How to Make a Fish-Shaped Laundry Bag

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If you’re into whimsical housewares, you’re going to love today’s project! There’s not much fun about doing the laundry, so to make the chore a little more cheerful, why not carry your laundry in a fish-shaped bag?

We made our fish-shaped laundry bag with one craft pack of Oly*Fun Fabric. A really fun feature of this fabric is that you can draw on it with markers, paint on it, and even use glue to easily add embellishments. We made our fish bag look a little more fish-like by hot gluing an eye on each side that we made out of scrap fabric. You could also glue or draw on scales!

If you don't want to use Oly*Fun, we recommend Nylon 200D Flag Fabric. It's thin enough that it will sew easy and cinch at the top of the bag for the drawstring just like the Oly*Fun material cinches. Take a look at our Flag Fabric page to see all the colors we offer — you can make a bright and fun laundry bag for every kid in your family!

Let’s take a closer look at how to put together this simple-sew project.

  • 1 Oly*Fun Multi-Purpose Fabric Craft Pack OR Nylon 200D Flag Fabric
  • 9 feet 5/64" Dacron Leechline #21207
  • Tex 30 Thread
  • 1. We started by drawing out our fish shape on a piece of muslin. You could sketch out your fish design on patterning material, newspaper or kraft paper. Our fish measures about 37 inches from tail tip to the top of the bag (aka the mouth) and is about 20 inches wide. You can make your fish whatever size you want, just sketch out a design that’s pleasing to you.

    2. Roll out your Oly*Fun but leave the fabric folded in half. Lay your pattern on top of the Oly*Fun and pin them together.

    3. Cut out the fish shape in the Oly*Fun.

    4. Mark 3 inches down from the top of the bag on each edge and make a tiny snip with your scissors.

    5. Topstitch 1/4 inch away from the raw edge all the way around the bag, starting at the snip you made in the last step and finishing at the opposite snip.

    6. Sew a second row of stitches alongside the first to strengthen the seam.

    7. At the top of the bag, widen the snip you made earlier in the fabric so it’s the width of your stitches.

    8. Take the fabric above the cut you just made and fold it in 1/2 inch. Then, fold the top down to create a 1-3/4-inch hem.

    9. Cut your length of leechline in half. Fold the leechline into the top hem. Arrange the line so it wraps around one edge of the bag and its free ends stick out from the opposite side. Do the same with the second half of the leechline, but adding the loop at the opposite side of the bag.

    10. Fold up the top hem and pin in place.

    11. Loosely tie the free ends of the rope on each side. Take to the sewing machine and sew 1/4 inch away from the bottom folded edge all around the top of the bag. Be sure to keep the ties out of the way while you sew! Then sew a second row of stitches above the first.

    12. Tie a nice small knot at the end of the line.

    Now you can decorate or embellish your fish! We hope this DIY was quick and fun for you. These creative laundry bags would make great gifts!