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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Sew Easy: Halloween Treat Bags In Under 20 Minutes!


There are about a million Halloween tutorials out there at the moment and while I've seen loads of ideas I love, free time to make them has not been on my side:(  I'm sure I'm not the only one, so today I'm sharing how to make some quick and festive Halloween bags - in under 20 minutes. How's that for a do-able craft?

Make 'Em Fast Halloween Bags!  Fully lined for reversibility and with a hidden layer of batting inside.  These bags are soft yet very durable.  Ideal for a carrying a big load of candy!

Here's How:
I used some spooky & sweet Halloween-themed fabrics (all by Timeless Treasures) to get a super holiday look with minimal effort (including some very cool glow-in-the-dark prints).  

You'll Need:
- 1/2 yd Candy Corn Gail-c8943-black
- 1/4 yd Tossed Jack O'Lanterns Gail-c8942-black
- 1/4 yd Soho Solid Orange Soho-orange
- 1/2 yd Glow-In-The-Dark Spider Web Gail-CG1537-Black
- 1/4 yd Glow-In-The-Dark Skeletons FUN-CG9810-Black
- 1/2 yd Cotton or Cotton Blend Batting
- Sewing Notions - shears/rotary cutter, iron & ironing board, safety pins, thread, hand sewing needle). 
- Optional: embroidery floss + embroidery needle/machine embroidery/applique

Note - Finished bag size is 9 inches wide by 12 inches high.  There's enough fabric to make 4 bags in total, but the cuts below are to make one of each bag style shown.

Cut the following pieces:
Candy Corn - (2) 10 inch wide by 13 inch high, (2) 10 inch wide by 4 inches high
Soho Orange -  (2) 10 inch wide by 5 inch high, (2) 13 inch wide by 3 inch high
Jack O'Lanterns - (2) 10 inch wide by 6 inch high
Spider Web - (2) 10 inch wide by 13 inch high, (2) 10 inch wide by 5.5 inch high, 2) 13 inch wide by 3 inch high
Skeletons - (2) 10 inch wide by 8.5 inch high
Cotton Batting - (4) 10 inch wide by 13 inch high

With right sides facing, stitch together the width sides of strips of fabric in the desired print order for the outer of the bag.  Press seams open.  If personalizing, applique or embroidery is desired for extra decoration, do so at this point.
Baste cotton batting to wrong sides of outer pieces, 1/4 inch from raw edges and set aside. Now take both strap pieces, fold lengthwise, and stitch 1/8 inch from raw edge along that side.  Turn right side out, press and then top stitch all the way around.  
Turn straps in a "U" shape and place center of a strap 3 inches inward along the top side on each of the outer bag pieces and baste into place:
With right sides facing, stitch along the length sides of the outer and lining bags and trim excess from raw edges:
Turn the lining right side out and insert into the outer bag, lining up the side seams and pin along the top raw edges.  Stitch together with a 1/2 inch seam allowance:
Pull lining out so that both bag halves have the wrong sides facing out (this will look like a big tube).Now stitch bottom ends of both halves closed, leaving a 2 inch gap in the lining bottom for turning.
Turn right side out and slipstitch opening in lining closed by hand.  Insert lining into outer bag and press gently with iron to smooth out.  Now these treat bags are ready for action.  Perfect for trick or treating, decorating or giving as gifts!


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21 comments:

  1. Very festive and always useful with the colorful tote bag

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  2. These are adorable!!! My boys would love them, wish I had a little bit of time to make them :)
    XO
    Kristin

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    1. Thanks Kristin - they are so quick to make you just need a few minutes - I promise!

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  3. Very cute bags! Thanks for the tutorial :)

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  4. Thank you for sharing how to do these sweet bags, these would be great with the fabric I have left over for Christmas bags also. Joining you from the Fall linky Party at Fine Craft Guild! Di@Cottage-Wishes

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    1. That's what I think too Di. Just swap in a different holiday fabric and you've got perfect gift bags for every occasion!

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  5. Such a cute idea. And wonderful instructions. I'm a new follower and visiting via Katherine's hop. I would like to invite you to visit my blog. Donna

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    1. Thanks so much Donna - I wanted to make it very easy and glad that shows:)

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  6. Might just have to make a new bag for my daughter. Love the tutorial! Thanks for sharing. Visiting from DearCreatives.com

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    1. My kids love them and they're so quick to make - it'll be worth it Theresa!

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  7. Great tutorial! LOVE that candycorn material! That orange bag is my fave...you did a terrific job! Thanks so much for linking up with my party!
    Blessings, Doni

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    1. Thanks so much Doni. It's hard for me to pick a favorite - I love the orange prints too, but think the glow-in-the-dark on the black is cool (that's my husband's favorite!)

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  8. I love this tutorial! I am pinning for future sewing. I think these would be great to make gift bags for birthdays, Christmas, etc. with scrap fabric! :) Saw your link on Tickled Pink's party.

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  9. "sew" cute. I enjoy sewing it's the cutting I dislike. giggle. Thank you for joining in the fun at the Thursday Favorite Things hop. Happy weekend wishes xo

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    1. I'm just the same Katherine! The cutting is my least favorite part of every project too.

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  10. They turned out fabulous!!

    Thanks for sharing @'Sew Cute Tuesday'.
    I'll be featuring you tomorrow, so be sure
    to stop by and grab a 'featured' button~

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  11. Always useful pattern for a striped bag. Thank you for linking it up at http://www.finecraftguild.com . A new party opens tomorrow. Look forward to seeing you again then!

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  12. Very rapidly this web page will be famous amid all blog viewers, due to it's pleasant articles
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  13. Love them...only problem is I can't find a store to buy that fabrics, can you help me with it? Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. I know Timeless Treasures still makes all these - you can Google search for them to see online shops (I've included the item numbers with their names in the post to make it easy for them to look up) and they have a store locator on their site for helping to find local stores: http://www.ttfabrics.com/where-to-buy/

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  14. Hi, just wanted to let you know that I linked to this tutorial from my blog: http://www.sewingshop.net/blog/thursday-treasures-3-theme-orange/
    Great bags!

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