The pattern for the bag is two identical pieces stitched together. I promise you, it is SO simple to do and you will feel so very proud of yourself when you're done. Originally, it was a pattern for a reusable grocery bag on burdastyle.com, but I bought some gorgeous fabric and lined mine withflannel. You don't have to line it (although there are instructions on burdastyle.com if you want to) and you can do it in any fabric you choose. This could be an anything bag. A friend of mine said she'd love one to hold her yarn (which I will be making you this week by the way!) If we didn't already have reusable grocery bags, I would have made a whole slew of them for that. Instead, I whipped three up and gave one to a friend for her birthday, one for a friend just because I love her and kept one for myself. The pattern is free and you can print it right from your computer. All you need then is a trip to the fabric store for a yard of the good stuff and you're ready to roll!
Here are the other two:
Adorable gift idea # 2 is this irresistible door stop:
I don't have a pattern for this one, but I came across this cutie-patootie and copied the dimensions. This particular one is slightly tapered at the top to make it look chubby, but to make it simple, you could do two 6" X 6" inch squares for the top and bottom, four 6" X 7" inch rectangles for the sides and a skinny piece for the handle. The most difficult thing is sewing on the zipper, but you could actually just hand sew the last side after you fill it with rice. My husband bought a 25-pound bag of Uncle Ben's rice from BJ's for $13.00 and 9 pounds of it goes into one doorstop.
Cost breakdown:
$6.00 for 1 yard of fabric - 3/4 for the bag and 1/4 for the door stop (You want the "decorators" fabric to give the bag and doorstop some heft. It's similar to a canvas.)
$13.00 for a ginormous bag of rice - $4.50 per doorstop (Or you could just tell them to fill it with their own beans or rice)
Your time - which you can spend lovingly praying over the recipient
So there you have it. Who wouldn't love a handmade tote to sling over their shoulder or a chubby little doorstop that matches their decor?
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2 comments:
But how do I thread my sewing machine?
I love it! You are SO talented - you may want to look at Giant to see if their rice is less expensive - they sell huge bags (maybe not ginormous) and it might be cheaper than the "good stuff" of Uncle Ben's - just a thought to keep your cost down! :)
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