Craft: Get it pegged

Craft Peg Bag. Photo / Supplied

This is the kind of project that can give craft a bad name and yet here I am promoting the virtues of a peg bag made from a tea-towel and an old coat hanger. There are times when utility prevails and what this craft dalliance lacks in panache it certainly makes up for in common sense and outright convenience.

Having never paid a great deal of attention to my peg set-up I was always aghast that people paid money for special hanging plastic peg baskets; isn't that what ice-cream containers were invented for? Admittedly, they don't hang unless modified but what's a few back bends between the first load of washing for the week and the last.

Actually, as it turns out those back bends are quite debilitating and having your pegs hanging from the line is nothing short of a life saver.

No wonder this tea-towel hanger arrangement has been around since the Ark.

Twee is a word that springs to mind when I look at my efforts here.

Probably my choice of high 70s graphic didn't help but, like beauty, affectation is in the eye of the beholder.

What's more, with a little care and attention a peg-bag like this is designed to last many a washday and it doesn't take a great deal of effort to make.

Step 1 - You will need a child's size coat hanger. If you haven't got one you can customise an old wire one instead. Simply cut the horizontal wire at the mid-section with wire cutters. Adjust the ends with pliers and push the horizontal sections together so they overlap. Secure the ends with gaffer tape.

Step 2 - Lay tea-towel right-side down. Fold over a 2-3cm hem on the top and bottom edges and press with the iron. Then fold down the top edge by one-third and fold up the bottom edge to meet it. Ensure that the top section will cover the coat hanger and adjust if necessary. Cut a small hole/slit in the top fold where the coat hanger head will emerge. Blanket stitch the edge of the hole if desired. Decide what shape you want the bag to be and make a paper template that follows the line of the coat hanger at the top and whatever shape you want at the bottom. Factor in a 1.5cm seam allowance. Pin template to folded tea-towel and cut.

Step 3 - Remove template and turn cut tea-towel to wrong side. Pin side seams and sew together. Turn to right side, poke out seams and press. Re-insert coat hanger through hole at the top. To prevent excess gaping at the opening, sew edges of gap together at the ends by a few centimetres if necessary. Topstitch edges of opening with machine or by hand using embroidery thread if desired.

Materials/tools
• Tea-towel
• Coat hanger
• Sewing machine
• Pins
• Fabric scissors
• Needle and thread
• Paper, pencil and paper scissors
• Iron
• Wire cutters
• Pliers
• Gaffer tape