How to Make a Lavender Sachet

by Three Dogs in a Garden

Winter means doors are closed and windows are shut tight. Freshen your wintery interior with a homemade lavender sachet.

how to make a lavender sachets, crafts, gardening, how to

Didn't grow any Lavender last summer? No problem! You may be able to find Lavender flower buds at a local store that are already scented and ready for use. Whole Foods, for instance, sells bags of lavender flowers in their cosmetics department. All you need do in this case, is to fill your sachets.

Lavender flowers are also available for purchase online. With minimal effort, I was able to find an Ontario source for Lavender buds in a matter of minutes: Weir's Lane Lavender Farm (link in my blog post). I am sure if you poke around a bit more, you'll find plenty of other alternates.

A Brief Note on Essential Oils: Not all Essential Oils are created equally. Look for a good quality oil that is 100% pure and has no added ingredients. You can find essential oils at health food stores and there are a multitude of online sources.

Last summer I purchased a lavender plant and nurtured it through the summer. By the end of the season, I had a small harvest of lavender buds.

I love the fresh scent lavender can add to fine linens and lingerie, so I decided to make a small number of sachets with my modest haul of lavender. But when I looked online, I couldn't find a recipe suitable for a small quantity of lavender. So I made one up.

This post is the result of my experiment.

Materials you will need to make a sachet:

Sachet bags (I found sheer white satin bags at Michaels.)

Ribbon flowers (Again, I found these at the craft store.)

Needle and white sewing thread

Scissors

Paper bag (This will be used to cure the lavender.)

Blue ribbon (If you plan to hang the sachet.)

Orris Root Powder (Orris Root Powder is a natural fixative that helps the lavender flowers retain their fragrance. Look for Orris Root Powder at your local health food store.)

Lavender flowers

Lavender Essential Oil and an eyedropper ( Essential oil can be found at your local health food store and online.)

If you would like to grow and dry lavender in the future, it is best to harvest it when the buds are out, but the flowers are not open. Cut the lavender flowers at the base of the stem just above the foliage.

Fasten small bunches of lavender together with an elastic band. An elastic band is preferable to string because, the elastic band will adjust and tighten as the stems shrink during the drying process. (Note: The elastic band should be taunt, but not so tight that it crushes the stems.)

Hang your lavender upside to dry in a cool, dark place. (Sunlight will cause the flowers to fade and lose their color.)

Lavender will dry in 2 to 4 weeks.

Once the lavender is dry, you can remove the buds and begin to make your sachets.

Before you begin, it is a good idea to lay down a sheet of parchment or wax paper to catch the falling flower buds.

The buds on a stem of lavender turn upward. To strip the buds from the stem, I found it best to run my hand in the opposite direction. Simply run your fingers down the stiff stem and the flowers should come away pretty easily. The dried flowers will retain a faint scent.

The next step will enhance the fragrance.

Gather the flowers into a small bowl. I had exactly 1/4 cup of flowers. Adjust this recipe depending on the quantity of flower buds you have available.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Orris Root and stir it into the lavender flowers. Natural Orris Root is a fixative used by the perfume industry. It will help the lavender flowers to hold the scent you are going to add next.

With an eyedropper add 3 drops of lavender essential oil. Mix in the essential oil with a spoon.

Pour you lavender flowers into a paper bag. I ended up using a parchment paper bag that generally has culinary uses. (Note: the bag must be paper, which will allow the lavender to breathe. Don't use a plastic bag!)

Mark the outside of your bag and tuck the bag alway in a dry place to allow the lavender to cure for 2 weeks.

Once the lavender has cured, you are ready to assemble your sachets. Sew a little flower onto the front of your sachet just below the drawstring. I found these ribbon flowers at the craft store.

Fill your sachet with lavender and pull the drawstrings to close it. Tie the bag's drawstrings into a bow.

Your sachet is ready to place in your linen or lingerie drawer. It should keep your fine linens smelling fresh for a couple of months.

Lavender sachets can also be used to freshen a room. I like to hang a sachet on the back of a bedroom or bathroom door.To make this sachet modification is easy. There are instructions on my blog.

Tour a garden filled with lavender and heather on my blog. There are also tips for growing lavender in this post.

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3 of 15 comments

Tanya Glover on Jan 12, 2016
My favorite site for ordering organic lavender essential oils and products is hoodriverlavender.com. They distill their oils on site and no additives.

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- Three Dogs in a Garden on Jan 13, 2016
  @Tanya Glover Thanks for the letting us know!
  
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Dana on Jan 13, 2016
I have found a great way to have your home-grown rosemary year-round. if you know your plant will die back in the winter, cut the branches back to the main stem- rinse and clip each branch into smaller pieces, then put the smaller cut pieces into ice cube trays. once frozen store the frozen cubes in baggies in the freezer. this way you have your home grown fresh rosemary year round. I also use my rosemary when cooking lamb, and also in spritzers for our pet spray. I mix lavender oil and add fresh rosemary in a spray bottle, and store it in the fridge for those hot days to spray our canine baby down.

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