Homemade Sachets

How To Make Sachets

Create Lemon or Lavender Homemade Sachets Adapted from Gifts for Herb Lovers by Betty Oppenheimer (Storey Books, 1997).

Once you begin to create sachets, you'll probably find them irresistible. You'll need to purchase a few ingredients, such as the fixative and the oils, but the rest can be grown in your garden. Bags to hold the ingredients can be made from scrap material and kept ready to use whenever the spirit moves you to make a batch of potpourri.

MATERIALS

For each bag, finished size 4" x 2-1/2"

6" x 6" piece of tightly woven fabric (cotton or silk is classic)

Sewing thread

Ribbon

Rubber band (optional)

1. Turn under (toward wrong size) and press 1/2", then 1" of fabric on one edge, and stitch 1/8" in from the bottom of the hem (or 7/8" down from top edge of hem).

2. With right sides facing, fold the bag in half and stitch 1/2" from edge on the two raw edges.

3. Clip the raw-edged corner and turn the bag right-side out. Press seams.

FILLING THE BAGS

4. If your fabric is not tightly woven, make inner bags, using a double layer of cheesecloth, but make the bags 2" x 2-1/2".

5. Fill the bags (or inner bags) about 2/3 full with sachet mix, about 3 tablespoons.

6. Tie a ribbon around the bag, around the seam line from the hem. If the ribbon is not secure enough, fasten the bag closed with a rubber band first, then hide the rubber band with the ribbon.

Fillings

Keep the fillings in a glass jar with an airtight lid and age them for several weeks before using. This allows the oils and fixative to blend, and for all the scents to meld. These recipes make large batches -- enough to make several. You can store any extra filling in the jar for later use.