Salvaging an Old Pillow Case to Make a Drying Bag for Herbs

This pillow case is several years old.  And by several, I mean over 20 years old.  It was given to my family after our house fire in 1982.  My mom had passed it on to me when I got married and moved out of the house.  I always thought the embroidery design was nice and having it be my favorite color made it even more appealing to me.  An embroidered pillow case is not something you see very often anymore.  Instead of throwing it away or using it as a rag, I decided to cut of the area that had worn thin and come up with a new use for the item.  

I plant a lot of onions and could use another bag to dry onions or herbs in.  After serging the edges and adding a hem along the top to run a cord through I now have a new drying bag!

Serging the edges inside the pillow case

Since this didn't need to be a "pretty" project I wasn't too concerned that the hem was uneven.

I hemmed the edge with my sewing machine. 

I purchased rope to make a drawstring for .37 a yard. And a set of draw string stoppers for $1.48.  You need to be sure the rope you choose will fit through the opening holes in the draw string stopper.  I used almost 2 yards of the rope for the project.

Place tape around the rope before cutting or else the edges can fray.  

 

 Thread the rope through a pin to guide it through the hem in the pillow case.  Be sure to leave a small opening when you are hemming to allow room to thread the rope.  I used a diaper pin.

Threading the rope through the hem

Once you have threaded the rope through the entire hem place each end through the draw string stoppers.

Tie knots in the end of the rope to keep them from pulling back through the stopper opening.

Completed projcect

Total cost $2.22

This will make a nice drying bag.  It will be easy to wash and dry after each use. Not to mention I was able to recycle something instead of throwing it away.