Match day man-bag

I bought my husband a new bag for Christmas. It is a thing of beauty, all soft black leather and lots of pockets to have fun with.

The plan is to use it for his football kit. But this seemed a bit cruel, those muddy post-match boots are something a bag's eyes should never see.

Only in the Liberty sale can £11.95 per metre seem like a bargain

I bought this gorgeous piece of tana lawn in the Liberty sale. The lovely geometric pattern caught my eye. It seemed rich with man-making possibility, a very good thing as I am always slightly at a loss as to what to make for Mr Year.

All of this dovetailed neatly with his recent birthday.

My thought was to use the fabric (lined with plastic) to make a smaller drawstring bag for mucky boots and kit, thereby protecting the bag. I used the drawstring bag pattern from 'Weekend Sewing' by Heather Ross with some changes.


Our tablecloth provided the lining, hence the mug rings in the photograph. I started with two rectangles of the tana lawn and two of the plastic (the plastic rectangles were a few centimetres shorter):

They were then sewn right sides together and the corners boxed. Then, a little fold at the top, followed by a 5cm fold. Turned right way out, the top was edgestitched and the bottom of the drawstring encasing stitched.

David Bowie admires the boxed corners before (top) and after (bottom) turning out.

 I then followed her (brilliantly clear) instructions for making drawstring openings:

What a great pattern. Really quick and easy. I would definitely make this again.

I had to keep the iron on the lowest setting and only press very briefly or the plastic would have melted. I found this out the hard way. As a result, the seams are not as flat as I would have liked. 

But frankly, inadequately ironed seams are the least of this bag's worries. 

PS Many thanks to Rebecca for this kind post.