String bags

We're going on a Girl Scout weekend retreat in Wisconsin and need an easy craft to do if we have some downtime. A couple of years ago we marched in the town's Labor Day parade (really marched, as in cadences and flag corp!) and we tie-dyed the flags. As a send-off for the girls, we thought it would be cool to turn them into something. Here's a guide on how to make them into string bags.


A sewing machine is necessary, but I think you can get away without using an iron. If you have one, all the better, but I didn't bother when I made my trial bag(s). These are meant to be done quickly and probably not perfectly.

Items needed for one bag

Piece of fabric at least 17”x30”

4 yards of nylon cord (cut into 2 equal 2-yard pieces)

Sewing machine, thread

Pins

Scissors

Measuring tape 

Instructions

Our flags are around 31”x21”. Using the tape measure, (thank you, Ikea!) measure 17 inches up from one long end of fabric and pin.  Do this 3 more times, evenly spaced across the fabric.  (Figure A)

Cut as best as you can across the line you made with the pins. (Figure A)

Remove the pins.  Your fabric should be about 31” long by 17” high.

Fold fabric in half. Flatten wrinkles as best you can with your fingers.  (Figure B)
Insert scissors into fold and cut the folded edge.  Your fabric will now be about 15” long by 17” high. [If your fabric had a longer edge, that’s okay! There is no exact size for these bags.

From the top edge (15”), fold down 1.5 inches.

Pin about three times, measuring each time to make sure you have 1.5”. The key is to have a straight top. This corrects any messy cutting you might have done before!

Do this to both pieces of fabric.
Bring to leader to sew.
Remove pins & trim any threads from the sewing machine.
Line up the tops, keeping right (pretty) sides together.
Cut two pieces of cord, each 2 yards long (72”).
Starting with the top piece of fabric, from the left, slide one cord all the way through the top to the right side.

Insert the end into the other piece of fabric, right side. Slide all the way over to the other side. The cord will meet where you started.  Make the cord lengths even.

With the other cord, start at right side of top piece of fabric. Slide all the way to the left side. 

      Insert the end into the back piece of fabric (left side) & slide it all the way back to the right. The cord will meet where you started. Make the cord lengths even.

Tie knots in ends of both cords. 

     Put the ropes inside the two pieces of fabric. 

Line up the sides and give to leader to sew on sewing machine.
NOTE TO LEADER DOING THE SEWING: Keep rope inside. Stitch along side (pin if you need) using ½” seam allowance. Reinforce stitching at beginning. When close to end, pull the knot out of the side corner and sew over. Reinforce stitching.  

      Do the same on the other side. Sew bottom shut.
Turn inside out.

Safety pin friendship bracelets

These safety pin bracelets are easy to make and a fun group activity.  We did this with our Brownie troop on the last meeting of the year.  In the spirit of Girl Scout sisterhood, each girl tosses her pins into a bag and everyone picks randomly to make their bracelets.

I opted to use bead spacers in between the pins because it takes a lot of pins to make one bracelet without them. The bracelets look beautiful, but we had too many other things to do at the meeting.

Materials & Tools

Safety pins (#2 work well)

Beads –small seed-beads for the pins

Beads – larger ones for spacing (optional if you’re not going to use spacers)

Elastic cord (thick cord works better)

Clothes pin

Scissors

Needle nose pliers

Step 1:  Make A LOT of beaded pins.  Each girl will need at least 20 if using spacer beads.

Open a safety pin and thread as many beads on it as you can.  Leave enough room to close the pin.  Fasten the pin & use the pliers to close the top so it doesn’t open accidentally later on. (ouch!)

Step 2:  Make your bracelet.

For a Brownie-sized bracelet, cut two 10-12” pieces of elastic cord.  Line them up evenly and loosely tie one end together, or use a clothespin to secure.  (This is just temporary so the pins don’t fall off as you string them together.)

Step 3:  String the pins onto the bracelet.

Each girl should pick at least 20 pins out of the bag.  String one cord through the head of the pin, and the other cord through the tail.  String a spacer bead onto each cord.  String another pin onto the cords, but this time, reverse the pin so that the pins alternate head to tail.  Make sure the bead sides are all facing up!

Step 4: Finish the bracelet.

Once the bracelet is long enough (one brownie-sized bracelet with bead spacers takes at least 20 pins), bring the bracelet together to form a circle.  This can be tricky, because you don’t want the pins to fall off the cords.  Untie the knot from step 2 (if applicable) and tie the top cords together & the bottom cords together.