Russian doll lavender bags tutorial!
Published on 16 December 2019 By Holly Butteriss 1 min read
These adorable little Russian inspired dolls are filled with the loveliest lavender scent to keep your home (and your stash!) smelling sweet. Amazing maker, Chloe Bailey, will show you how to make your very own with her super simple step-by-step tutorial.
These delightful lavender bags are perfect to pop in your drawers, or hang in your wardrobe! They also make really lovely gifts!
It's also a well known fact that moths don’t like lavender… so get these in with your knits to ward off those little beasties and protect all your precious makes! (I even keep a few in with my yarn stash!)
Materials
- Cotton fabric, a base colour and a contrast colour
- A small piece of white felt for the face
- A small piece of dark brown felt for the hair
- DMC Stranded Cotton
- Button, threads or felt to embellish
- 10” piece of ribbon, if you want to add a hanging loop
- Half a cup of dried lavender
- Sewing pins
- DMC 12 Embroidery Needles (1-5)
- Scissors
How to make your Russian doll!
1
Print the downloadable template and cut out your fabrics.
You’ll need 2 x main body in base fabric; 1 x dress in contrast fabric; 1 x felt face; 1 x felt hair.
2
Pin the dress together with one piece of the body, and pin the face and hair in place.
3
Using a double strand of white cotton thread sew the face to the body using backstitch from one hairline to the other.
Then using a double strand of brown thread (or thread to match your doll’s chosen hair colour!) sew the hair in place. I have used a blanket stitch but you could use backstitch again if you prefer.
4
Cut the apex of the inverted “V” of the dress 0.5cm (this is indicated on the template).
Fold the edges of the inverted “V” underneath and pin. You can now sew the dress in place, using backstitch, running stitch, blanket stitch, or any other edging stitch that you like! (You could use a sewing machine for this step if you prefer).
5
Sew facial features. I’ve used blue thread for the eyes and pink for the lips. The eyes and lips are formed using the same stitch pattern, which consists of three stitches.
6
Add an embellishment to the front of the dress, I have used a yellow button from my stash, but there are lots of different ways to decorate your doll! Why not add embroidered felt leaves, embroidered flowers, hearts, or any fun buttons you have in your stash!
7
With right sides together pin the second body piece to the completed front. If you are adding a hanging loop you’ll also need to pin this in place now.
8
Sew around the edge of the body using a backstitch. The template includes a 0.5cm seam allowance, so your sewn seam will be the dotted line shown on the template. And don’t forget to leave a gap at the bottom for turning it the right way out! (You could use a sewing machine for this step if you prefer).
9
Once you have sewn the front and back pieces together, you can snip into the seam allowance so that when you turn it the right way out, the seams don’t pull tight and distort the shape. Be very careful not to cut your seam when snipping!
Turn your Russian Doll the right way out.
10
Fill the bag with dried lavender, half a cup should be enough. You don’t want it over filled as the lavender will release its fragrance more effectively when it has room to breathe. I use a handy funnel to get the lavender inside, but a small spoon works just as well!
11
To sew up the gap at the base of the body, fold the remaining seam allowance inside and pin. Then use an invisible seam stitch to sew the gap closed.
And there you have it, one lovely little Russian doll lavender bag!
