Toot Toot Tuesday-Puzzle Drawstring Bags

I have been wanting to make these ever since I first saw them on Sutton Grace months and months ago. My kids have so many puzzles, and I love that they love them, but those darn boxes get a new tape makeover every time they come out. Plus they take up so much room!
SO here is what we did....

First take your puzzle box with the picture on it and flatten it, (if it isn't already flat that is!).
Second-convince your husband that you will not accidentally cut your finger off, pregnant belly open or harm your self in any way if he hands over a box cutter.Then worry about cutting your finger off, your pregnant belly open and generally harming yourself in a deadly manner while cutting out the image from the said box tops. (No harm was done while cutting these, a few close calls, but no bandaids were needed).Next take some clear vinyl and measure it a little larger than your image...enough that you will be able to sew around it.Then cut it-scissors will work for this, you can hand the scary box cutting tool back over to your husband. Next take your material-I used a lovely brown canvas for durability, but any fabric would do. And for me, I like to make things as easy as possible, so I cut the fabric into long strips rather than two separate pieces so I didn't have to sew a bottom. Just make sure if you do this, when you fold it in half it is long enough to still house your puzzle, your image and the drawstring. Using your sewing machine (and a heavy duty needle), sew your vinyl on to the front of the bag. The vinyl will stick to the presser foot, so either use the paper it came with, or something similar in between the vinyl and the presser foot that you can tear away after. Otherwise you will get something like that bottom stitch that I got on my first attempt. Then you need to fold the fabric in on itself, so that the pouch is on the inside, and pin down a tiny bit of the fabric on each side (I ended up making the larger side even smaller). Then straight stitch as close to the edge as you can, back stitching on both ends, so that you end up with this. Then fold over those flaps and mark where you want the drawstring part to come together. You just need to be sure there is enough room for your string or ribbon to go through.You can see the marks here. Sew down each side, ending or beginning at the mark, (you can see I over shot mine a bit, oops!). Back stitch beginning and end. If you want to be really fancy, you can zig zag or serge the edges at this point to make it really nice-but I was not feeling really fancy. Then fold your flaps over to the mark, pin or press and then sew along that same line or close to the same line as your first sew line. Be sure not to sew your bag together-use your free arm on the sewing machine to wrap the bag around if your bag is large enough, or just be sure to fold the other side down far enough that you won't sew it together. This is what the final bag looks like from the inside, you are now free to turn it inside out. The next thing you will want to do is cut your ribbon or string, for measurement you will want to double the length of the bag and add a couple inches-then cut another piece exactly the same size.Using a safety pin, attach it to one end of the string or ribbon-then just thread it through......when you get to the end, keep going through the other side until you have both sides of the ribbon on one side. Tie a double knot...and then on the side that does not have the knot, take your other piece of ribbon and do the same thing. When you are done, you will have a knotted string on both sides of your bag.After you put your puzzle pieces in and your picture in the vinyl, pull strings together and voila! This is an easy sewing project, and a great way to get rid of the clutter of the boxes! I made three and a half last night while watching a movie with the family-so they come together pretty quickly...now just like 10 more to go. :)

Linking to some of these great parties.