This Christmas I wanted to try something a little different with our holiday wrapping! I have the hardest time buying wrapping paper and ribbon, that is going to be torn to pieces and thrown away (I might as well throw my money away with it). So, in order to simplify and save our hard earned cash I made up some very large fabric bags...or Santa's Booty Bags! One for each in the family including two smaller ones for the dogs.
My thought is that since each bag is 20 x 20 1/2 that they should be large enough to hold quite a bit of Christmas booty. Which also means, once the bag is full, you stop buying presents because nothing else will fit...see it saves money! How fun would it be to open up your bag Christmas morning an dig through a Bag O' Presents? My kids loved that idea! The best part is, after Christmas I can just fold up my bags and store them away for next year.
I decided to use red striped ticking for three reasons...1) I love,love, love ticking 2) its a little studier so it can hold heavier presents like books, laptops and in some cases...coal and 3) It's simple and reminds me of stripey peppermint candy canes...Mmmmm!
Check out my tutorial and you can make your own Santa's Booty Bags!
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MATERIALS:
Thread
1 Yard Fabric
2 Yards Cording or Ribbon
Jingle Bells, or Beads
STEP ONE:
With right sides together cut a piece of fabric on the fold measuring
21 1/4 W x 23 H. Still keeping the fabric folded sew a 1/2" seam across
the bottom and up the open side. Zig-zag, pink or serge the seamed edge
and trim if necessary.
STEP TWO: Fold the top of the bag down 1/4" and press. Then fold another 1" over that and press well. Topstitch around the top and bottom of the pressed hem.
STEP THREE: To make the casing cut a strip of fabric measuring 42" x 2" long. Fold in short ends 1/2" and press. Fold the strip in half lengthwise and press to make a crease. Unfold and press each side in to the crease. This is an easy way to make each side even. Topstitch the short ends to keep everything together.
STEP FOUR: Fold the bag in half (with seams at the side) and mark with a pin to find the center. Place one end of the casing strip at the pin, making sure to line it up with the bottom of the topstitching. Pin casing around the bag. You should have a small gap between the two ends.
STEP FIVE: Take a safety pin and attach it to the end of your ribbon or cording (if your cording starts to unravel put a piece of tape on the end). Thread it through the casing until you come out the other end. At this point you can tie jingle bells or beads to the ends to help keep the cording from pulling through when the bag is fully opened + it adds a festive touch!
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But, you don't have to just make these for Christmas! See, I made a cute polka-dotted one for my daughter's birthday too. It's full of great 'Birthday Booty' and she is so very excited to have her own special bag complete with pink bubblegum beads!
