I don't have much of a garden, just a few flower beds, but with what I do have I try to make the most of. Having had my attempts at growing veggies thwarted by slugs and unpredictable British weather, I have turned to fragrant easy to maintain shrubs and lots of bee friendly plants, Lavendar being a favourite.
It seems such a waste to throw all that beautiful fragrance into the garden waste, after pruning, so one year I harvested all the flowers with great intentions of making lavendar oil or soap but it sat in a box making one of my studio draws smell delicious for a year before eventually getting thrown away!
This year I decided to take a different approach and designed a small crochet drawstring favour bag to fill with the dried leaves and flowers. I'm forever trying to keep my winter wardrobe fresh throughout the summer and vice versa and lavender is the perfect solution so this is a two birds with one stone type of solution!
Lavender sachets also make great thoughtful (and quick!) gifts for those oh-so-hard-to-buy-for!
As if that wasn't enough, this project is also a great way to use up those bits of left over yarn which you're not sure what to do with. It's only a small project so only needs a small amount of yarn. You can use pretty much any fibre so it's a stash busting dream!
Aside from the beautiful scent, Lavender has many useful qualities and is used in hundreds of skincare and fragrance products as well as a relaxing essential oils. Lavender is known to be a sleep aid and is also thought to have anti-inflammatory and antiseptic healing properties. It is a natural relaxant so can also help calm anxieties and soothe restlessness.
Lets get started by making sure you've got your lavender ready.
I did some research and either the dried leaves or the flowers can be used to fill the bags so just make sure you get rid of all the sticks – you don't want those poking through the holes! So when you're pruning your bush, cut the flower heads, strip off the petals and strip the stalks off the leaves.
Leave these in a dark dry place for a few days to dry out. I harvested the flowers in September so the heads are already fairly dry (I wasn't going to cut them early and deprive the bees!). You can see this as the bright purple colour has faded.
If you're cutting fresh flowers, you'll need to give them a couple of weeks to dry out properly. The leaves in the picture above still need a little time.
Each bag takes around 20 minutes to make and you can find the free pattern here. It's a great project for a beginner crocheter so this would make a lovely afternoon teaching project.
You can use any yarn (around 10-15g) that you have in your stash and an appropriate hook. I would err on the smaller hook size to make sure there are no holes for the lavender petals to escape through. You'll be using US single crochet (UK double) all the way so it's a solid fabric.
To make the bag ties you can either use some of the same yarn or add some ribbon for a more finished look.
Click here for the free favour bag pattern.
Once you have your pouches made and your lavender is completely dried you are ready to use it to turn your bag into a beautiful smelling sachet.
To fill the bag you can use lavender on it's own or mix it with some toy stuffing(aff) to pad out the bag a little more. Some people also mix the lavender with oats to create a more weighty beanbag feel.
Fill the bag around three quarters full (you don't want it overflowing!) and once you're happy with it, pull the drawstrings tight to close and secure by tying the two ends together. I tied them once round the front and round the back.
And there you are! You sachet is ready for gifting or popping in your wardrobe or even under your pillow!
I hope you enjoy this project, please feel free to share on instagram, facebook or pinterest and spread the crochet love!
Thank you for the pretty project! I LOVE lavender…will have to give this a try.