How to Use Trim or Ribbon to Embellish Your Drawstring Bags

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to the fourth week of the Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along! This week I'm very excited to share and instructions for a few different ways to embellish your bags with trim/ribbon! I'll be updating the Sew Along Page each week with all the posts so that you can easily catch up or reference these posts after the sew along ends!

I hope you'll sew along with us! Sew from the tutorial or the patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern


It's officially the last week of tutorial/how to posts for the sew along! I do plan to continue to post about the drawstring bags I've made during the sew along for the next two Wednesdays, so there is that to look forward to! This post is all about embellishing your drawstring bags with different trims. I'm going to be using twill tape, woven ribbon and pom-pom trim for my bags, but you could go far beyond that! Ric-rac, fringe, and all sorts of other trims would work with these techniques.

Before we jump in, here is the yardage you'll need for the different bag sizes in my Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern, for any of these techniques:

	Trim Yardage Needed
Tiny Bag*	3/8 yard
Snack Bag	1/2 yard
Everything Bag	5/8 yard
Project Bag	3/4
Artist Bag	1 yard
Laundry Bag	1 1/8 yards
CD Bag	1/2 yard
DVD Bag	1/2 yard

*I'm including yardage for the Tiny Bag on here, but I wouldn't necessarily reccomend these ideas for this size bag. Since the accent on this bag is so short, there isn't a ton of room to work with. I think the first technique (woven ribbon on drawstring casing) would be the most suitable for this size!

If you're using the pattern to create a custom size, multiply the bag pieces width by 2. That's how many inches you'll need!

Applying Woven Ribbon to the Drawstring Casing

This is a great way to use up your stash of pretty woven ribbons. I don't often know what to do with these, so I'm excited to have found a really cute use for them. For these projects a 1" wide ribbon is ideal, since that is the height of our drawstring casing! For this bag I'm using woven ribbon from my stash on an Everything bag (tutorial size).


Mark the drawstring opening on an Exterior Accent piece as you typically would in step 4 of the tutorial or pattern. Find the center of the Exterior Accent's height and mark a line 1/2" on either side of the center.


Arrange the 1" ribbon between these lines, so that it's right on top of the future drawstring casing. Trim to size, giving yourself a little extra on either side and pin in place.


Topstitch ribbon in place on the top and bottom edges using an 1/8 seam allowance. Trim away excess ribbon.


I recommend finishing the short edges of the Exterior Accent pieces either with a Serger or a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine. This will help ensure that the edge of the ribbon is tacked down and keep it from fraying.

Repeat this process with the remaining Exterior Accent piece.


Follow steps 1-3 of the tutorial or pattern to begin constructing the bag. In step 5, rather than markings to show you where the drawstring casing is, you'll be able to see your topstitching lines. Use these as a guide, leaving the casings unsewn. Continue following steps 6-10 in the tutorial or pattern.


Now it's time to stitch the drawstring casing. You'll follow step 12 in the tutorial or pattern, but you'll have the edges of the ribbon to guide you, rather than markings. Stitch as close to the edge of the ribbon as you can.


Follow the remaining steps in the tutorial or pattern to finish the bag.

Applying Twill Tape to Cover Seams

This is a much simpler way to use ribbon or twill in my case to dress up your bag. You could use just about any width twill, as long as it's not so big that it enters the space of the drawstring casing. I'm using 1/2" antique ruler twill tape (which I carry in my online shop) on a Project size bag.

Start following steps 1-2 of the tutorial or pattern.


Once you have the Exterior Accent and Exterior Main pieces sewn together, press that seam. Lay your twill on top of the seam on the right side of the fabric. Arrange the twill between these lines, so that it's right on top of the future drawstring casing. Trim to size, giving yourself a little extra on either side and pin in place.


Topstitch twill in place on the top and bottom edges using an 1/8 seam allowance. Trim away excess twill.

Repeat this process with the remaining Exterior Accent/Exterior Main seam.


Follow steps 3-20 in the tutorial or pattern to finish constructing your bag.

Using Pom-Pom Trim on the Exterior Accent

This is such a cheerful way to add pom pom trim to your bags! In this technique we'll end up with pom poms between the Exterior Accent and the Exterior Main on the finished bag. I'm using pom pom trim from my stash on an Artist size bag.

Refer to step 1 in the tutorial or pattern to arrange your pieces. These next steps will be done as a part of step 2.


Lay your pom pom trim against the top edge of your Exterior Main piece. Trim to size, giving yourself a little extra on either side and pin in place. Trim away any pom poms that are within 3/8” - 1/2” of the sides, so that they don’t get in the way. Pin or clip trim in place.


Using a zipper foot, baste trim in place using an 1/8” seam allowance.


Place Exterior Main piece right sides together with an Exterior Accent Piece, sandwiching the pom poms in between the two layers. Start by clipping at each side, pushing the pom poms out of the way as needed. I like to use clips for this instead of pins because the clips help push the pom poms away from the seam. Next, clip in the center. Then clip in the center between the clips, and continue on in this way until the edge has been properly clipped. I find this method helps ease the layers together evenly.


Using a zipper foot, sew through all three layers, back stitching at the beginning and end. Typically I use a seam allowance closer to 3/8" in order to catch the trim completely in the seam. Take your time and gently push the pom poms away from the needle as you go to avoid stitching into them.


Open right sides out and check trim, make any adjustments to the seam if need be. Press well. Once you're done, measure your seam allowance. If it's more than a scant 1/4", you may want to trim down your lining piece by the same amount that it's over. For example, I used a 3/8" seam allowance on my bag. So I trimmed a healthy 1/8" off the end of my lining pieces. Not totally necessary though!


Repeat this process for the second Exterior Main and Exterior Accent pieces. Follow steps 3-20 in the tutorial or pattern to finish constructing your bag.

Using Pom-Pom Trim on a Bottom Accent
This bag uses the same as the previous technique for adding pom poms. I just wanted to show how cute it looks on a bag with a bottom accent! I'm using pom pom trim from my stash on an Artist size bag with a bottom accent variation.


The bottom accent variation is part of my Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern. The steps are the same as above, you'll just be attaching the pom pom trim to the botton edge of the Exterior Main, then attaching the Bottom Exterior Accent.


I hope this tutorial gave you some ideas for tagging your gifts, whether they're wrapped in a drawstring bag or not! Personally, I think it feels good to reuse things, so this is another way to make my holiday gift giving more eco-friendly. I can't wait to see the bags you make! Please share them with me on instagram @jenib320 + #lineddrawstringbag or via email (jenib320 @ gmail.com).

Happy Sewing!