We took the idea of a traditional closet/drawer sachet and super-sized it as a Great-4-Guys Valentine’s Day gift idea. You can make a simple pillow design or add a ribbon loop or ties so it can stash in the closet on the rod or a hanger. Our Valentine’s love letter fabric is another one of the great Japanese Kokka designs, courtesy of Callie at CityCraft. It would be so sweet if you typed up an actual love letter and tucked it in with a box of these sachets! We filled ours with aromatic cedar shavings, which is another reason for the larger size. Plus… cedar is a better choice for most guys over the more common rose or lavender sachet scents.

We took the idea of a traditional closet/drawer sachet and super-sized it as a Great-4-Guys Valentine’s Day gift idea. You can make a simple pillow design or add a ribbon loop or ties so it can stash in the closet on the rod or a hanger. Our Valentine’s love letter fabric is another one of the great Japanese Kokka designs, courtesy of Callie at CityCraft. It would be so sweet if you typed up an actual love letter and tucked it in with a box of these sachets! We filled ours with aromatic cedar shavings, which is another reason for the larger size. Plus… cedar is a better choice for most guys over the more common rose or lavender sachet scents.

Thanks to CityCraft online for providing the very cute Kokka fabric for this project. It comes in the gold tones we used as well as what they call “neutral” but what I would call blue/green.

Sewing Tools You Need

• Any Sewing Machine (we recommend the Janome Jem Gold Plus Trim and Stitch)

Fabric and Other Supplies

• ½ yard of 44-45″ wide home decor weight fabric, we used Typewriters in Gold fabric from the Ruby Star Shining collection by Melody Miller for Kokka Fabrics from CityCraft
  NOTE: Our sachet pattern is a 6½” x 5¾” cut size, and is specifically designed to take advantage of the very cute typewriter motif on this fabric. This motif is also the reason we are recommending ½ yard. This gives you a number of full rows from which to fussy cut. We easily made four sachets, and could have made more from this amount of fabric.
• For the optional ribbon hangers: ½ – 1 yard of ½ -⅝” wide ribbon for EACH sachet; we used a decorative ribbon we found in the remnant bin of our local fabric store. We love it because it looks like a sliver of wood.
• All purpose thread to match fabric
• Hand sewing needle
• Aromatic cedar chips 
  NOTE: We found ours in the pet supply section of our local variety store – very inexpensive and very fragrant
• Spoon
• See-through ruler
• Fabric pen or pencil
• Iron and ironing board
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Straight pins

Getting Started

1. Download and print the Typewriter Sachet template.
   IMPORTANT: You must print this ONE 8.5″ x 11″ PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page.
2. Fussy cut two typewriter images for each sachet using the template provided. You can do this two ways. One: cut out the template along the solid line. To find the center, fold the template in half top to bottom, then in half again side to side. Center the template on the fabric’s motif and draw a cut line around the outside.
   
3. Two: cut out the template along the solid line, but rather than using the template itself, use the ‘window’ left behind as your fussy-cutting guide. Center the window over your image, and draw your cut lines.
   

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

1. Pin one front and one back sachet piece right sides together. If using a directional print, like our Typewriter fabric, make sure both pieces are going the same direction.
   
2. Shorten your stitch length. This tighter stitch will provide a stronger seam for the ¼” seam allowance and also helps make sure none of the cedar shavings poke through.
3. Stitch, using a ¼” seam allowance, around all sides, leaving an approximately 3″ opening in the middle of one side. Leave the opening at the TOP if you are going to insert a ribbon for hanging.  Leave the opening at the BOTTOM if you are making a little pillow sachet. Our corners are slightly rounded, so you should curve around the corner rather than pivoting.
   
4. I like to start my seam about 1-2″ from a corner. I sew to that corner, around the corner, then stitch all the way around the next three sides. When I come around to the fourth and final corner, I stop about 1-2″ after I pass that corner. The one-to-two-inches-from-the-corner is a guesstimate. You simply want to leave an opening along the fourth side that is just large enough to fill the sachet with the cedar chips. The smaller the opening the better so there’s less hand sewing to do after your sachet is filled.
5. Turn the sachet cover right side out through the opening.
6. Gently push out and round the corners using your finger or a long tool with a blunt end, like a large knitting needle. Because of the narrow, ¼” seam, you should not need to clip the corner curves, but if you are having trouble getting a smooth curve, you can certainly make a few careful clips.
7. Press flat, making sure the opening turns in ¼” and is pressed flush with the rest of the seam.

Inserting the optional ribbon

1. Fold the sachet in half, side to side, to find the exact center along the top opening.
   
2. Place a pin at this point or mark with a fabric pen.
   
3. If you want to be able to tie the ribbon over a closet rod, you will need about 22″ of ribbon. If you’d rather make a clothes hanger loop, you will need about 10″ of ribbon.
4. For the clothes hanger loop, fold the 10″ length length of ribbon in half so the raw ends are flush.
5. Pull out the seam allowance at the opening so you can see the pressed crease.
6. Place the loop against the right side of the back of the sachet at the marked center point. The loop should be hanging down towards the middle of the sachet and the raw ends extending beyond the unfolded fabric edge by about ¾”.
   
7. Stitch the ribbon in place, using the pressed line of the opened seam allowance as a guide. The stitching should be just below this fold line within the seam allowance. Stitch back and forth several times to secure the ribbon.
   
8. Flip the ribbon up and the raw ends will drop inside the opening when you fold the seam allowance back into place.
   
9. For the longer tie-around-the-rod ribbons, fold the 22″ length of ribbon and attach it in the same manner as above, but with the looped end against the seam allowance and the raw ends free. Depending of your ribbon type, you can knot the ends, make a tiny hem in each end, or use a line of seam sealant to finish the raw ends.

Filling and closing

1. Carefully spoon the cedar shavings into the opening of the sachet. Don’t overfill, a pleasantly plump filling is what you’re going for.
2. Hand sew the seam closed behind the ribbon with a slip stitch. If you did not insert a ribbon, simply slip stitch the opening closed.
   
3. Use tiny stitches so none of the shavings poke out.

Project Design: Alicia Thommas 
Sample Creation and Instructional Outline: Kathy Andrews, What Sew Ever

Other machines suitable for this project include the Elna Sew Fun and the Baby Lock Molly.