How to Make a Circular Christmas Gift Bag
Project Level: Easy
About Fabric Love
Established in 2015, we are a small, independent fabric shop in Colchester, Essex, UK dedicated to providing our customers with great quality, affordable fabrics along with fabulous customer service and super fast delivery!
With a combined wealth of over 50 years sewing experience between us, we have a real passion for what we do and enjoy sharing our love of sewing and crafting with our lovely customers!
Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year, it's also the most wasteful time of year.
The amount of wrapping paper thrown away at Christmas in the UK alone would stretch to the moon, according to estimates by recycling advisors WRAP. This, along with around one billion cards and enough tin foil to cover Suffolk, equates to a lot of rubbish generated over the festive period.
So what can you do? It's all well and good trying to re-use wrapping paper but that won't last.
What about making fabric bags? These will last and can be re-used indefinitely. This finished bag measures 26 x 14cms and has four pockets, not only do they look beautiful, it's a personal touch, they are sustainable, kinder to the environment and will keep non-recyclable paper out of landfill and incinerators.
By giving fabric wrapping to your friends and family you are spreading the ecological message and helping the environment. These bags are not just for Christmas! What's not to like?
You Will Need
- Sewing machine
- Fabric for bag 66 x 26cms
- Fabric for pockets 13 x 52cms
- Interfacing/Heat and bond
- Ribbon 0.5 x 60cms
- Iron & an ironing board
- Sharp scissors, pins, corresponding coloured thread
Recommended Fabrics & Notions
Instructions
Download the PDF pattern. Print the pattern ensuring you do not check the box on the print dialogue that says "Scale to Fit" or "Fit to Page" and check that the test box has printed at the correct size of 5cm.
Step 1.
How to Make Pockets
Turn a 1cm fold and iron the top of the pocket.
Turn again 1cm and press. this hides the raw edges.
Stitch along the top and bottom of the fold. Repeat for the other pocket.
Step 2.
Lay your main bag fabric the right way up and place your pocket on the lower edge, also right way up.
Pin then stitch the bottom of the pocket on the very edge of the fabric. This will tack it in place.
Next, fold your fabric in half vertically wrong side to wrong side and using your finger make a crease on the pocket fabric. This will divide the material and give pockets of equal size.
Open your fabric and pin the crease. Stitch from the bottom up going back wards and forwards to reinforce the top of the pocket.
Repeat for the other side of the bag.
Step 3.
Ensuring your pattern is the right way up, lay your pieces right side to right side and pin together.
Measure from the top down, 7.5cms and pin.
Measure from the top down, 9cms and pin. Repeat on the left side of the bag.
With 1.5cm seam allowance, stitch along the long edges of the bag leaving a 1.5cm gap in between the pins. This is the channel where you will thread the ribbon.
Trim the corners, zig-zag the raw edges and press open.
If you have a selvedge you don't need to do anything as this is an edge that won't fray.
Step 4.
How to Make the Base
Cut your circles and following the instructions, iron the Heat and Bond/Interfacing onto the wrong side of one piece. Place it wrong side up. This isn't a problem with plain fabric, only patterned.
Fold the other piece of material into quarters and press with your thumb along the folds.
Put this piece on top of the other circle and pin along the creases, dividing your base into four equal quarters.
Step 5.
With the body of your bag inside out, pin the base to the bottom of the bag.
Align the pocket stitching and bag seams to the pins. Secure the open edges with more pins.
Stitch around the base leaving a 1cm seam allowance. Trim the excess and zig-zag the raw edges. Press.
Step 6.
Keeping your bag inside out, fold the top over 1cm, press and stitch.
Turn the top edge again 4cms and press.
Turn your bag the right way round and pin the new fold to secure it. Straight stitch 2cms from the top of the bag.
Straight stitch 3.5cms from the top of the bag. Press.
Step 7.
Cut your ribbon in half and using a bodkin or a safety pin, push the ribbon through the right side until it comes back to it's original point.
You can tie a small knot in it but I prefer to zig-zag the edges together, its smoother and gives a professional finish.
Pull your secured ribbon into the draw string channel to hide the join.
Repeat for the left side.
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