Pillowcase to Drawstring Bag Tutorial

Yesterday we showed our drawstring bag version of the train pillowcase design as part of American Patchwork & Quilting's 1 Million Pillowcase blog hop; today we're sharing how to make it.

Drawstring pillowcase, featuring Nancy Halvorsen's Ho-Ho-Ho Let It Snow collection

We used the basic pattern directions that you can find here (thank you, AP&Q and 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge!) with just a few changes.

In addition to what you find listed in the directions, you'll need:

(1) 4" x 42" strip for the casing (ours is the green tonal you see below)

(2) 1" x 42" strips for the drawstring (we used solid gray)

We also used a 13" x 42" strip for the pillowcase sleeve; making it slightly wider means more of it shows beyond the casing.

Add the train pieces to the pillowcase as directed (you'll see we added ours at the bottom of the bag, rather than along the side).

Press the 4" x 42" casing strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Trim 2" off of one end and then press each short end in approximately 1/4" to create a finished edge. Lay out the 11" (or 13", your choice) x 42" sleeve strip and center the folded casing strip on top, raw edges matching. Center the casing strip so the sleeve strip extends at each end. Pin in place. 

We used the burrito method of assembly (find it here if you're not familiar with it--super easy!). So with the casing pinned to the sleeve, add and roll up the pillowcase, and then fold the opposite raw edge of the sleeve around and pin. 

Stitch along the raw edges and pull the pillowcase out of the tube. Press the casing and sleeve away from the main pillowcase. 

Topstitch the opposite long edge of the casing strip down. 

Join the short ends of the two 1" x 42" drawstring strips. Press the long strip in half lengthwise, then open and fold each long edge in to the center fold line and press. Fold again on the center crease and topstitch. 

Use a safety pin to feed the drawstring through the casing. Trim drawstring as desired and knot each end. 

Your drawstring pillowcase is complete! 

Note: If you decide to use this as just a pillowcase, remove the drawstring from it to avoid potential strangling from the drawstrings.