Sewing Pattern: Laundry Bags

This Christmas my sister bought Jason and I some amazingly plush down pillows. We LOVE them. We have had the same crappy pillows since before we were together (5+ years for some of them, I know one in particular dates back to high school!). This was the best Christmas gift ever!

They came in these wonderful, clear vinyl bags. Once home and faced with a pile of laundry, I realized they made perfect laundry bags. They worked perfect! It was like getting two presents in one: awesome pillows and great laundry bags. We live in an apartment and have to tote our laundry out to the laundry room down the block and carrying baskets is pretty difficult on the ice and snow.

After load 6, they started to rip. It turns out that being made for soft plush light weight pillows = not being able to hold a bazillion pounds of laundry.

All the same, I loved the simple structure of the bags. It would be a snap to whip up more bags made out of more sturdy fair. And, taking a little inspiration from a Target bag, I added a flap with a snap so I can fold them up for storage and keep them in The Laundry Loader I made last year. Once it gets warm again, I think I’ll even stencil the washing symbols on each bag. :)

So without further blathering on, here is how I made it:

Materials Needed

2 yards canvas or any random heavy duty sturdy fabic
iron and ironing board
3/8″ snap + snap Pliers
2 lengths of 1/2″ braided cord or rope, cut to 12″ or longer
1/2″ grommets + grommet pliers
sewing machine
serger, if you have one ( if you don’t, use a straight stitch and cover with short/wide zigzag stitch)
straight pins + pin cushion

Note: This pattern will make one laundry bag, double the supplies for 2