Sewing Tent and Stake Bags

If you have a Dyneema tent and want to try sewing with the material, stuff sacks are a great first project. They're simple, hard to mess up, and a lot cheaper to make yourself than to buy. I sewed a drawstring bag for my tent body and a slim one for stakes.

Finished MYOG tent and stake bags laid out together

Materials

0.8 oz Dyneema® Composite Fabric (CT2E.08) or any lightweight fabric for the bag bodies
Micro cord (1.18mm) – for the drawstring closures
Duraflex Micro CordLock (2.5mm) - A cord lock for each bag
Seam tape (Optional) - e.g. UltraTNT PSa Tape or Dyneema Tape - to reinforce the channel and seams

Note

New to sewing your own gear? I keep a running list of the tools and supplies I find essential for projects like this one.

Sizing the bags

I sized each bag around the gear it needs to hold, with a little extra room so stuffing them isn't a fight. For the tent bag I measured the rolled tent body, then added 6 cm to the circumference and length for an easy fit. The stake bag is sized to my longest stake plus a couple of centimetres of headroom for the drawstring channel.

Measuring and marking the fabric panels for the tent and stake bags

Tip

Add a seam allowance to every edge before you cut — I used a 2 cm allowance. It's easy to forget and end up with a bag that's tighter than planned.

Cutting the panels

With the dimensions marked, I cut one rectangle for the body of each bag and a circular base panel for the tent bag. The stake bag is narrow enough to just pinch the bottom closed with a flat seam, so it doesn't need a separate base piece. A rotary cutter and a metal ruler give the cleanest, straightest edges on slippery fabric.

Cut fabric panels ready to be stitched into bags

Sewing the drawstring channel

Before closing up the body, I folded over the top edge about 1.5 cm to create a channel for the drawstring and secured it with a straight stitch, leaving a small gap at the side seam to feed the cord through.

Tip

Fold the raw edge under twice so it's fully enclosed. It keeps the channel from fraying and gives the stitch something solid to bite into.

Stitching the body

Next I folded the panel right sides together, clipped the edges in place, and ran a straight stitch down the side and across the base. I used a flat-felled seam to enclose the raw edges. DCF doesn't fray but a felled seam still adds a little strength and keeps the inside tidy. After stitching I turned the bag right side out.

Stitching the side and base seam of the bag

Finishing: drawstring and cord lock

To finish, I threaded the black micro cord through the channel, slid on a Duraflex cord lock, and tied simple overhand knots at each end to keep them from pulling back through. For the tent bag I ran two separate cords so the opening cinches evenly from both sides. The stake bag only needs a single drawstring since it's narrow enough to close cleanly from one side.

The finished tent and stake bags with drawstring closures cinched

Final thoughts

This is a good first sewing project if you want to start making your own gear. They're simple to put together, and you'll pick up the fundamentals along the way. The two bags together weigh under 20 g in 0.8 oz DCF.

Making your own version? Get in touch.

Thanks for reading!