Creating my way to Success: gift wrapping

Showing posts with label gift wrapping. Show all posts

Patchwork Gift Bag from Fabric Scraps

Challenge number 6 for the 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges was to make some gift wrapping from fabric scraps.

I have a lot of fabric scraps - all boxed up according to colour. So I grabbed a selection from my green and red boxes.

And ironed them so they were easier to cut!

My scraps are lots of odd shapes - few big enough for a bag in themselves, so I decided to use patchwork to make use of all those smaller and odd shaped scraps!

And here's how to make a simple patchwork gift bag from fabric scraps.

Cut lots of squares of a selection of fabrics, 6 x 6 cm (2.5 x 2.5")

For the smaller sized bag I made you will need 50 squares.

Arrange your squares 5 across by 10 down in whatever pattern you choose.

Sew each row of 5 squares together - one by one, right sides facing.

Then press all your seams open.

And join the rows together one by one, matching up the seams with the right sides facing together.

Now you have the main outer part of your bag. Cut another piece of fabric the same size as this,

(should be approx 24 x 46 cm) (9.5 x 18").

Fold both pieces in half along the long side, right sides of the fabric together to form 2 basic bag shapes. Stitch up the sides of each 'bag'.

In the inner fabric, leave a gap of about 10 cm (4") on one side seam to turn the bag right sides out at the end.

For the outer fabric, leave two gaps near the top of each side seam - about 1 cm (0.5") from the top and about 2 cm (1") wide. This is for the casing for the drawstring.

Now leave your outer bag piece inside out, but turn your inner piece right sides out and push it inside the outer bag. So both 'right sides' should be facing each other.

Pin then stitch all the way around the top of the bag.

Reach inside your bag and turn the bag right sides out through the gap in the inner bag piece.

Then stitch the gap closed.

Your outer and inner bag pieces are now joined. All that remains is the casing and drawstring!

Push the inner bag inside the outer bag.

Now stitch around the top of the bag in two rows, one on either side of the casing gaps you left in the side seams of the outer bag.

Cut two pieces of string or ribbon for your drawstring that are a little more than double the width of your bag.

Use a large safety pin to thread each drawstring through the casing all the way around, one from each side of the bag.

You can leave your drawstring ties with just a knot, or add a small scrap of fabric like I have here to encase it which makes it a little neater and also prevents the knot from becoming untied!

And there you have a patchwork gift bag - reusable eco-friendly wrapping for a Christmas gift!

I'd cut so many squares when I first started to make this bag, that I had enough left over to make another bag. The second one was a little bigger than the first!

For the free downloadable PDF version of this tutorial, click here.

-----------------------------------------------------------

This tutorial is in answer to challenge 6 of the 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges. To make gift wrapping from your fabric scraps. If you have a project that fits this challenge then please do enter it into our linky party here - open until Christmas!~

For 12 days starting on November 2nd we will set a challenge a day to create something for Christmas using just the resources you have on hand.
The idea is to show that Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth. If you're reading this, chances are you love to craft, but why not craft with the resources we have on hand - let's get creative!

Each day a challenge will be set by means of a video and blog posts giving some suggested ideas and crafts. These posts will also contain a linky party for anyone and everyone who wants to join in to link up their projects - both past and present, that answer the challenge. The linky party can be found on all our blogs and we'll try and come up with different ideas and tutorials for the challenges too. So please to visit us all, and then share your ideas with us as well! We're looking forward to seeing how these challenge are met!

Ready, Steady....Let's Christmas Craft!

The 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges is brought to you by

Jill @ Creating my way to Success
Vicky @ Vicky Myers Creations
Anna @ Tea and a Sewing Machine
Pam @ Threading My Way
Anne @ Domesblissity

Previous Challenges
Challenge 1 - Upcycle old clothes to Christmas Decoration
Challenge 2 - Make a Christmas Gift from a pair of old jeans
Challenge 3 - Make a fun Christmas snack - use what you've got
Challenge 4 - Make a Christmas Card from a cereal box
Challenge 5 - Make a Christmas Decoration from something in your shed

Easiest ever fabric gift bag tutorial - an upcycle

Last week I upcycled an old nightie into a fabric origami gift bag. This used up the majority of the fabric in the nightie, but there was still a little left over - plus a pair of small PJ shorts to be upcycled too.

So I was looking for something to make with the smaller scraps - and decided to make some little gift bags. Some small ones, some even smaller ones and some teeny weeny ones. This was also an opportunity to try and use something else I'd saved a pile of with the idea I might upcycle them one day...

Yes, bread tags!

They can't be recycled, so I was looking for something constructive to do with them rather than just throw them away!

A little nail varnish jazzes them up a bit!

You could make these bags any size you want - for giving small gifts like earrings, or treats like sweeties. They would be perfect to use as Birthday Party bags - made with fabric scraps to just the size you want.

Here's how to make the easiest ever fabric gift bag:

1. Cut a rectangle of fabric.

2. Fold in half - wrong sides together and stitch down the sides. Trim the seams.

3.Turn inside out and stitch down the sides again. This is a French Seam and means your raw edges are now hidden and won't fray or look messy.

4. Turn right sides out and trim the top with Pinking Shears to stop the fabric fraying.

5. Seal your bag using a bread tag!

And there you have one teeny tiny gift bag - perfect for a small gift or treat!

Make lots for all your friends!

Make them different sizes!

And from different fabric! How about a Halloween treat bag?

So there is a way to use up some fabric scraps and bread tags - things that might otherwise get thrown away, use what you've got!

These bags would be a great way to make a whole batch of bags for a party or treat bags for a special occasion. The supplies you need are easy to come by - and can cost nothing!

For the free downloadable PDF version of this tutorial, click here.

For more ideas for using the supplies you have on hand to craft and create with, check out my

Use What You've Got page.

Or if it's sewing tutorials you're interested in, I have over 100 Free Sewing Tutorials for making all manner of things and for all levels of sewing ability. Check them out here.

Stashbusting start

This week I've made a start on my massive fabric stashbusting challenge for the year.

I'm still catching up from our big holiday and getting the girls back to school, so I wanted to start with something easy.

I sorted my fabric at the end of last year and worked out a rough plan of what to make with things.

This pile of fabrics is ones I'm not so fond of.

I decided to use them to make some fabric wrapping clothes (furoshiki) and fabric gift bags.

I have a wrapping box full of left over gift wrapping paper, ribbons, gift bags, old cards to be used as tags - and also some wrapping clothes. We try to keep our gift wrapping environment friendly!

So now we have some more wrapping cloths:

Some simple gift bags which can be tied with ribbons or scrap fabric:

And also a couple of gift tote bags.

At least now this fabric can be put to use, and also prettied up with ribbons, colourful scrap ties - and I also plan to make plenty fabric flowers from my scrap fabric that can be added to our gift wrapping box.

All in all a good start to my stash-busting!

I just need to keep chipping away at the pile - a little each week!

Have you done any stash-busting lately?

Jill

Use what you've got - gift wrapping

Last weekend we were invited to a Christening and a Wedding.

It was a stunning sunny day, and the beach wedding was just beautiful - under the palm trees at the water's edge..

We bought the gifts to take - a cute cuddly dragon for the baby, and some Champagne and glasses for the happy couple.

But how to wrap them?

I didn't want to buy any wrapping paper that would then be thrown away. I like to wrap gifts in a more eco-friendly way and use something that can be part of the gift itself.

So, I had a look through my fabric stash - wanting to

'Use what I've got'

For the cuddly dragon, I found a piece of cute baby fabric.