How to Sew a Drawstring Casing Without a Free-Arm Sewing Machine

Happy Thursday! A few weeks ago, I taped two short videos to accompany my Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern Tutorial, I'm excited to share those with you today!

In the first video, I'm sharing an alternative method for marking the drawstring casing (step 11). Instead of marking lines all the way around the top of the bag, you can make yourself a tape guideline on your machine to use while sewing the casing. (Some 1" wide masking tape is super helpful here!)

The video I really felt was needed is how to sew the drawstring casing without a free-arm sewing machine. A free-arm sewing machine is one that has a removable section on the bed of the machine, that allows you to easily sew small circumference items like sleeves and small bags. My machine and many others don't have this option, but it's still easy to sew those small circumference items. For the drawstring bag, this comes into play with the drawstring casing. This technique is especially necessary for the smaller bags in the pattern (snack and tiny sizes), even if you do have a free-arm sewing machine.

Basically, you allow the circular item to loop above the machine bed instead of below the machine bed. I find this is easier to do when turning the bag inside out and sewing "inside" the loop. Hopefully the video will make more sense!

I've included these videos in the Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial and links to them within the pattern for easy reference, and this post will be added to the Lined Drawstring Bag Variations and Tutorials post.

Here are two pin-able images for you too:

Happy Sewing!