Craft project – make your own peg bag

Hillarys Blinds have challenged bloggers to create something from a 1m sample of one of their Country Retreat fabrics.

My first thought was to make an apron for one of the boys, but none of the fabric designs would have been to their taste. So instead I decided I would make a peg bag for which I chose the Calluna Amethyst design. I used to have a peg bag, but I lost it a few years ago when we moved house.

Here’s how I went about it, basing it on my memory of how my old peg bag looked. First I took one of the kids coat hangers. I then made 3 templates on card, for the back, the front top and front bottom. For the back and front top, I drew round the hanger and then measured down 20cm and 5cm respectively from the bottom of the hanger. And for the front bottom, I drew a rectangular template the same width as the other 2 templates, and height 20cm. I then cut out my templates.

The next stage was to cut out my pieces of material. I laid the templates on the reverse of the fabric and drew round them with marking chalk, leaving at least 2cm all around for sewing the seams. I then cut out the pieces, 2cm outside the line I had drawn. I also left a gap in my marking at the centre of the top sufficiently wide enough for the hanger to pass through, on both the back and front top pieces.

After pressing the 3 pieces, I folded a hem over to the reverse of the fabric at both the base of the front top and top of the front bottom and pressed these hems before pinning them. I don’t possess a sewing machine, so I carefully back-stitched these hems, ensuring that my stitching looked even from the front.

The next stage was to sew the 3 pieces together. I laid the back out, reverse side up. Then I laid the front bottom onto it, reverse side down, pinning the 2 together. Lastly I laid out the front top, also reverse side down, ensuring it overlapped the front bottom evenly before pinning again. Then starting from the gap for the hanger, I back-stitched along the marked line, until I reached the opposite end of the gap.

I then pressed the finished item, turned it the right way out and pressed it again. Finally I put the hanger inside the bag and pushed the hook up through the gap. The hanger fitted nice and snuggly, so no chance of falling down into the bag.

My finished peg bag

This is the first craft project I’ve done in ages. I really enjoyed getting crafty again and I’ve still got half the fabric left to make something else.

Disclosure. This is my entry to the Hillarys Blinds Country Crafts Competition. I received a free sample of fabric to create my entry.