12 Weeks of Christmas FreeSpirit Blog Hop & a Giveaway!

I was asked several months ago to participate in a Christmas blog hop with FreesSpirit fabrics. My tutorial is up on their blog today as the last one of the series. I created a tutorial for these bags which are made from fabrics from the Fortiny line by Tina Givens.

My original idea was to create a bag that could be used for gift giving rather than the paper gift bags and tissue paper that are thrown away after one or two uses. This is a very simple tote. I even imagined adding a ruffle to mimic the tissue paper often used in these bags. I knew this would look very girly. The fabric provided to me for the project wasn't girly at all, and I couldn't see the ruffle idea working. I finished the above bags a couple months ago and shipped them off to FreeSpirit, but the other night I decided to give the ruffle idea a try and pulled out some fabric I had on hand from Kumari Garden Holiday by Dena Designs.

I admit I had a lot of fun putting this together, and Miss A claimed it immediately. This is the medium size bag with a nice puffy ruffle. We're all about Fancy Nancy around here so this bag fits right in.

If you are interested in adding your own ruffle, here are a few extra steps in addition to the tutorial I wrote for FreeSpirit.

Make your ruffle:

Cut 2 strips 5" x WOF. For the smaller bag I'm guessing (2) 5" x 30" strips would be adequate. Trim selvages. Sew short ends together creating one large circle. Press seams open. Fold with wrong sides together, and press in half along the entire length of the circle. Sew a long basting stitch and gather entire circle into a ruffle that fits the top of the bag.

Pin ruffle to the right side of one sewn bag section. I prefer working with Wonder Clips on a project like this. Sew 1/4" seam around the perimeter of bag attaching ruffle. 

Attach handles to other bag piece then sew both bag pieces together as described in the tutorial with the exception of using a 3/8" or 1/2" seam to sew the top. It's easier to deal with the ruffles with a larger seam.

This is the tricky part. Once bag pieces are sewn together, turn right sides out, fitting the lining into the outer bag piece. Edge stitch around the top of the bag, sealing the hole used for turning the bag. Hold ruffle and handles out of the way. Go very slowly and pin hole well.

TaDa! A very girly change to a very simple tote! Even with the ruffle, this bag didn't take long at all. It's a simple tote, but a perfect gift wrapping alternative to paper gift bags.

FreeSpirit has provided a little goody to giveaway for this last stop of the Christmas blog hop. Just leave a comment to win a fat quarter bundle of 15 FreeSpirit solids! Giveaway ends Friday. Please make sure I have an email for you to win.