Re-usable Gift Bags

I was recently invited to a Valentine's Tea Party by the 3-year old granddaughter of a friend.  I was instructed to wear red and pink!  And of course you have to take a little gift.  Since I had to make a new top for myself - not having any pink or red in my wardrobe - I decided to use the rest of the bold fabric to make leggings for the hostess and her little sister.  But now I needed a gift bag.

A few years ago, treading lightly on the earth became of more importance to my family.  We no longer buy gift bags or wrapping paper as they can't be recycled.  Instead we make gift bags from fabric which just pass around the family.

I get my fabric from a number of sources and always look for bargains.  My number one place to look for fabric is my local thrift store.  You can often find quilting cotton there.  After Christmas, my local fabric store puts their Christmas fabric on at least 50% off - and sometimes more.  Then I check out the sales and can usually find something suitable there.  And sure enough, I had some pink cotton with hearts on it - perfect!

Making the bag is always a very quick process.  I start by cutting the size I need - in this case I cut my two layers of fabric 11" by 18" which gave me enough to hold the two pairs of leggings and have a flap to fold over.

After a quick iron, I put right sides together and stitched the sides and bottom on my serger.  Since this is a "quick and dirty" project, when I reached one corner I serged a little off the edge, then lifted the foot and slid the next raw side under.  One side of my bag was cut on the fold, so I just ran the serger a few stitches off the end and cut the chain.

You will have a a tiny loop in the corner, but it won't have an impact on how the bag looks or wears.  Leave the tails in place.

Serge around the raw edge at the top of the bag.

Back to the iron, I pressed the bag again and took it to my sewing machine.  I just folded the edge over and stitched through the serged edge.  There's no need to pin in place, just use your eye.

In approximately 10 minutes I had a bag that was ready to go.  After putting the leggings inside, I simply folded the bag top over.  There are lots of ways you can make it more festive - wrap it with a ribbon, pin an inexpensive broach on it, secure it with a gold safety pin, thread a cord through the fold over channel - the only limit is your imagination.  And think of all the wrapping paper you've saved from the landfills!