Lie-Flat Drawstring Bag Knitting Pattern: A Complete Guide to Making Your Own Beautiful Project Bag
There is something deeply satisfying about carrying your knitting projects in a bag you made yourself. A lie-flat drawstring bag is one of those clever, practical designs that knitters return to again and again — not just because it looks beautiful, but because it genuinely works. The flat base means your bag sits upright when you set it down, your yarn stays tangle-free, and the drawstring closure keeps everything secure while you are on the move. Whether you are a beginner knitter ready to tackle your first functional accessory or an experienced maker looking for a quick, rewarding project, this lie-flat drawstring bag knitting pattern will walk you through everything you need to know from start to finish.
What Is a Lie-Flat Drawstring Bag and Why Should You Knit One?
Before we dive into the pattern itself, it helps to understand what makes this style of bag different from a standard drawstring pouch. A lie-flat bag — sometimes called a flat-bottom bag — is constructed so that the base sits horizontally and flat when the bag is set on a surface. Instead of collapsing into a soft, shapeless pile the way a simple drawstring sack might, a lie-flat bag holds its structure. It looks polished, stays open when you need to reach inside, and protects your yarn from rolling around.
For knitters specifically, this design is a game-changer. Yarn has a tendency to escape bags, tangle on itself, and pick up dust and debris when it rolls across the floor. A lie-flat knitting project bag with a drawstring closure solves all of these problems at once. You can slip your current work-in-progress inside, pull the cord tight, and toss the whole thing into your tote without worrying about dropped stitches or a tangled skein.
Beyond practicality, knitting your own project bag means you get to choose your colors, your fiber, and your texture. A hand-knitted bag becomes a little piece of your creative identity — something that reflects your taste and skill in a way that a purchased bag simply cannot.
Materials You Will Need
Gathering the right materials before you begin is one of the most important steps in any knitting project. For this lie-flat drawstring bag, the supplies are approachable and easy to find at your local yarn shop or online.
Yarn: You will want a yarn that has some body and durability to it. Cotton yarn is the most popular choice for project bags because it is strong, washable, and does not stretch out of shape over time. A worsted weight cotton is ideal for this pattern, giving you good stitch definition and a fabric that holds its form. If you prefer a softer, more flexible bag, a cotton-acrylic blend works beautifully as well. You will need approximately 200 to 250 yards of your main color, and about 50 yards if you want to add a contrasting color for the base or a stripe.
Needles: US size 7 (4.5mm) circular needles with a 16-inch cable are recommended for the body of the bag. You will also want a set of double-pointed needles in the same size for working the flat base in the round. If you prefer to work entirely flat and seam as you go, straight needles in the same size are perfectly fine.
Notions: You will need a tapestry needle for weaving in ends and seaming, a pair of scissors, stitch markers (at least two), and a ruler or tape measure. For the drawstring itself, you can use a length of twisted cord made from your project yarn, a purchased ribbon approximately half an inch wide, or a length of leather cord for a more rustic look. Cut your drawstring to roughly 40 inches to give yourself plenty of length for tying a generous bow.
Gauge: The finished bag is not a garment, so gauge is flexible here. Aim for approximately 18 stitches and 24 rows per 4 inches in stockinette stitch with worsted weight yarn on a US 7 needle. A slightly looser or tighter gauge will simply result in a slightly larger or smaller bag, both of which are perfectly usable.
Finished Measurements
The finished lie-flat drawstring bag measures approximately 10 inches wide, 12 inches tall (not including the drawstring casing), and has a flat base that is roughly 4 inches by 10 inches. This size is generous enough to hold a sweater-in-progress with a couple of skeins of yarn, yet compact enough to slip inside a larger tote for travel. If you want a smaller bag for a sock project or a single skein, you can easily scale down by reducing your cast-on number by 20 to 30 percent and working fewer rounds on the body.
Abbreviations Used in This Pattern
CO — cast on
BO — bind off
K — knit
P — purl
K2tog — knit two stitches together (a right-leaning decrease)
SSK — slip, slip, knit (a left-leaning decrease)
PM — place marker
SM — slip marker
RS — right side
WS — wrong side
Rep — repeat
St(s) — stitch or stitches
Rnd(s) — round or rounds
Pattern Instructions
Step One: Knitting the Flat Base
The flat base is what gives this bag its structure and its ability to stand upright. You will work the base flat, back and forth in rows, and then pick up stitches around its perimeter to begin the bag body.
Using your straight needles or circular needles held flat, cast on 18 stitches using the long-tail cast-on method. This cast-on is recommended because it creates a neat, even edge that looks polished when you pick up stitches later.
Row 1 (RS): Knit all stitches.
Row 2 (WS): Purl all stitches.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until your piece measures 4 inches from the cast-on edge, ending after a wrong-side row. Do not bind off. Leave your stitches live on the needle.
Your finished base should be a small, flat rectangle in stockinette stitch. Block it lightly by pinning it out to the correct measurements and misting it with water if you are using cotton. This small step makes picking up stitches around the edges much easier.
Step Two: Picking Up Stitches for the Body
This is the step that transforms your flat rectangle into the foundation of a three-dimensional bag. You will pick up stitches around all four sides of the base and join to work in the round.
With your circular needle and working yarn still attached at the top right corner of your rectangle, work across the 18 live stitches on your needle, then place a stitch marker (this is your beginning of round marker). Now pick up and knit 12 stitches along the short right edge of the base (roughly 3 stitches for every 4 rows), place a second marker, pick up and knit 18 stitches along the cast-on edge at the bottom, place a third marker, and pick up and knit 12 stitches along the short left edge. You now have 60 stitches on your circular needle. Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist.
If you would like to add a contrast color base, this is the moment to switch yarns. Work the first 2 or 3 rounds of the body in your contrast color before switching back to your main color. This creates a subtle, attractive detail that frames the base beautifully.
Step Three: Knitting the Body
With 60 stitches on your needle, you are ready to work the main body of the bag. The body is worked entirely in the round in stockinette stitch (knit every round), which creates a smooth, clean fabric that drapes nicely and shows off any self-striping or hand-dyed yarn especially well.
Knit every round until the body of the bag measures 11 inches from the base. At this point, you have a tidy tube of knitting sitting on top of your flat rectangular base, and the whole structure should already be holding its shape in that satisfying lie-flat way.
If you want to incorporate texture — a simple 2×2 rib, a seed stitch panel, or a columns of twisted stitches — this is where you have the most freedom to personalize. A few inches of ribbing at the top of the body, for instance, adds a lovely finished look and gives the fabric a bit of natural spring that helps the bag close neatly when you pull the drawstring.
Step Four: Creating the Drawstring Eyelets
The drawstring eyelets are small decorative holes worked into the fabric through which your cord or ribbon will pass. They are simple to make with a yarn-over and a decrease, and they add an attractive, intentional detail to the top of the bag.
Once your body measures 11 inches, work one round of the eyelet pattern as follows:
Eyelet Round: K2, yarn over, K2tog — repeat from asterisk to end of round.
This creates 15 evenly spaced eyelets around the top of the bag. If your stitch count does not divide evenly into groups of four, simply work the last few stitches as plain knit stitches and place your eyelets as evenly as you reasonably can. The spacing does not need to be mathematically perfect to look beautiful.
Step Five: The Drawstring Casing
After your eyelet round, you will work a short casing that folds down to encase the drawstring channel.
Work 6 more rounds in stockinette (knit every round) after the eyelet round. Then work 1 purl round — this creates a turning ridge that makes it easy to fold the casing down neatly to the inside of the bag.
Work 6 more rounds in stockinette. Bind off all stitches loosely using a stretchy bind-off such as the standard knit bind-off worked at a looser tension, or the Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off if you want extra ease at the top.
Fold the casing to the inside of the bag along the purl ridge and whipstitch the bound-off edge to the inside of the bag just below the eyelets, enclosing a drawstring channel. Leave the eyelets clear so the cord can pass through freely.
Step Six: Threading the Drawstring
Cut your drawstring cord to 40 inches. Using a large tapestry needle or a blunt safety pin, thread the cord through the eyelets all the way around the bag. Both ends of the cord will exit through the same eyelet — ideally the one positioned at the center front of the bag. Knot each end of the cord or add a small bead or toggle for decoration. Alternatively, you can use two separate cords threaded in opposite directions, with each end exiting on opposite sides of the bag. This gives you two separate ties that you can pull apart to open the bag.
Finishing Touches
Weave in all loose ends carefully using your tapestry needle. If your yarn tends to work loose, you can secure ends with a tiny dab of fabric glue on the inside of the bag where it will never be seen. Block your finished bag by hand-washing it in cool water with a small amount of gentle soap, pressing out the excess water in a clean towel, and reshaping it while damp so the base lies flat and the sides stand straight. Cotton yarn responds beautifully to wet blocking and your finished bag will look noticeably more polished once it has been through this process.
Tips for Customizing Your Lie-Flat Drawstring Bag
One of the most enjoyable aspects of this pattern is how adaptable it is. Here are some ideas for making the design your own.
Stripes: Self-striping yarn produces gorgeous results with almost no effort. You can also introduce color changes intentionally every few inches for bold, graphic horizontal stripes. Because the body is worked in the round, you will need to carry your unused color up the inside of the work or cut and weave in ends at each color change.
Stitch patterns: The body of the bag is a wonderful canvas for textured stitches. A simple basket weave pattern, a column of seed stitch, or a panel of cables knitted into the center front of the bag all look stunning and require only a small adjustment to your stitch count.
Size variations: To make a small notions pouch, cast on 9 stitches for the base and work to 3 inches, then pick up proportionally fewer stitches for the body and work to 6 inches. For an oversized bag large enough for a blanket project, cast on 24 stitches for the base and work a longer body.
Lining the bag: For a truly polished finish, cut a simple fabric lining from cotton quilting fabric and hand-stitch it to the inside of the bag. A lining protects your yarn from snagging on the knitted fabric and makes the bag much easier to wipe clean.
Yarn Recommendations
For the best results with this pattern, look for yarns with high cotton content and good twist. Paintbox Yarns Simply DK Cotton is an excellent budget-friendly option that comes in a wide range of colors and holds its shape wash after wash. Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton in worsted weight is widely available and exceptionally durable. For a more luxurious version of this bag, Cascade Ultra Pima or Quince and Co. Kestrel offer beautiful drape and stitch definition that will make your finished bag look truly special.
Caring for Your Finished Bag
Because this bag is most likely made from cotton or a cotton blend, it is machine washable on a gentle cycle in cool water. Turn the bag inside out before washing to protect the outer surface, and reshape it while damp. Air dry flat rather than in the dryer to preserve the structure of the base and prevent any shrinkage. With proper care, a well-knitted cotton project bag will last for years and may even become one of those beloved tools you reach for every single day.
Why Knitters Love This Project
A lie-flat drawstring bag knitting pattern sits in that sweet spot that experienced knitters know well — it is quick enough to finish in a weekend, practical enough to use every day, and simple enough to knit while watching television or sitting in a waiting room, yet interesting enough to hold your attention and give you something to be proud of when it is done. It makes a wonderful gift for knitter friends, a thoughtful handmade contribution to a yarn swap, or a personal project you keep entirely for yourself.
More than anything, there is a quiet delight in pulling out a bag you made with your own hands, setting it down on the table, watching it sit flat and sturdy and exactly as it should, and knowing that you made that. That is the kind of satisfaction that keeps knitters knitting, project after project, season after season — and a bag like this one is a beautiful place to carry it all.
Happy knitting, and may your yarn never tangle.
