Fabric Gift Bag Tutorial

Drawstring Fabric Gift Bag Tutorial - How to Make a Simple Fabric Gift Drawstring Bag. 

Long story short, let's just get started! Let's sew a gift bag!

Here are the “ingredients”:

Outer fabric
 Inner fabric
 Fabric for the tunnel drawstring
 Fabric scraps for the star
 Thin volume fleece or H 630 from Freudenberg
 “Diamond” template set Edge length 1.5″
 Suitable sewing thread
 Thin cord or another pretty ribbon
 Sewing machine, cutting mat, rotary cutter and co. of course.

Cutting:

 two squares of fabric for the outside: 8.5 x 8.5 inches
 two rectangles of fabric for the outside: 8.5 x 2.5 inches
 two rectangles of fabric for the tunnel drawstring 8.5 x 2 "
 two rectangles 10.5 x 8.5 inches of fabric for the inner lining
 two squares 8.5 x 8.5 inches H 630 or another thin volume fleece
 cord or ribbon 1.2 m long

The seam allowance is included here and is a quarter of an inch.

The star is sewn using the English paper piecing technique. For the gift bag you need two stars, one for the front and one for the back. One star is made up of six diamonds with an edge length of 1.5 inches.

Tunnel drawstring:

Iron the two strips of fabric for the tunnel drawstring inwards twice on the short sides, a quarter of an inch on each side, and then topstitch. This time lengthwise to the inside, i.e. wrong sides together.

Appliqué the star.

Underlay the two fabric squares for the outside of the bag with the thin volume stabilizer. Alternatively, you can also iron on H 630 from Freudenberg. Fold the upper corners of the stars as shown in the picture so that the seam allowance disappears.

Now position the star on the square measuring 8.5 x 8.5″. Make small marks by folding once vertically and once diagonally. Secure with pins.

I sewed around the star with a metallic thread in silver. My star has also been given a quilting line: a foot's width around the outside, as an echo so to speak. You can certainly let off steam here. Use decorative stitches or more quilting, depending on your taste.

Now sew the 2.5 x 8.5″ pattern piece to the top edge of the outer square as a yoke. Then press to the outside and topstitch again.

Sew the gift bag together

The outer part with the yoke is at the bottom. Position the tunnel drawstring between the outer part and the inner lining. Pin in place, topstitch and press.

To give the bag a good stand, cut out two 1.5 x 1.5″ squares at the bottom edge of the front and back (see image 1). Pull the lining piece back up and place the front and back of the bag on top of each other. Make sure that the drawstrings lie exactly on top of each other (see picture 2.). Close all the long edges except for the turning opening that you have previously marked on the side of the lining (see image 3.).

Now sew the previously cut corners together. This allows the gift bag to stand upright. Place seam on seam, secure with pins and sew the openings closed with a seam allowance of a quarter of an inch.

The bag can then be turned inside out through the opening in the lining. Please iron once more and move on to the next step.

Topstitch the top edge of the pouch once again. Then close the turning opening in the inner lining.

Cut the cord or ribbon into two 60 cm long pieces and pull it through the tunnel. Both ends of the ribbon end up at the two openings of the tunnel and are then knotted there.