Easy Gift Bags

Okay, so I know Christmas is over, but I have a few gift posts to share.  The first one, of course, is about some environmentally-friendly, reusable gift wrap that takes very little time to make!

So, ignore the Christmas fabric, and focus instead on all the cute scraps in your stash that could be made into easy gift bags!  The great thing is that these can be any size you want, so start stash-busting!

Start with a rectangle of fabric, and fold each of the short ends over about an inch and iron.

Then stitch, about 3/4 inch to an inch away from the top.  This will make the casing for your drawstring.

 Then, fold your bag in half, right sides together, and stitch up each side until you get to the casing.  Do not stitch the casing shut!

 Once you do that, it should look like this.  Then, just flip your bag right side out, and pull a string through the casing.  Ta-da!  Easy gift wrap, in less than 10 minutes!

And yes, I forgot to take a picture of the end result.   So, I will provide you with a photo from the Easy Christmas Crafts website!

Christmas Stockings!

Well, this year I wanted to give my husband lots of candy and peppermint patties (his favorite), and what better way to do that than to stick it in his stocking?  Unless you don't have a stocking.  Thank goodness I can sew!  I used some vintage fabric given to me by a family member to create enough stockings for a family 4 pack!

On to the quickie tutorial:  First, cut out two outer and two lining pieces of your stocking.  I just surfed the web until I found a pattern that worked and used that for my stocking design.  Then cut two each of the cuff for the stocking.

Then, stitch cuff outer and cuff inner pieces together, and iron in half.

 Next, stitch the rough edges of your cuff to the right side of the stocking outer pieces.

 Then, stitch the outer stocking pieces together around the sides, right sides together.  Do not stitch the top!  Then, stitch the lining pieces to each other in the same manner.

Now, stuff the outside into the liner, with the right sides together.  Stitch around the top, leaving a few inches open.  Then turn the stocking inside out through that opening.

Once turned, iron the stocking, and topstitch!

The finished stockings, with ample room for a couple bags of peppermint patties!