Tips for Sturdy Lined Drawstring Bags

Welcome to the third week of the Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along! Today I'm sharing my Tips for Sturdy Lined Drawstring Bags!

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


Before we dive into the post, let's talk about our to-do list for week 3 of the sew along!

This week's main task is sewing, hooray! Sew your bags through step 10. If you're making a lot of bags and you're short on time, I highly recommend making them assembly line style. A few posts from the archives you might find helpful this week:

- I recorded a video tutorial that covers making the bags from start to finish. It's a bit long, but it's meant to be comprehensive! It covers everything from cutting to finishing. Find it here: Lined Drawstring Bag Video Tutorial

- If you need a little extra guidance when it comes to the gussets, I have a video for that too! Find it here: How to Put a Gusset on a Bag Video Tutorial

- Want to try something different with your gussets? I shared a tutorial for exposed gussets last year that I think is rather cute: Exposed Gusset Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial

- Check out this post that will help make your drawstring casing openings extra tidy: Tips for Tidy Drawstring Casing Openings

Tips for Sturdy Lined Drawstring Bags

For this week's post I wanted to share some tips and ideas for making your drawstring bags extra sturdy. Most of the bags I've made throughout the years have been made with quilting cotton, and I'm happy to say they've held up great. But sometimes it's nice to make something that feels a little more hardwearing and structured. And you all have had questions over the years about adding interfacing or even quilting. So I finally did some experimenting and this post is the result! Let's get into it.

Using Canvas or Home Dec Fabrics

Probably the most straightforward way to make a sturdier drawstring bag is simply to use a thicker fabric. I've had great luck using mid-weight canvas fabrics for both the Exterior Main and Exterior Accent. I would avoid using super stiff canvas fabrics for the Accent so that the drawstring still closes easily.

Using Canvas, Waxed Canvas or Cork for a Bottom Accent

One of my favorite ways to make an extra sturdy drawstring bag is to use a thicker fabric for a bottom accent. This is one of the variations included in the Expansion Pattern. Since the drawstring is not on the accent, it allows you to use a heavier fabric. I've made a few bags using cork fabric as the bottom accent, which worked really well!


For this post I experimented with using a waxed canvas for the bottom accent. I love the resulting bag. I paired it with a home dec fabric for the exterior main and the entire bag has a really nice weight to it.

Adding Interfacing

Interfacing is a great way to add some extra structure to light-weight fabrics like quilting cottons. If I'm going to use interfacing I prefer something quite light for the accent, like SF101 by Pellon. For the exterior main I've used SF101 with great results. If you'd like you could use something thicker for the exterior main like fusible fleece.

Quilting the Exterior Main Pieces


This is something I've had questions about over the years and now I can finally give you a good answer! Quilt away dear readers, adding quilting to the exterior main makes for a great sturdy bag. I layered quilting cotton and quilt batting (with no backing fabric) and quilted it with some wavy straight lines. I added light-weight interfacing to the Exterior Accent on this bag, so that the texture would blend well with the quilted Exterior Main.

Finish Raw Edges

If you plan to wash your drawstring bags, I would definitely consider finishing the raw edges of your fabric. My preferred way to do this is to serge or zig-zag stitch the edges of all my cut pieces before I start sewing. This way you can assemble the bag as usual you don't have to stop to finish seams as you go, with the exception of the cut edges of your gussets.

Topstitch Seams

Adding topstitching to the seams on the outside of your bag not only adds a visual detail, but can help make your seams extra sturdy.

Tips for Washing Your Drawstring Bags

I would exercise great care when washing your bags. My recommendation would be to hand wash only and hang dry. Since the bags are constructed with 1/4" seams, you could have a seam fray open during a trip in the dryer.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial! I can't wait to see your bags! Please share them with me on instagram @jenib320 + #lineddrawstringbag or via email (jenib320 @ gmail.com)!

Don't forget to pin this post to your Pinterest for future reference!

Happy Sewing!