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Almost everyone needs a peg bag (clothes pin bag in North America). Even flat-dwellers probably have an internal line in the bathroom or kitchen to hang up things that can't be tumble dried. Bought ones are rarely of a strong enough fabric, and they soon fade in the sun or rot if they have been left out in the rain once too often. Why not make a pretty one for yourself or a friend? You could make it in colours to match your kitchen or utility room so it can be displayed rather than shut away in a cupboard. It would be an ideal present for a young person setting up home. Even young men need somewhere to keep their pegs – although a macho stripe might be more suitable than a flowery fabric. You could make one in his team's colours, or even vary the design to create "sleeves" and appliqué a number on the back so it looks like a little football shirt on a hanger.
What you need
Piece of fabric measuring approx. 69cm x 39cm (27” x 15.5”)
Slim hardwood dowel (8mm diameter is ideal) or wooden batten, 33cm (13”) long
Net curtain hook or small cup hook
30” of 5/8” or 1" wide bias binding (80cm of 25mm)
Matching thread
Sewing machine, scissors, iron, wood saw, sandpaper, gimlet or small wood drill
Fabric
It's best to use a light to medium weight curtain or furnishing fabric, but a heavy weight dress fabric would do. Linen union is ideal. You can probably find a remnant in a furnishing fabric shop. I prefer linen or cotton to man-made fibres, but a bit of polyester in the mix will help to provide strength. Use a matching thread, ie. don’t use a polyester thread to sew natural fibres, it will melt when you try to press your work. In this design, there is a circular "buttonhole" through which the hanging hook goes, and this will press nice and flat if you use a steam iron on a linen or cotton fabric.
If the fabric is a natural fibre, shrink it first by putting it in a 40oC (100oF) wash. That way, you shouldn’t get any seam puckering when the finished article is washed (which it will need every so often – and it is easy to remove the hanging bar to do so), and you can be sure that it will wash OK at that temperature.
For the example in the photos in this Instructable (apart from the finished item photo) I used a Liberty furnishing fabric called Tritonia in Combe Florey which is 52% flax (linen), 36% cotton and 12% nylon. You may have a piece of fabric left over from making curtains or cushions. If not, you will need to buy either: a) 40cm (half a yard) of fabric that is at least 138cm (54”) wide and can be cut crosswise (ie. it doesn’t have a prominent lengthwise design), which will make 2 bags; or b) 70cm (a bit over ¾ yard) if the fabric does have a prominent lengthwise design and is at least 138cm (54”) wide, which will make 3 bags cut lengthwise.
If possible, use a fabric without an obvious direction to the design, as the back of the bag folds over to create the upper part of the front, so some of the pattern will be upside down.
The wooden "hanger"
For the first one of these I made, I used a wooden batten that was about 2.5cm (1”) wide and 6mm (1/4”) thick. There is no reason why you should not use such a batten if you have a suitable length handy, but it shouldn't be too wide or it will show when the bag is hung up – the opening inevitably gapes a little. The thickness will need to be no less than about 5mm or the wood may split when you try and screw in the hook, particularly if it is a large one. I now prefer to use wooden dowel, as it gives a nice roundness to the top edge of the bag when it is hung up, and there is less risk of splitting it when the hook is screwed in. Inserting the screw perpendicular to the curved surface of the dowel needs a little care, but then so does inserting it into the thin edge of a flat batten. I bought a 1m length of 8mm hardwood dowel in my local craft shop for 45p.
I find that a small hook does a better job than the larger ones that are often found on bought peg bags. If it fits the washing line reasonably snugly, it is less likely to blow off in a wind. Of course, it shouldn’t be such a snug fit that it is a struggle to get it on. I like to use the small chromed hooks that are sold for hanging net curtains rather than larger cup hooks, but if you can find a small cup hook with a plastic coating, that should be OK, although it may rust after a while if the plastic gets damaged. Also, the bigger the hook, the longer the screw on the end of it, so you may need a larger dowel. My local ironmonger sells bags of 50 chromed curtain hooks for £1.
If the opening of the hook is a bit too small to fit over the line, just open it a touch with a couple of pairs of pliers – hold the stem of the thing with one pair and grip the tip of the hook with the other. You can also use pliers to open a small eye into a hook, if you happen to have eyes but no hooks.
Bias binding
Bought bias binding is quite a coarse weave and it doesn’t tend to survive a lot of washing or wear, but the binding will be inside the bag, and sewn down onto it by the stitching around the opening, so it should be fine. If you want a better quality binding, make your own (you can buy bias binding-making tools at haberdashers) or look out for the "nainsook" type. You can get away with using 25mm (1") wide binding for this project, I just prefer to use the narrower binding unless the fabric is very thick. Because the binding is on the inside of the bag, it won’t show in use and you don't really need a matching colour, so use up whatever oddments you have in your sewing box. If you are buying binding specially, match it to the colour of the inside of the fabric, not the right side. Alternatively, if you don’t have any binding to hand and you want to get on with the project, you could just zigzag the opening edges to neaten them, or turn under a narrow hem if the fabric isn’t too thick.
General instructions
Although it doesn’t say so in the step by step instructions, all seams should be pressed after sewing, preferably with a steam iron.
Finish off all ends so the seams don’t come undone. Take one thread through to the other side using a hand sewing needle, knot the two threads together, then thread them both through the needle and work several small stitches in the seam allowance back along the stitching. Cut off. Where seams cross and will need to be trimmed or pressed open, it is often best to finish off the ends of the first seam only when the second one has been sewn, to avoid having to trim off or undo where the ends have been sewn in.
French seams
I have used French seams for this project, because they make a neat finish inside the bag. The inside, and particularly the base of the bag, gets a lot of wear from the pegs, and encasing all the raw edges also makes the seams strong. It does make the seams a little bulky, which might be a problem for a garment but doesn't really matter for a bag. If you don’t want to use French seams, perhaps because your fabric is very thick, then zigzag the raw edges or encase them in bias binding.
What you need
Piece of fabric measuring approx. 69cm x 39cm (27” x 15.5”)
Slim hardwood dowel (8mm diameter is ideal) or wooden batten, 33cm (13”) long
Net curtain hook or small cup hook
30” of 5/8” or 1" wide bias binding (80cm of 25mm)
Matching thread
Sewing machine, scissors, iron, wood saw, sandpaper, gimlet or small wood drill
Fabric
It's best to use a light to medium weight curtain or furnishing fabric, but a heavy weight dress fabric would do. Linen union is ideal. You can probably find a remnant in a furnishing fabric shop. I prefer linen or cotton to man-made fibres, but a bit of polyester in the mix will help to provide strength. Use a matching thread, ie. don’t use a polyester thread to sew natural fibres, it will melt when you try to press your work. In this design, there is a circular "buttonhole" through which the hanging hook goes, and this will press nice and flat if you use a steam iron on a linen or cotton fabric.
If the fabric is a natural fibre, shrink it first by putting it in a 40oC (100oF) wash. That way, you shouldn’t get any seam puckering when the finished article is washed (which it will need every so often – and it is easy to remove the hanging bar to do so), and you can be sure that it will wash OK at that temperature.
For the example in the photos in this Instructable (apart from the finished item photo) I used a Liberty furnishing fabric called Tritonia in Combe Florey which is 52% flax (linen), 36% cotton and 12% nylon. You may have a piece of fabric left over from making curtains or cushions. If not, you will need to buy either: a) 40cm (half a yard) of fabric that is at least 138cm (54”) wide and can be cut crosswise (ie. it doesn’t have a prominent lengthwise design), which will make 2 bags; or b) 70cm (a bit over ¾ yard) if the fabric does have a prominent lengthwise design and is at least 138cm (54”) wide, which will make 3 bags cut lengthwise.
If possible, use a fabric without an obvious direction to the design, as the back of the bag folds over to create the upper part of the front, so some of the pattern will be upside down.
The wooden "hanger"
For the first one of these I made, I used a wooden batten that was about 2.5cm (1”) wide and 6mm (1/4”) thick. There is no reason why you should not use such a batten if you have a suitable length handy, but it shouldn't be too wide or it will show when the bag is hung up – the opening inevitably gapes a little. The thickness will need to be no less than about 5mm or the wood may split when you try and screw in the hook, particularly if it is a large one. I now prefer to use wooden dowel, as it gives a nice roundness to the top edge of the bag when it is hung up, and there is less risk of splitting it when the hook is screwed in. Inserting the screw perpendicular to the curved surface of the dowel needs a little care, but then so does inserting it into the thin edge of a flat batten. I bought a 1m length of 8mm hardwood dowel in my local craft shop for 45p.
I find that a small hook does a better job than the larger ones that are often found on bought peg bags. If it fits the washing line reasonably snugly, it is less likely to blow off in a wind. Of course, it shouldn’t be such a snug fit that it is a struggle to get it on. I like to use the small chromed hooks that are sold for hanging net curtains rather than larger cup hooks, but if you can find a small cup hook with a plastic coating, that should be OK, although it may rust after a while if the plastic gets damaged. Also, the bigger the hook, the longer the screw on the end of it, so you may need a larger dowel. My local ironmonger sells bags of 50 chromed curtain hooks for £1.
If the opening of the hook is a bit too small to fit over the line, just open it a touch with a couple of pairs of pliers – hold the stem of the thing with one pair and grip the tip of the hook with the other. You can also use pliers to open a small eye into a hook, if you happen to have eyes but no hooks.
Bias binding
Bought bias binding is quite a coarse weave and it doesn’t tend to survive a lot of washing or wear, but the binding will be inside the bag, and sewn down onto it by the stitching around the opening, so it should be fine. If you want a better quality binding, make your own (you can buy bias binding-making tools at haberdashers) or look out for the "nainsook" type. You can get away with using 25mm (1") wide binding for this project, I just prefer to use the narrower binding unless the fabric is very thick. Because the binding is on the inside of the bag, it won’t show in use and you don't really need a matching colour, so use up whatever oddments you have in your sewing box. If you are buying binding specially, match it to the colour of the inside of the fabric, not the right side. Alternatively, if you don’t have any binding to hand and you want to get on with the project, you could just zigzag the opening edges to neaten them, or turn under a narrow hem if the fabric isn’t too thick.
General instructions
Although it doesn’t say so in the step by step instructions, all seams should be pressed after sewing, preferably with a steam iron.
Finish off all ends so the seams don’t come undone. Take one thread through to the other side using a hand sewing needle, knot the two threads together, then thread them both through the needle and work several small stitches in the seam allowance back along the stitching. Cut off. Where seams cross and will need to be trimmed or pressed open, it is often best to finish off the ends of the first seam only when the second one has been sewn, to avoid having to trim off or undo where the ends have been sewn in.
French seams
I have used French seams for this project, because they make a neat finish inside the bag. The inside, and particularly the base of the bag, gets a lot of wear from the pegs, and encasing all the raw edges also makes the seams strong. It does make the seams a little bulky, which might be a problem for a garment but doesn't really matter for a bag. If you don’t want to use French seams, perhaps because your fabric is very thick, then zigzag the raw edges or encase them in bias binding.
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Signing UpStep 1Cutting the fabric
Cut 2 rectangles of fabric, each 39 cm (15.5”) wide, one 39 cm (15.5”) long and the other 29cm (11.5”) long. If the fabric is patterned and you have enough of it, cut the rectangles so that the pattern will match across the join at the opening of the bag with the pattern running up from the shorter rectangle to the square piece, but be aware that this will mean the pattern is upside down on the back of the bag. It is often better to have the back of the bag the right way up, with just the top part of the front upside down. As that it quite a small piece of fabric, it won’t be obvious unless the fabric design is very obviously uni-directional.
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