How To: Lavender Teabag

These teabag-shaped lavender sachets are so sweet - a fun and quirky way of keeping your clothes smelling sweet and deterring those pesky moths (just don't try to drink them!). I'm going to be making a few of these this Christmas for some fellow tea-obsessives (making use of the lovely lavender from my mama) & I thought they'd make a fun free tutorial to share...

To make these you will need:
- white felt
- narrow white ribbon
- white embroidery thread
- light purple felt
- some dried lavender & a teaspoon
- tracing paper
- white and purple sewing thread, needles, scissors, pins etc & an embroidery hoop (optional)

A pattern sheet for this project can be found at the bottom of this post.


1) Using the pattern piece provided, cut out 2 identical white felt pieces for the teabag.

2) Cut a length of ribbon, approx 5 inches long. Use white thread to sew one end of the ribbon to the "top" of one teabag shape, so the ribbon overlaps the felt slightly. Then pin both teabag shapes together so that they sandwich the ribbon between them.

3) Starting from the bottom of the teabag, use neat whip stitches to sew the edges of both pieces together almost all the way round - make sure you leave enough room for your teaspoon to get through the gap.

4) Use the teaspoon to lightly stuff your teabag with lavender. Use the handle to make sure the lavender gets in all the corners and is evenly distributed. Then stitch up the gap with more whip stitches. 5) Stitch the word "tea" in small letters in white embroidery thread on your purple felt. You can use an embroidery hoop if you have one. If you're not confident stitching the letters freehand, draw them onto the felt with a soft pencil and stitch over your pencil markings.

6) Cut out the tag pattern piece and draw around it onto some tracing paper. Cut this out, so you have a see-through pattern piece. Position the tag shape over your embroidered "tea" until you get the lettering as neatly centred as possible and then cut it out. Also cut a matching piece from plain purple felt.

7) Use matching purple thread to sew the loose end of the ribbon into the tag. Then use neat whip stitches to sew the front and back tag pieces together so the ribbon is sandwiched between them.

Double click on the pattern sheet to view it full size and print:


Please note that this tutorial is for non-commercial use only. If you use an image on your own blog, etc, please credit me and link back to this post. Thanks!
 
Enjoyed this free tutorial? Buy me a "coffee" and help support my blog!


Subscribe to my newsletter for a monthly free pattern and visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots more free projects.

Visit my shop to buy my printable PDF sewing patterns:

Show and Tell (C365/361)

Lots of lovely pictures to show you today! First up, here's the product of last night's sewing session:
Sprigs of mistletoe! It's lovely to be making these again this year, and it's always interesting to revisit old designs. This year's are sewn onto thicker red felt to make them a bit more sturdy and I've decided that I rather like the bolder, more solid shape made by leaving the middle bit of red as it is. Of course I only worked this out when I'd cut out the first one and had it side by side with the others for comparison! Ah well. I may list both options and let the customers decide which is best!

Next up: some shots of a few special items I've been working on recently...

I got a fun custom order this month to make an embroidered teabag - the reverse is embroidered with details of the occasion & the reverse of the tag (rather obviously) says "tea". A simple but very sweet idea for a gift I think!
I also finished some long-delayed gifts made as a "thankyou" to the girls who did some felt modelling for me back at the start of the summer... some sets of hairclips...

... and a couple of snowy owl brooches:
Here's a peek at some of the owl sketches I've been doing since making that last brooch (I'm plotting a whole little series of owls for my shop) - this was pinned to our noticeboard today by my boyfriend who was slightly annoyed and greatly amused at how I'd scribbled all over his to do list in my owl-sketching frenzy: "typical!"

365 / 205 - Still Obsessed with Tea

After making all those teacups, I have tea on the brain! My latest tea-obsessed crafty project? Lavender-filled "teabag" drawer scenters:
Just a quick prototype made in a rush while dinner was in the oven, but I'm still quite pleased with it. It looks how I wanted it to (always good) and the lavender shows through the white felt "bag" just enough to give a real teabag-look to it. It is rather crying out to have a lavender-coloured tag instead of that blue, though! My mother kindly dried lots of lavender from her garden for me this year, so there should be lots of nice smelling things being added to my shop over the coming months.

Last night I also finished a new mobile, but the light was already starting to go when I came to took photos so they'll have to wait. Rather annoying, as I'd hoped to be able to list it this evening. Oh well... Instead, here's a rather random picture of me and my sewing scissors:
For some unknown reason I found it very amusing yesterday that they matched my outfit so perfectly. Simple pleasures, eh?