Comments on: How to Make Reusable Cloth Gift Bags

By: Nana

Nana — Sun, 05 May 2019 14:53:55 +0000

I buy cotton/polyester bandannas at the dollar store or order online by the dozen [often for less than a dollar each]. They come in many colors [red, blue, yellow, purple, turquoise, orange, green] and patterns [not just paisley any more], and don’t need ironing after laundering. For smallish gifts, Ijust pull up the corners, shape to gift and tie at the top with a ribbon or crocheted chain made by grandkids. For larger gifts, baste bandannas together with large stitches [goes faster and they are easier to snip apart when recycling]. Of course, edges are already hemmed and these can be used year-round for birthdays or other events.

By: Ayshela

Ayshela — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 20:44:23 +0000

Please tell your girls that if they want their bags to last for years and years, if they sew a zig zag stitch over the raw edges instead of using pinking shears that will keep them from fraying at all, even if something gets spilled on them and they have to be washed. =) Great idea to make the bags! I saw this post linked in a crafting group so it’s getting some awesome visibility.

By: Maria

Maria — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 02:22:45 +0000

Thank you for sharing this wonderful idea!

By: jody Link

jody Link — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 16:26:28 +0000

I just made a bunch of these! Thanks for the post!

By: Jane Augenstein

Jane Augenstein — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 19:07:22 +0000

What a great idea! I too save gift bags to use over and over….until you can’t! Tell your girls they had a great idea and I will use it this Christmas! What creative daughters you have, thanks girls!!!

By: Teneko

Teneko — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:01:47 +0000

This is a beautiful post and a beautiful idea! Thank you so much for sharing it.
My family also re-use gift bags. I have been buying gift bags of all sorts on sale / clearance and now have a pretty good collection. We have been keeping them and rotating them around 4 different households now for years. We’ll see how they hold up.
I just got a sewing machine for Xmas, so guess what I’ll be doing for next year? Yup, cloth bags with Xmas clearance fabric! Woohoo! Also, I know exactly what Barbara means about sewing machines not being made like they used to…Singer used to be a great brand. We had a vintage hand crank Singer I used growing up and it was all metal. They are now plastic and don’t have the reputation they used to. What a sad disposable society we live in. I am SO GRATEFUL for people like you that are encouraging more DIY, reusing, back to basics, and making it easier for the rest of us to (re)learn what used to be common knowledge!
Everything old is new again. Bright Blessings to all in the season of light and hope. <3

-T.

By: jan

jan — Mon, 09 Jan 2017 03:35:44 +0000

I made some bags last year after Christmas with Christmas themed fabric. I was going to use them to store shoes, but this year I was too tired and too depressed to wrap, so out they came and all the presents were wrapped in minutes. After Christmas I made about 13 or some more bags of various types and colors from my saved scraps, fabrics that I liked too much to throw away. I came out with some great bags. I put a casing in them and use a shoestring for the drawstring. Then I ran across a bag already made and edge finished, I had a brilliant idea to add several button holes across the top for inserting a ribbon for tying up. Some of the guests take the bags home with them, some people leave them. Either way I am happy.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 02:58:09 +0000

My mother made a bunch of these when I was a kid, easily over 20 (or 30!) years ago, and many of them are still around and look great! When I was younger I missed the tearing of paper, but eventually grew to appreciate the cloth bags for their unique beauty and practicality.

I have wanted to make a set to actually give as a gift as well! I have a few friends who are trying to reduce their environmental footprint would appreciate such a gift I’m sure. I bet others do too!

Thanks for sharing, and how wonderful this idea came from your little girl!

By: Tammie

Tammie — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 01:39:46 +0000

What a great idea! And you’re right, if you grab the stuff on sale, it’s probably cheaper than a gift bag and so cute!

By: Rachael

Rachael — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 02:48:28 +0000

I also grew up in a family that saved wrapping bags even tissue paper. When we got married, I told my new husband that we would be saving the wrapping and he was like, ‘well, that’s kinda weird, you get to explain that to my parents.’ About three years later, his family started saving wrapping. I am happy to say that I have not purchased a gift bag in ten years and still have a few wedding bags.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 18:08:27 +0000

Katie, this made me chuckle! I’ve been sewing bags like that since I was five….on my grandmother’s Featherweight Singer machine. (I’m 60 now…) The machine I use today is one I have had since I married 42 years ago. And it was well over 50 years old then!! You were saying about how things are not made as well these days, and sadly, that is so very true. You stated that your girls got a heavy duty sewing machine and being curious, I looked to see which one it was. I had to chuckle, as all of the ‘heavy duty’ features are the features that were standard on the machines of yesteryear!!! Mine, even as old as it is, works flawlessly and is indeed very heavy duty….denim, leather, you name it. I will be making bags, and tons of other stuff hopefully for many years to come. And teaching other hands to do the same! I love fabric gift bags for everything, year round…..simple things are so much nicer! Thanks for the lovely post!

By: Sherry

Sherry — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 16:27:27 +0000

I bought a bunch of fabric, more than 5 years ago (I can’t remember exactly when), with the plan of making gift bags. I sewed 2 bags before I gave up. I’m just not a sewer. But the fabric hasn’t gone to waste. It’s cut to various sizes to accommodate any gift. I wrap gifts, using the fabric in the same way you would use paper. I then use a ribbon to tie around the package just like you would add ribbon to a paper-wrapped gift. It holds the fabric together very well.

I have talked about making bags off and on over the years, but my daughter insists that she likes it better this way. Oh! I haven’t hemmed the edges or used pinking shears and the fabric has held up beautifully!

By: Hallie

Hallie — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 14:20:35 +0000

This is my all time favorite post! I love that your smart girls came up with this idea and are skilled enough to sew it themselves. Thank you so much for sharing this experience.

By: Lea

Lea — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 13:59:48 +0000

This is a lovely idea ;-). Thank you girls, and Katie!

By: Barb

Barb — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 12:59:01 +0000

I send a number of small gifts to great nieces and nephews and have been making gift bags for them for a few years now. I have a serger so it makes quick work of the bags and is really a lot of fun.

By: Marie Brunk

Marie Brunk — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 12:37:06 +0000

Thank you girls for the great idea. I hope I can look for some Christmas fabric and sew them for the coming years. Actually, you could use these for other occasions too with the appropriate fabrics. Thanks for the instructions. Merry Christmas!

By: Alexis

Alexis — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 20:31:00 +0000

I made a huge batch of fabric gift bags for Christmas a few years back and I love them. It is so easy to pop each gift in a bag and tie the ribbon (I attached ribbon to each bag so I can’t lose it. I still wrap gifts if the gift is leaving the house (I don’t want to lose my bags) but if someone is going to open a gift at my house they get it in a fabric gift sack.

My number one suggestion is make sure you pick busy patterns if the fabric is not nice and thick or you can see images through the bag.

By: Monica

Monica — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 19:33:26 +0000

I used pillowcases for childrens gifts for years. If you dont sew, that an easy option. 2 gifts in one. When the kids tastes change from Thomas the train to Transformers, you can get them new ones. And who doesn’t need extra pillowcases?

By: Linda Sand

Linda Sand — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 19:15:58 +0000

Way back in the 1970s we simply hemmed large pieces of cloth and used them to wrap gifts year after year.