Monday, November 9, 2009

GARMENT/SUIT BAG TUTORIAL



With my girls' ballet concert fast approaching I have been sewing costumes like crazy. Tonight I needed a break so I ran up this garment bag to carry the costumes to & from the concert. You don't need a pattern to make one of these at home, in fact all you need is a coat hanger.

You will need:
  • a hanger

  • tracing paper

  • fabric [I used just over 1 metre of 150cm wide fabric but the amount depends on the length you want your garment bag to be]

  • contrasting bias binding, either prepurchased [like I used] or make your own

  • a long zip [the exact length isn't critical as it depends how long you want to make your bag


What I did:


I traced the hanger onto a piece of paper to get the angle correct, then extended the angled sides 4 inches & then drew a straight line down to my desired length, about 30 inches [you can make this whatever length you like]. Round the corners if desired [trace around a saucer for a consistent curve].

Cut out two pieces of fabric from pattern and split one in half lengthwise [this will be the front].

Insert zip using your preferred method.

Turn over a scant hem at the top of each piece where the hanger hook will poke out.


Pin the front & back pieces WRONG SIDES TOGETHER. Stitch a narrow seam around edge or just tack them together well.

Sew bias binding around outside edge.

You are done.


2 comments:

  1. Shelle, this is fantastic and very cute...for the longer dresses you could leave the bottom edge open to enable them to hang freely :)

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  2. What a great idea, thanks! At the moment our costumes aren't that long [6 & 4 years old] but they'll only keep growing taller!

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