Quick DIY: Lavender Satchel

I had this idea (ha!) and now I find myself with a huge bag of lavender (purchased on amazon – here’s an affiliate link) and a lot of satchels to make. Here’s the great news: this is a project with a LOT of variations and you can totally make any size/shape you like to add a nice scent to your closet, drawer, etc!

I wanted a hanging one to put in my closet and I decided to start with a circle pattern and some Wonder Woman fabric.

To begin with, you’ll want fabric, a pen, and you can either machine or hand stitch. I drew a circle on the back side of the fabric – FYI this is a folded piece of fabric “inside out” so that when stitched and turned I will have a circle shaped pouch.

The next step is to stitch. The circle pattern I had was a bit smaller than I wanted so I used the line to align with the outside edge of the sewing foot. This meant that I was stitching a circle slightly bigger than the original lines.

note I’m sewing on a new to me Brother machine – more on that another time but it’s so fun! SE1900 if you’re curious – here’s an amazon link. 

I sewed about 80% of the way around, leaving an opening for stuffing it with lavender. Then I cut away the excess fabric leaving 1/4″ or so from the stitches. You might see – I sewed twice around. I wanted it extra sturdy. With this done it is time to flip it right side out and stuff it!

Once it it filled with lavender I turned the fabric in and did some (sloppy) stitching to close and seal it. But wait- I can cover up the bad visible stitching! You see now is when I sewed a button and a loop of ribbon (so I can hang it). This covers the not so perfect area, as well as making it so that I can hang it in my closet.

As you can see – it’s simple and cute! I really want to improve my sewing skills and take more complex projects on, so mastering simple skills and projects has become a priority in my crafting.

The girls all want one of these fun satchels – though they want them for drawers so no hanging loop will be needed. My plan is to test different shapes, styles, and approaches to sewing them shut to find various methods that work for me. I’ll be sure to share – because these make fantastic gifts and couldn’t be more simple!

Oh and that bag of lavender buds I purchased? I’ll be able to make EVERYONE I know satchels! It’s huge! So I guess I’d better get busy…