07 January 2013

1940's Style Tea Towel Peg Bag


Just recently I had to buy more clothes pegs and there were too many for the bucket I keep them in. I don't leave the pegs on the line, I bring them in each night so I like to have a container to keep them in, one that is portable and light. Going through my old scrapbooks I came across some notes and a diagram I'd drawn for a peg bag made with a coathanger and an old tea towel a la 1940's style.

Twenty minutes later I had a lovely new peg bag, and best of all it cost nothing and used materials I already had. Win-win!

It was so quick to stitch up and so cheap it had me thinking -  these would make lovely gifts for housewarmings and would sell well at fetes and craft stalls too.

You will need:
1 coat hanger - plastic or wooden, it needs to be strong (I prefer plastic, just in case it rains)
1 tea towel
Thread to match tea towel
Tailors chalk
Pins
Sewing machine



Step 1. Lay the tea towel on the table, right side up.

 

Step 2. Fold the top down 10cm, right sides together. This will form the top pocket of your peg bag. 

Step 3. Place the coat hanger on the pocket, with the hook part of the hanger in the centre of the tea towel.




Step 4. Take the tailor's chalk and trace across the top of the hanger, marking the spot for the hook. Your tea towel will be a little wider than the coat hanger (this will be taken up in the seam allowance) so continue the chalk line to the edge (I used a Sharpie marker in the picture above so you could see what I've done).

Step 5.  Sew along the chalk line (keeping the tea towel folded with right sides together), stopping 3mm from the mark for the hook. Leave a 6mm gap and resume sewing down along the other chalk line.  Trim excess fabric along sewing line, leaving a 6mm edge. Zig zag or overlock the raw edges together on each side, remembering to leave the gap for the hook.

Step 6.  Fold up the bottom edge of the tea towel, right sides together, so it overlaps the top pocket by 6mm. This makes the bottom pocket. Stitch along both sides using a 6mm seam, then zig zag or overlock the raw edges.


Step 7. Turn both pockets right side out. Slip the coat hanger into the top pocket, poking the hook through the space left for it (you may need to nip a small hole for the hook to go through.

And voila - your peg bag is done!

(It was far too hot today to run outside to take a photo of it on the clothesline, I'll get one tomorrow when it cools down)

If your tea towel is plain, you could add ric rac or lace or applique before sewing up the pockets. My notes had a seam stitched down the middle of the bottom pocket, to make two smaller pockets. You could do this if you want to, but my hands are too big and I'm usually in too much of a hurry to be fiddling around in little pockets for the pegs, so I left it out.

They'd also be nice for hankies if they were made from a pretty print and perhaps trimmed with lace or some embroidery and they'd go well in kids' rooms for socks too.

I have a few retro tea towels, from Wayne's Grandmother and some rather bright linen tea towels from my mother, that will look just lovely hanging on the clothesline. Add in a packet of pegs and they'll be a nice addition to the present box this year.

1 comment:

  1. Peg Bag! What a unique idea. You're so sweet of you for giving effort in recycling ideas. I'm pretty sure I will make one!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment...I just love hearing from you!

Just a couple of things:

Please don't use your comments to advertise your business or goods for sale, any such comments will be removed.

And please include your name, ANONYMOUS POSTS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED AND WILL BE RECORDED AS SPAM.