Envelope Bag Tutorial

I like to be environmentally friendly when I can. When I found small bamboo sporks at an eco-store I thought they'd be great to carry in my purse to use for impromptu snacks instead of plastic cutlery. However, I didn't want my sporks rolling around in the bottom of my purse with who-knows-what so I made a little bag to keep them in (bonus: machine washable if when it gets dirty.)

This is my first tutorial so I'd love to hear if you use it and if it was easy to follow!

First, cut two shapes (rectangles with flaps) from fabric - I used different fabric for the lining and the outside but they could be the same. If you have an item to want to fit inside the finished bag take this into account before you cut!



Next sew the side seams on the rectangle leaving about 3/8" unsewn at the top (the end with the flap).



Turn the lining right side out and slip it in the outer envelope.



Stitch around the flap, adding a hair elastic at the peak to act as a button loop. This is the trickiest part - start on the straight edge (about 1 inch from the side seam), go over the side seam, around the flap, sew the hair elastic in (leave most of it sticking out on the wrong side) and back to the next straight edge. Be sure to leave enough room on the straight edge for turning right side out!!

(I got the hair elastic idea from Chickpea Studio's tutorial. What a great idea!)

Now your bag should look like this:





Turn it right side out through the space you left on the straight edge. Iron it nice and flat and sew the opening closed. I chose to topstitch along the length of the straight edge but you could also slip stitch the opening closed. Last thing to do is sew on the button. If you're keeping something bulky in your bag put it in and see where the hair elastic reaches to and sew your button there.





Ta-da! You're done! Enjoy your bag.