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fabric gift bag with a twist

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I can’t believe it’s been over three years since I made my gift bag resolution. Since then I’ve been reusing bags we have been given and making bags when I need them. The only bags I’ve purchased are plain kraft bags. Wow. I impress myself.

Although I like the practice, I’ve been rethinking the drawstring gift bag lately, and wondering if I could do more with it. The whole point of making a simple gift bag is that it’s simple. I don’t make a lining or finish the inside edges aside from serging. If it takes too much time to make, I won’t do it.

Most of the bags I make are for kids’ gifts, so I started to think, “What kind of bag would be most fun for both boys and girls?” The answer I came up with was the drawstring backpack.

However, while that pattern isn’t hard, it’s not simple either. I wanted to stick with my no lining, serged edges policy. The result is essentially a drawstring bag with straps: when making a regular drawstring bag, add bottom loops when seaming up the sides and make the drawstrings longer. It’s almost too easy.

I used all four threads on my serger to make the seams extra sturdy and reinforced the stitches by the loops. It’s a gift bag, not a rugged backpack, but you never know what kinds of things a child will want to carry around.

stash: Batman fabric in my stash was free. I think it came from a friend of a friend. It was an odd shape, clearly leftover from some other project. It took some creative thinking to get two nice-sized pieces out of it. White cotton twill tape originally bought to make labels for myself, but they didn’t work out.

oops! I just realized you can’t see the bottom loops in the photo. They are the same as the loops over here.

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home ec class: handmade reusable gift bag

I’m only on my second project and I’m already not following the directions. That didn’t take long! In my defense, it was because I wanted to learn something new.

home ec class handmade fabric drawstring gift pouch

The project calls for a hand-sewn buttonhole, but I already know how to do that. I’m embarrassed to say, however, that I didn’t know how to use the buttonhole setting on my machine. How I managed to tackle zippers, but avoid buttonholes is beyond me. It’s so easy.

home ec class handmade fabric drawstring gift pouch

I also put a few stitches at the back of the casing to keep the ribbon from sliding out. That’s because this will probably go to my daughter for storing her magformers.

stash: Fabric from fat quarter bundle. Matching ribbon from somewhere else completely. They coordinate really well, though!

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gift bag resolution

After my daughter was born, we had a huge supply of gift bags. Most of them were pink, but we had our fair share of gender neutral and holiday bags, too. It’s been over three years, but I’m almost finished using them for gifts.

Honestly, it felt like my stash would never be gone. When I got close to the end of my pile, I started thinking about how I would wrap presents in the future. I did a little bit of research on the web and found some startling statistics about gift wrap.

Wrapping paper, from an ecological point of view, is a pretty worthless use of trees. Each year in the United States, 4 million tons go from logs to landfills to make wrapping paper and holiday shopping bags, according to the Clean Air Council, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization.

Once I got past the shock of 4 MILLION TONS EACH YEAR I read something even more unsettling. You know how some people throw wrapping paper into their fireplace?

Decorative wrapping paper, much of which is made in countries such as China that have looser environmental regulations, can contain lead, synthetic inks, plastic film, chlorine or metal-based foils, which release toxic and carcinogenic compounds into the air when burned. Metallic paper may or may not have a greater environmental footprint than other types, but it’s certainly not meant to be inhaled. Who’s most vulnerable to this indoor pollution? Children, whose systems are still developing.

You may be able to recycle gift wrap depending on where you live, but metallic accents, glitter and too much tape can make them un-recyclable. Plus, if it’s unsafe to burn, is it really safe for your child to be tearing it apart?

handmade fabric gift bag

So, I’ve resolved to only use fabric gift bags and plain recyclable paper going forward. I really like how my first fabric birthday bag turned out. Does anyone want to make this resolution with me? There are some great ideas to inspire you over at That Little Bit Greener.

resource: Quotes taken from this Washington Post article.

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handmade gift bag that’s also a gift

Yesterday we went to John Deere-themed birthday party for a four-year-old boy. My husband asked, “could we just buy a gift? Does everything have to be handmade? Can’t we get something from the store?” I agreed, as long as we didn’t buy him an actual tractor toy. I figured every four-year-old boy must have at least some kind of tractor, right? How would we know what to get? What if someone gets him the same tractor? Let’s get him some books about tractors instead. And maybe some tractor stickers, too. As my husband bought into my reasoning, I was secretly planning a handmade, tractor-themed, re-usable gift bag.

reusable gift bag

I admit I was planning to buy some John Deer fabric to make this. Just before I left the house, I decided to dig through my stash and I found two fat quarters of tractor-green fabric! I think it’s a polyester blend and it feels way more durable than quilting cotton. I figured I could make my own tractor-themed artwork with my new hobby.

tractor embroidery

In the end, my husband and I were both happy with our gift. I hope my daughter’s friend will be, too.

recycle: I bought a big stack of colored cloth napkins at a garage sale awhile ago. I think they were napkins. They kind of feel like the fabric used to make restaurant napkins, except they were every color of the rainbow and only a few matched. Whatever they used to be, they are nice and sturdy. I think they’ll be great for storing all kinds of tractors and trucks.

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easy backpack with bias tape straps

My daughter starts preschool next week and she needed a backpack. I asked her if she’d like me to make one for her and she said YES!

I let her choose fabric from my stash and helped her with coordinating the colors. I really like how it turned out and she loves it. My only problem is getting her to wear it. Right now, she just wants to carry it by the straps.

martha stewart easy beach bag

I used Martha’s Easy Beach Bag pattern with a few modifications:
• inside is canvas instead of nylon
• inside has two pockets
• used fabric instead of cord for the straps
• serged the raw edges inside

drawstring back pack with lining

Drawstring Strap How-to:
Feed strips of denim through a 1-inch bias tape maker, fold the tape in half and stitch it together. Once threaded through the loops, sew the ends together because they’ll be too thick to knot.

drawstring back pack with lining

stash: This is one of those occasions that I love having a stash of fabric. It’s so easy to dive right into a project when the motivation strikes! Plus, using a thrifty stash is so affordable. I’m guessing this cost less than $2 to make. Sweet!

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custom cashmere sweater bag

Remember the little peek I gave you of the custom cashmere bag? It’s finished!

drawstring sweater bag

It’s based off of Simplicity 3531. My friend gave me the pattern to let me know what she wanted. Problem with working with sweaters, though, is that the sweater dictates the pattern, not the other way around. I was worried that it might not turn out exactly how she wanted.

cashmere sweater tote

I think it looks better than ones pictured on the envelope. I was most concerned about the drawstring, but the cashmere ruffles up nicely.

sweater purse

I like it so much, I’m thinking about making a few more.

refashion: custom bag for a friend, sweater was thrifted, she provided the coordinating fabric

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a million little pieces

Ok. That’s a little bit of an exaggeration. I’m talking about all of the Christmas toys that come with too many pieces and nothing in which to store them. I have to give a thumbs up to the folks who designed M’s drum. They put a handle on it, so you can turn it upside down and store the drumsticks and other instruments inside. Brilliant!

Her awesome eco-friendly tea set could have used an awesome eco-friendly tote or basket, though. And it would have been great if her cute wooden “paper” doll set came with a cute wooden lid. Plus, there is the growing collection of matchbox cars and Thomas trains. I needed to get control over all these bits and pieces, so I sewed up a bunch of drawstring bags last weekend.

These were super easy and economical. I bought the set of fat quarters from Michael’s with my 50% off coupon, the ribbon came from a thrift store and the muslin lining came from one of my amazing garage sale fabric scores last summer. Total for all of the bags: about $4. I love these so much, I’m thinking of making some for my knitting projects. M thinks they’re pretty cool, too.