I thought I'd give you a little last minute cloth gift bag tutorial using my Bitty bag from the kiddie cornhole game we made. A last minute tutorial, just in time for a last minute gift. It really does go together pretty quick so you should be able to whip up a few before the gift giving begins.
To start with you'll need,- Some scraps of Christmas or other fabric.
- Something round to trace, (like the lid of your powdered sugar container maybe, sugary bits removed of course, sticky fabric is no fun.)
- 5/8" wide, or other size, slippery ribbon in a coordinating color.
- Water soluble marker or pencil (or a regular pencil if yours is lost in a box full of broken crayons, un-sharpened colored pencils and cap-less markers because the kids keep snagging it.)
- Fabric scissors.
- Some rockin Christmas tunes. (I just love all the scruffy beards in cute elf costumes and Santa hats.)
First, trace and cut the circle out of your main fabric choice. Mine is about 5" across. This will be the bottom of the bag. Then, using the same fabric as the circle cut two rectangles wide enough to go around the circle about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 times and about 6" tall, mine are 24" x 6".
Next, cut and sew together random squares and rectangles from the scrap pile until you have enough to reach across the large rectangle, 24" in our example. This bag has no lining so all those raw edges will just be hanging out in there. You may want to serge or zigzag over them so they look neat. Trim the strip to about 2" tall and attach it to the rectangle to create the cute band at the top of the bag.
Sew the short ends together to make a tube. Then add a gathering stitch across the bottom, the end without the cute band. Use the longest stitch on your machine and don't back stitch.
Leave long threads and pull them to create a slight gather and make it fit around the circle. Pin and sew.
Next, you take the remaining rectangle from the first step and sew the short ends of it together. Mark and then sew two button holes 1 1/4", or about a quarter of the way in from the raw edge, on either side of the band. This is for the ribbon handles/ties so make sure they are wide enough to fit your ribbon through.
Fold the top piece in half and iron. Pin and sew, right sides together, the top of the bag to the cute band on the bottom part of the bag, lining up the seams. (buttonholes should be on the outside of the bag when done.)
Now you need to make the casing for the ribbon, Just topstitch around the bag the width of the buttonholes. Thread the ribbon through the bag twice so that when the ribbons are pulled on either side it will cinch up the bag (this is where the slippery kind of ribbon is useful).
Fill with surprises for good little boys and girls, put it under the tree and your done!
They look a little like Santa's packs I think. Wouldn't it be cute to make some with red velvet and some white faux fir trim?
The measurements in this tutorial are for the large bag. For the medium I used a 4" circle and 19"x 5" rectangles and for the small a 3" circle with 15"x 4" rectangles, although I'd go another half inch or so smaller on the height for the smallest. Please let me know if anything is unclear or if you have any questions.
Happy Sewing!
