Candy Bags - Inside and Out! A Quick Tutorial

Can I tell you a secret?  I've been totally lax when it comes to the trick or treat bags my kids have been carrying the past few years.  It's shameful - they've had to use plastic shopping bags because I've forgotten to buy an extra plastic pumpkin for 4 years.  Now that I've got 3 active trick or treaters it was time to finally get it together and make some bags for my guys so my little lady could carry the pumpkin.

I got my hands on 1.25yds of this cool candy fabric called Got The Munchies by Timeless Treasures. It was the perfect answer to my treat toting problem and just enough fabric to make two appropriately sized bags. The best part is while it's festive for Halloween, it's still great to use the rest of the year too.

I made a pillowcase for my big guy to carry, since that's the old school way to carry your candy:

and a handled tote for my 5yr old to keep a good grip on his goodies:

Making them both was super fast.  I just folded the fabric with the selvedge edges opposite each other:



Then cut a parallel line so I had a folded piece that was 28 inches wide and one that was 12 inches wide.  I cut the to be 40 inches high (when unfolded) and the tote size to be 30 inches high. For the standard pillowcase size, I folded the fabric with right sides facing I stitched a half inch seam allowance on one short side and the open long side and then trimmed the edges with pinking shears (so they won't fray).

Then I turned it right side out and turned the raw edge under 1/2 inch and then over again another 1.2 inch and stitched in place:

Now we've got a bag that can haul even the biggest treats and will double as a fun pillowcase for his room the rest of the year.

For the tote I stitched the sides together with a 1/2 inch seam and then marked the bottom corners 2 inches inward and upward:

I used those markings to square off the corners stitched them in place, then trimmed off the excess fabric.  Then I hemmed the top like the pillowcase.

For the handles I used the leftover fabric to cut two strips 2.5 inches wide by 11 inches long:

and folded them right sides facing and stitched one long side and one short side with a 1/8inch allowance, then turned them right side out.

I folded the raw end inward and top stitched the whole thing.  I measured to find the middle of the wide sides and folded the handles to be 3 inches wide and inserted their edges 1 inch below the top side (I should them on the outside in the pic).

Then I stitched the handles on directly over the hem and backstitched them to be strong (who knows how many pounds of candy they'll try to put in here?):

Now we're ready to carry whatever they can get in their sacks and then sleep on it later!




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