Travel Laundry Bag (Basic Drawstring Bag)

I'm a bit of a clean freak, so when I travel I always make sure to bring extra grocery bags to keep my dirty clothes separate from my clean clothes. I recently bought some nylon travel bags for my shoes and that gave me the idea to make a large travel laundry bag for my clothes. I have a mini road trip coming up at the end of the month, so it would be a perfect time to use it. It is basically just a large drawstring bag that fits a weekend's worth of bags. The drawstring is continuous, so it does not need to be tied on each side. Just pull from the sides and the bag will scrunch close. This also makes it fold away nicely. Alternatively, you can use this tutorial to make bags for any use and any size.

Materials:

• (1) 28x18" lightweight fabric with short end cut on the fold (will measure 56x18") - body
• (1) 1.5x36" strip of fabric - drawstring

Instructions:

• Fold the strip in half long wise with right sides together and press.
• Sew the long side together and turn right side out.

• Fold the bag piece right side together. Iron down 1" of the tops for the drawstring casing (wrong sides together).
• Fold in 1/4" of the casing openings to prevent frays, press, and sew. You need to just hem enough to cover the area used for the casing.

• Sew the casings in place. Be sure to leave enough room for the drawstring to go through.

• Sew the sides of the bag together. (I used pinking shears on all exposed edges.) 

• Attach a safety pin to one of the drawstring and use it to push the drawstring through both casings. You should end up with the both ends of the drawstring next to each other.
• Sew the ends of the drawstring together by inserting one end inside the opening of the other. Tuck 1/4" of outer piece under and sew in place. (I was a little eager and had already closed the ends of my string in the picture above.) 

• Turn the bag right side out and pack in your luggage for your next trip!