How to Construct a Clothespin Hanger

Organize your laundry room and keep your clothespins within handy reach when hanging your laundry on the clothesline. Quickly make a clothespin hanger bag that can be stored on a hook or hung on a clothesline using the built in clothes hanger that provides it's structure. This simple bag can be made to match your laundry room's decor using a small amount of fabric. Make one for yourself or as housewarming gifts for new neighbors or newlyweds.

Things You'll Need

• Newspaper
• Yardstick
• Scissors
• Plastic clothes hanger
• Pencil
• 1/2-yard fabric
• Straight pins
• 1/2-inch wide bias tape, 1-yard
• Iron
• Sewing machine

Instructions

1. Cut two, 15-inch wide by 18-inch long rectangles from a sheet of newspaper. Set one rectangle aside. Center a plastic clothes hanger along one 18-inch edge of the remaining rectangle. Position the hook of the hanger over the edge, leaving a 1-inch space between the top of the hanger yoke and the edge of the newspaper. Trace the top edge of the hanger yoke a 1/2-inch from the edge of the hanger, ending on the 15-inch edges of the newspaper. Cut away the newspaper above the yoke of the hanger. Trim a 1/2 inch from the top center peak. This is the back pattern to your clothespin hanger bag.

2. Place the back pattern on the remaining newspaper rectangle. Trace around the pattern and cut out. Measure eight inches up from the bottom of the pattern and mark a line across the width. Cut the pattern into two pieces along the marked line. The top of the paper is the front top pattern and the bottom is the front bottom pattern.

3. Pin each pattern piece to a single layer of fabric and cut out. Cut two, 18-inch lengths of 1/2-inch wide bias tape.

4. Fold the top peak of the back fabric hanger piece 1/4 inch to the wrong side, press and pin. Sew the pinned edge creating a small hem. Repeat on the top peak of the front top fabric hanger piece.

5. Lay the top front piece wrong side up on your work space. Place a bias tape strip wrong side up on the bottom edge of the top front piece. Pin one long edge of the strip to the fabric edge. Sew the pinned edge using a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Flip the sewn strip to the right side of the fabric, iron and pin. Top stitch the bias tape to the fabric. Repeat with the remaining bias strip on one long edge of the front bottom piece.

6. Lay the back fabric hanger piece on your work surface with the right side up. Place the front top fabric hanger piece with the right side down and matching the top and side edges. Pin the top and side edges of the front piece to the back piece. Lay the front bottom fabric hanger piece with the right side down on the back piece, matching the bottom and side edges. Pin the bottom and side edges of the front piece to the back piece. Sew the pinned edges all the way around the clothespin hanger using a 1/2-inch seam allowance and leaving an opening along the hemmed peak.

7. Stitch in a zigzag fashion along the raw edges of the stitched seam to prevent fraying.

8. Turn the clothespin hanger bag right side out through the bias tape opening and iron. Insert the plastic clothes hanger inside the bag and thread the hook through the top peak.