How to sew a laundry bag that fits perfectly in your suitcase for your dirty clothes when you are traveling.
Every time we go on vacation we end up with these super neatly packed bags until we’re headed home and then I’m scrambling to find somewhere to put all our dirty laundry, such as the plastic bags the hotels SOMETIMES have. I just don’t like dirty laundry touching my suitcase. That sounds really particular of me, but dirty laundry smells bad and sometimes is wet (if you have a toddler or baby, you almost certainly have some wet laundry).
I decided to make a reusable laundry bag to take with us and because it’s fabric, it will fold up neatly in the suitcase. I wanted it to fit perfectly into the suitcase that we have so I measured the inner dimensions of our suitcase. The dimensions on ours was 24″ long x 14.5″ wide x 8″ deep.
- (2 of each fabric) 25 x 15.5″… these are for the top and bottom of the bag
- (2 of each fabric) 9 x 25″… long side
- (2 of each fabric) 9 x 15.5″ … short side
Bad picture… but this is the sides and bottom sewn together with the PUL inner. Note that I sewed the PUL wrong sides together rather than right sides together- yours should be opposite for most ideal finish. |
Okay to close up this all, I added my zipper. There are probably better times to add this but I saved it for last. I inserted the PUL inner inside my cotton outer fabric EXACTLY as I want it to be when the product is finished. Then I turned the edges over for the cotton and PUL (so there were no raw edges showing) and pinned the zipper in between. I sewed along the edge to finish it up. I did one side, then did the other side. It actually worked out pretty well considering it’s not a very high tech way to do zippers.
The bag fit perfectly in our suitcase so yay! Best part- way more attractive (and reliable) than hotel plastic bags that fit about one pair of jeans in them.
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Google Web Story: How to Make a Travel Laundry Bag