Monday, May 7, 2012

Monday Magazine Challenge: Vintage Tea Towel Bread Bag

Vintage Tea Towel Bread Bag

My sewing machine has had a long winter break, and I’ve been itching to get her out, dust her off, and start some new sewing projects.  While browsing the latest Martha Stewart Living, I saw a little mention of a company that sells lovely vintage tea towel bread bags and I knew making my own would be a quick and easy project.

I love vintage linens, but I never know what to do with them.  I can’t use them in my kitchen because my husband thinks any towel within grabbing distance is fair game as a mop, grease cleaner, car washer, and a whole slew of other blasphemous uses.  So my little stash sits, lonely, just waiting to be given new life.

This is a fairly straight forward sewing project, but I took a few pictures of the process to make a little a tutorial to help any new sewers that would like to try this.  Using the existing seams of the towel makes this super easy.

You need:

Sewing machine, linen tea towel, ribbon or similar.   (The ribbon length you need is 2-times the width of the top of your towel, plus at least 6-inches, or more.)

Vintage Tea Towel Bread Bag

Vintage Tea Towel Bread BagVintage Tea Towel Bread BagVintage Tea Towel Bread BagVintage Tea Towel Bread BagVintage Tea Towel Bread BagVintage Tea Towel Bread Bag

1) Fold the short ends of your towel 1-inch.  Press.  Pin if needed.

2) Sew this down using a straight stitch.  Using the existing seam as your guide, sew your stitch right above that line.  Do both ends.  This is your ribbon casing.

3)  Fold your towel right sides together and use a straight stitch to sew up the sides.  Start at the stitch you just sewed for your short ends.  Do not sew all the way from the top as this will close your ribbon casing.  Turn your bag right side out.

4) Use a pin to push your ribbon through your casing on both sides.  Using a pin will allow you to scrunch and pull, scrunch and pull the ribbon through the casing.  Once your ribbon is through both sides, knot the ends of your ribbon together.

5)  Stuff your new bread bag with a handmade loaf of delicious bread, and cinch the bag closed to keep it fresh!

Vintage Tea Towel Bread Bag

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Now it's your turn!

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