How to Make a Mini Fabric Sachet

Fill small fabric pillows with dried, scented herbs and flower petals.

A sachet is a fabric pillow or bag filled with potpourri or scented herbs and stored in linen closets, lingerie drawers or in a chest or closet with clothing that is stored for the season. Lavender-filled sachets leave a clean, fresh scent that deters some insects. Boutiques and department stores sell pretty sachets, but you can them at home. They'll be customized to match your decor, in scents you prefer, and much less expensive.

Things You'll Need

• Fine-weave cotton, silk or linen fabric, 2 inch by 2 inch square
• Sewing machine
• Thread to match fabric
• Iron
• Potpourri or dried lavender
• Sewing needle
• Ribbon or lace (optional)

Instructions

1. Fold the fabric in half, with the right sides of the fabric facing inward. Match the sides and corners.

2. Starting at the folded edge, stitch along the short side of the folded fabric with a sewing machine. Line up the outside edge of the sewing machine foot with the outside edge of the fabric to guide an even 3/8-inch seam allowance as you sew.

3. Stitch until you are 3/8 inch from the end of the fabric. Stop stitching with the needle still piercing the fabric. Lift the foot, swivel the fabric 45 degrees so that the long edge of the folded fabric is in front of the foot, lower the foot, and continue stitching along the long edge. Continue to use the foot to guide the stitches with a 3/8-inch seam allowance, forming a small fabric bag. When you get to the end of the long edge, reverse stitch back over your stitching to secure the ends.

4. Remove the fabric bag from the sewing machine.

5. Press the resulting stitched fabric bag. Press the seams open, then turn the fabric so that the right sides are on the outside. Press it again.

6. Fill the bag with potpourri or dried lavender; fill in the bag until it is a little stiff, but leave 1/2 inch at the top to allow you to stitch the bag shut.

7. Turn the raw edges at the top of the bag under, then hand blind stitch or machine stitch the top of the bag shut.

8. Stitch lace or ribbon to the ends or as a border around the bag for decoration, if you wish.

Tips & Warnings

• Form a loop out of a length of ribbon, then securely hand-stitch the ends to a narrow end of the sachet so that it can hang from a clothes hanger, if you wish.

References

• Martha Stewart: Homemade Sachets
• "Lavender: How to Grow and Use the Fragrant Herb"; Ellen Spector Platt; 1999
• "Teach Yourself Visually Sewing"; Debbie Colgrove; 2006