It is once again time to make gift bags. Obviously, Christmas is coming and these types of gift bags make wrapping a breeze. I know many of you don’t celebrate Christmas. These bags are great for any holiday including birthdays, anniversaries, saints days, Hannukah and any other you can think up. I use them for most birthdays. There is always more fabric, after all.
The great thing about these bags is that they are reusable. The other great thing is that you can use ANY fabric; it doesn’t have to be quilting cotton. I have made some gorgeous bags from upholstery fabric I got from FabMo.
Supplies:
- Fabric – I use either a half yard, a yard or a fat quarter. If you use a yard you can make 4 smallish bags, two medium bags or one large bag. You can make bags with any size piece of fabric and you can make a specially sized bag for a special gift. I once made a gift bag for a weed whacker!
- thread
- ribbon- I often save ribbon from packages and other gifts and reuse it for gift bags.
- Sewing machine
- basic sewing kit
For this tutorial, we will use a fat quarter of fabric
1. If your fat quarter does not have a selvedge, create a hem using two folds so there are no raw edges. If your fat quarter has a selvedge, use the selvedge for the top. It won’t unravel.
2. Press hem in place.
3. Sew hem with a decorative stitch, if you have it, a zigzag or straight stitch work fine as well.
Optional: you can use embroidery to liven up or personalize the front of the bag.
Optional: If you have stitch letters on your sewing machine, stitch your name and the year so you know when you made the bag.
4. Fold hemmed bag in half WRONG SIDES TOGETHER so that half of the hem is underneath itself towards the top and the fold is on the left. You will be making a French seam.
5. Fold a piece of ribbon about 1.5 feet long in half. You can adjust the size of ribbon you use depending on how much ribbon you need to make a nice bow when you tie.
6. Place the folded ribbon in the open side of the bag about 4″ from the top edge/hem.
7. Pin ribbon in place.
8. Pin rest of the right side and bottom closed.
Use an 1/8″ seam allowance.
9. Starting from the top, sew down the right side, backstitching at the beginning and over the ribbon, 2-3 times. You want to backstitch at stress points to keep the bag from ripping apart.
10. Turn at the corner and continue across the bottom, backstitching at the end.
Optional: round the corner. It makes sewing and turning easier.
11. Turn the bag inside out, so the right sides are together and the ribbon is out of the way of the seam (It will be inside the bag, but I put mine as straight as possible towards the opposite side of the bag.
12. Press seams, taking care to push them as far out as possible so there is no extra fabric folded near the seams.
Use a 1/2″ or 5/8″ seam allowance.
13. Starting at the top, sew down the side and across the bottom again to finish the seam.
14. Open bag to make sure the raw edge is completely hidden inside the seam.
15. Turn bag inside out and press.
Voila! Your bag is really to use!
Many people ask about labels. I punch a hole in a gift tag and thread the ribbon through it. You can also buy basic tags with strings** or gift tags** and use those or stick a sticker onto the bag. I would recommend reusing gift tags. We do that, too.
Benefits:
- reusable
- reduces garbage
- good way to use fabric you might not use for quilts
- Novelty fabrics
- fabric you don’t love anymore
- Use fabric you already own
- orphan blocks
- vintage sheets
- Any fabric is suitable including velvet, brocade, knits, etc
- provides you with the opportunity to buy holiday fabric without committing to making a holiday (or birthday) quilt
- quick method for wrapping
- If you track fabric usage, this a good way to use fabric quickly
- no need to rush out to buy gift wrap
- no tape or scissors needed
- small children can help wrap, or wrap their own gifts
- Fabric costs can be amortized over the years of the gift bag use 😉
- bags are made quickly
- hems provide a good opportunity to try out decorative stitches
- can quickly make a gift bag for an oddly shaped gift, such as the weed whacker I mentioned
- odd sized bags can be cut up later and used for different sized gifts
- I reuse ribbon I get from other places for the ties
- Easy to open and close the gift bag up again if the gift tag falls off
- Embellishment possibilities are endless, if you want to take the time. Gift bags are a great way to try out different techniques, stitches, embroidery. embellishments or use orphan blocks
Drawbacks:
- takes time to develop a stockpile
- reusable gift bags have to be stored
- fabric costs are not insignificant
- You don’t get beautiful mounds of boxed gifts under your tree
Any gift bags you make will add to your stockpile. You can use leaders and enders to make them, which means that your regular sewing isn’t interrupted much .
Resources:
- In Color Order pattern (and some information from another post)
- Trim Tied Gift Bag Tutorial from A Quilter’s Table
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
