Tutorial: Two Ways to Make a Simple Sachet

Sachets are one of the simplest sewing projects a sewer can take on, especially if they are a beginner. Sachets are also useful. You can stash a lavender sachet under your pillow to help you get a restful night of sleep. Or put a sachet in your drawers or closets to give clothes, socks and lingerie a gentle, pleasant scent.

Best of all, making sachets only requires some inexpensive supplies, and less than half an hour of free time. And making sachets is a great project if you have a lot of fabric scraps lying around. Now you have something fun and practical to do with them.

Here are two ways to make simple sachets.

Making a Sachet with One Piece of Fabric

Here’s what you will need:

• A square of fabric. You can use fabric of almost any size to make sachets. You can make small sachets using a 5 inch square, or a large sachet using a 12 inch square. In fact, it’s okay if your fabric isn’t perfectly square. If you have a scrap of rectangular fabric that’s 10” X 8”, feel free to use it.
• Coordinating thread.
• A sewing machine or a needle and thread. The great thing about making sachets is that, because they are so simple to put together, you can actually sew them by hand. However, creating a sachet is much easier and faster when you use a sewing machine.
• An iron. Not absolutely necessary to make sachets, but an iron can definitely come in handy.
• Fabric pins.
• Potpourri of your choice. There’s potpourri available in almost any scent you can think of, from jasmine, to lavender, to citrus. For holiday-themed sachets, you can use potpourri that smells like winter mint or pumpkin pie. And, if you have a problem with moths, you can fill your sachets with cedar wood, cider wood or juniper wood shavings.

Making the sachet.

1. Fold the fabric in half so that the wrong side (the side you don’t want anyone to see) is facing out.
2. Stitch the sachet on two of the three open sides, using a seam allowance of about ¼”. This will leave you with a little pouch, almost like a small pillowcase.
3. At the open end, fold down the raw edges about ½”.
4. Now you have two choices. You could sew the hem in place, but it’s not really necessary. If you want to keep things simple, you can just use an iron to press the seam. No one will see the raw edges because they will be on the inside of the sachet.
5. Turn the sachet inside out, so that the right side (the side you want everyone to see) is now facing out.
6. Fill your pouch with potpourri. Don’t fill the sachet completely to the top. You need to leave room to sew the opening closed.
7. Use some fabric pins to pin the opening closed. This isn’t necessary, but it will make sewing a little easier.
8. Now, sew the opening closed. Sew a seam about ¼” from the top of the sachet. The fold you made before turning the pouch inside out will create a nice, finished edge.

Making a Sachet with Two Pieces of Fabric

Making a sachet with two piece of fabric is more or less the same as making a sachet with one. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Two squares of fabric that are the same size. Again, you can use any size fabric you want or have on hand. And, when using two pieces of fabric, you can have a little fun with fabric selection. Instead of using two pieces of the same fabric to make the sachet, you could use one piece of patterned fabric, and a coordinating piece of solid fabric. Or, for a hodge-podge look, you could use two pieces of patterned fabric with complimentary colors.
• Potpourri.
• Coordinating thread.
• A sewing machine or a needle and thread.
• An iron.
• Fabric pins.

Making the sachet.

1. First, lay one piece of fabric on a flat surface, right side up. On top of it, lay the second piece of fabric, right side down. Pin the two pieces together.
2. Stitch the sachet on three of the four sides, leaving a seam allowance of about ¼”.
3. At the open end, fold down the raw edges about ½”. Either hem the fold in place or use an iron to press the seams.
4. Turn the sachet inside out, so that the right side is now facing out.
5. Fill your pouch with potpourri, leaving enough room to sew the opening closed.
6. Use some fabric pins to close the open end of the sachet.
7. Sew the opening closed. Sew a seam about ¼” from the top of the sachet.

Making sachets is a fun and easy way to put leftover scraps of fabric to good use.