opening a little wider and lower. It would also be a good idea to use plastic snaps instead of metal.

I was in a bit of a rush to make this puppy so I forgot to take a picture of it in use. Oh well. I'm sure I'll make another some day. Thinking about it this Nifty Peg Bag could be used in a bunch of other ways. I could hang it in my wardrobe to stow things away in. If you're someone who likes to plan what they wear the day before you could put the accessories you want to wear with an outfit in the bag then hang the outfit over it. Of it could be hung from the wall and stow goodies in it. Yeah, it IS a Nifty Peg Bag. I will have to make another.

Do you make presents? Would anyone be interested in a pattern and tutorial?
I'd love to hear from you, leave a comment below using Disqus :)

Until next time,


Lets connect

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by. I really like reading your comments, so drop me a line by clicking to comment

Please don't comment anonymously though - you can leave your email if you don't have an OpenID.