How To Make a Little Gift Bag!.....250 Days To GO!!!!

Well 250 is a nice neat little number, isn't it? Half of 500...115 days down. Goes pretty fast! I'm taking a break mid-finals to do a little tutorial, inspired my my Christmas preparation.  I've whipped up these little bags since I was in middle school. This year, some ladies in my life are getting these little bags stuffed with some nice goodies! (but I won't tell what they are in case any of those ladies read this:)).

First, the particulars....I picked out 2 fabrics (on my challenge it's ok to get fabric stuff if not for clothes, because I can't spend any money on clothes blah blah blah!). I just got 1/8 yard of each of the 2 fabrics I picked. So, the fabric totaled $0.87! Then, I got a spool of black, narrow ribbon....$0.47.  I used a couple beads I have on hand, since I occasionally do beading.

Of course, you can use any remnants to do this project, and you can use bits of ribbon you already have. I didn't have any suitable fabric remnants or ribbon for this project, so I had to buy it. But it is still very affordable. 

So, I started with strips of the fabric that were the same width all the way down.  Although I made these "nice" I wasn't super picky about the details. It's just not that big of a deal when making little bags!

*Oh, and I serged the non-selvage edges of all the fabric, but I didn't include that step because it's not essential, and most people don't have a serger.  And, I had a problem with my serger (my serger and I have a very tenuous relationship!), so the serging looks awful. But, it's there to keep the edges from fraying, and not to be that pretty! 

ANYWAY! Here's HOW TO MAKE A LITTLE GIFT BAG!!!

1)  First, fold the piece of fabric in half lengthwise...

2)  Next, iron at the halfway point, as shown...

3)  Cut at the crease to cut the fabric in half exactly....

So it ends up like this...of course...

4)  Pin the pretty sides of the fabric together, as shown...

5)  On one side, measure down double the width you want the tie-pocket to be, put a red pin or marking in that spot. 

6)  Start at the red pin, and sew all the way around, pivoting at the corners, and backtacking thoroughly at the beginning and end....

 It should look like this when you are done...

7)  Trim the bottom corners like so, so that they will turn easier when the time comes....

8)  Next, take the open edges above the red pin, pin them inwards, and....

9)  ...Sew those edges down so that the edge of the tie-pocket looks clean and finished

10)  Next, Fold the top towards the inside so that there will be enough room to get the tie in, but so that the tie-pocket will be adequately battened down....measure at the seams to make sure it is continuous, and pin it....

11) And then sew it down (can be a challenge on a tiny bag like this one!) 

12) Turn the bag pretty-side out! Time to thread the ribbon tie into the tie pocket!

13) I put one end of the tiny ribbon in a tiny safety pin (the kind they pin tags into garments with), and I left the other end on the spool, which anchors it just fine.

14) I threaded it through the tie-pocket, using the safety pin to grab it and pull it through, through the outer fabric. 

15)  When I finished with that, I took one end, and I tied a knot about 1.5" down, and then I used a needle to thread a bead onto the ribbon...

16) Then I tied a knot on the other side of the bead, very close to the bead, and trimmed!!

YOU ARE DONE! It is that easy. 

You get the hang of it really quickly, as it is a pretty simple project:).  Here's all the finished baggies I am making...(as of now)....

So are you including handmade gifts in your Christmas gifts? (Knowing this crowd, I bet you are:)) What are you including that you made? Any exciting holiday plans? Fill me in below:) Thanks for stopping by!!! Hope your Holiday prep is going great!!