How to Line a Macrame or Crochet Bag (By Hand!)
Learn how to line your macrame, crochet, or knit bag the easy way in this step by step bag lining tutorial!
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Don’t worry if you don’t know your way around a sewing machine or if you’re new to sewing. We’ll be making this whole fabric lining by hand with a sewing needle and thread!
You only need a few basic sewing skills and a little bit of fabric and a needle and thread. Or, you can also sew the main part of this liner with a sewing machine if you prefer. It’ll save you some time!
Lately, I’ve been on a mission to improve my hand sewing skills. And let’s be honest, I didn’t want to drag out my sewing machine and switch out the thread.
This is an extremely simple lining and we won’t be doing anything complicated or fancy. It’s pretty much the easiest bag liner possible!
Below, you’ll find the written instructions and the video tutorial to show you how it’s done.
Why You Should Line Your Macrame and Crochet Bags
Adding a fabric liner to your bags will make them much more durable, and also make it so little things don’t slip out between the knots or stitches.
Also, your finished bag will look so much more polished and professional once you add a liner.
When it comes to crochet projects, you know how stretchy crochet fabric can be! If you don’t line your handmade crochet purse it’ll end up stretching down to the ground by the time you stuff all your things inside.
Macrame bags usually have holes between the knots.
Even if they’re small and you make all your knots close together it’s easy for a pencil or coins or other little things to end up falling out of your bag through the holes!
It’s a great idea to add a liner to your macrame market bags so you don’t have to worry about losing small pieces of produce at the supermarket.
Related Post: Easy Crochet Bandana (Free Crochet Pattern & Tutorial!)
Supplies You’ll Need
- macrame, crochet, or knit bag to line (you can find the free tutorial for the macrame bag I’m lining right here!)
- cotton fabric that matches your bag (feel free to use a print if you want to jazz things up, and you could also use a fat quarter depending on the size of your bag)
- sewing needle
- thread that matches your fabric
- scissors
- glue or Fray Check
- pen or disappearing fabric marker
- ruler
How to Line a Macrame or Crochet Bag (the Easiest Way Possible!)
Check out the video tutorial over on my YouTube channel, and be sure to subscribe!
Step 1: Prep your fabric
Before you start making your bag liner, go ahead and pre-wash your lining fabric and press it to remove any wrinkles.
Step 2: Mark the cutting lines
To determine the width and height of the liner, I just lay the bag on the fabric and roughly trace around the part of the bag that I’m going to line.
Then move the bag out of the way and go back in with a ruler to make a straight line.
The height and width of your bag will be slightly larger than the height and width of the lining, and by tracing your actual bag size it’s kind of like a built in seam allowance.
If you want to get more specific, you can measure how big you want your liner to be, and add about 1/4 inch seam allowance on the sides
At the top edge of the bag lining I added an extra 1/2″ to accommodate the hem. It’ll be folded over twice, 1/4″ each time.
I positioned the lines on my fabric so I could just fold the liner to double the fabric over and that way I won’t have to sew along the bottom edge.
Once you get everything lined up and straight, cut out the liner. Don’t cut the folded edge.
Step 3: Press and hem
Lay your fabric with the wrong side facing up (if your fabric is solid like mine it might not really matter which side you use) and one of the short ends at the top.
Fold down the top edge 1/4″ and press in place with your iron. Fold it down another 1/4″ and press again.
Turn your fabric 180 degrees and repeat on the other edge.
Now it’s time to sew the hem.
Thread matching thread onto your needle, double it up and tie a knot in the end.
Sew down one of the hems with a running stitch, and be sure to anchor the thread at the beginning and tie a secure knot at the end of the seam.
Repeat that on the other folded down edge of the fabric. Now both sides of the top of the bag are hemmed and it’s time to sew the sides up.
Step 4: Sew the sides
To sew up the side seams, we’re going to do a back stitch. It’s a nice sturdy stitch and easy to do.
First, fold your bag lining together with right sides facing.
Insert your needle up through one side of the fabric about 1/4″ away from the top of the lining. This is to hide the knot in the middle of the sewn together sides.
Bring the needle down through both layers of fabric right next to the top edge, and bring it back up through both layers about 1/4″ past the first stitch.
Bring the needle back down through both layers of fabric about 1/4″ back from where it came out. Then bring it back up through both layers about 1/4″ past the last stitch.
In case this is confusing to understand, this is a great tutorial that shows how the back stitch is done. It’s kind of difficult to explain, but it’s actually super simple!
At the end of the seam, tie a secure knot and trim the excess thread.
At this point, I recommend adding some fabric glue or Fray Check to the sewn edge of the fabric so it doesn’t unravel.
Repeat all of that on the other side of the bag lining.
Now it’s time to insert the liner into our bag and sew it into place.
Step 5: Sew the liner into place
Insert your bag liner into the macrame or crocheted bag.
You’ll slide the liner all the way down to the bottom of the bag, and be sure you have the wrong sides of the liner facing out.
That way you’ll see the pretty side of the liner inside the bag and the wrong side will be hidden.
Once you have everything lined up, grab your needle and thread and we’re going to start sewing it into place on one of the corners.
There are ways to sew an invisible stitch here so that the seam is hidden, but I’m just going for super simple right now. We’re going to use a running stitch to secure the liner to the bag.
First, insert your needle into the liner from the wrong side to the inside, so the knot will be hidden between the layers.
Then you’re going to insert your needle back through the liner and stitch through a small bit of your macrame or crochet bag. You just need to go under a little bit of the cord or yarn, not all the way through to the outside.
Bring the needle back through the liner, and repeat. So you’re just doing a running stitch and each time to go through the liner you’re stitching under a little bit of your outer bag as well to secure it all in place.
Continue stitching until you get all the way around to the corner you started at, and then tie a knot and cut the excess thread.
Done!
This basic liner is a great jumping off point and once you see how easy it is you can try adding an inside pocket or even add a zipper or snaps as a closure for your finished tote bag!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and try lining your own bag. You won’t believe how simple it really is and it really gives you a professional look to your handmade creations.
If you make one of these, please share a pic over on Instagram and tag me @marchingnorth so I can take a look. I love seeing all of your awesome creations!
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