2008 December

Did you know that most wrapping paper cannot be recycled? Because of tape, dyes, and the poor quality of the paper most recycling plants do not accept wrapping paper. Fabric gift bags are a wonderful alternative.

Fabric gift bags are so easy to make. They are also inexpensive and can be used over and over again. Here is a quick tutorial on how to make one yourself. If you have basic sewing skills this will be a snap.

Choose your fabric, wash and iron it. Decide how large you want your bag to be. I wanted a bag that was 12 inches wide and about 15 inches tall. I folded my fabric in half and then cut, adding an extra 1/2 inch for seams.

Putting right sides together sew up your sides.

If you want to finish your bag serge or zig zag along the edge of the seam. This will keep the bag from fraying if it is washed. You could also use pinking shears and cut along the edge.

Fold the top of the bag down 1 inch. The bag should still be inside out. Press, so it stays in place and you don’t have to pin anything. You can also fold it once and then again which will give you a nice finished edge as well. I was lazy so I used the overlock machine.

Stitch around the fold.

Turn your bag inside out, actually I guess it is right side out and press one more time.

Put your gift in the finished bag and fold over the top.

Tie a ribbon around the bag.

This project took me about 15 minutes and that included taking the pictures. It is truly a beginner project. Remember you don’t have to use this tutorial for Christmas, you can wrap gifts in fabric bags all year round.

Have you entered my giveaway for the Motivated Moms 2009 Planner? Click here to enter! The giveaway ends Sunday.

I posted this tutorial about a million years ago, okay not really, but before Mother’s Day. If you are a beginning sewer and need a last minute, cute idea for a gift try making a place mat purse. A place-mat purse is an easy, inexpensive gift that you can make even if you have little or no sewing experience. I noticed last night that cute Christmas place-mats are already on clearance at Target.

A fellow blogger read this tutorial and made a similar purse without using her machine. Click here to see her great purse!
I posted this tutorial before, but here it is again for those who missed it the first time.

Step one- get a place-mat

Step two- fold the place mat right sides together and sew up the sides as close to the edge as you can, as a side note, start sewing at the opening of the place mat so you are sure it is lined up correctly

both sides sewn together

Third step- fold the bottom part of each side of the place-mat into a triangle, measure and mark each side. I usually make the triangle about 2 inches long

then sew across the triangle

Check both side to make sure they are the same size.

Admire your work so far…

I hope this picture helps show the triangle part a little better.

Time to attach the handles, I purchased these at JoAnn’s.

I use quilt binding to attach the handles. It is pretty strong and doesn’t fray.

Cut four pieces of binding the same length. Attach each piece to the loop on the handle.

Then attach the handles to the purse. Measure the purse so that the handles line up. Most place-mats have a seam that runs right along the edge of the mat. This a great place to sew your handle on because the stitching for the handle blends in.