Every Once in a While I Need a Quickie

Four reversible fabric bags I've made to use as gift wrap. 

I've made several chicken themed ones and mailed them off already. The bag can be used as a fabric grocery bag.  The contents of the chicken themed bags include at the least a chicken hot pad, chicken embroidered dish towel and crochet dish rag. 

The Super Heroes and Monster High bags will have gifts in them for the Grand Kids. 

Guess what the gifts are! 

I've made a few more pillowcases using the hot dog method.  One of the pizza themed ones will go to my youngest son who is 30.  I think his diet consists mostly of pizza so he probably really has pizza stains on the pillowcase he uses now.  There are just some things a mother doesn't really want to know. 

I've made everyone else's pillowcases throughout the year so the extra pizza and cookie cases will go into my gift stash box. You never know when you will need a quick gift. 

Whooping it up at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finishing it up with Crazy Mom Quilts. 

A Few More Handmade Gifts for Friends and Family

A couple more crocheted dish cloths...

...I added a dishcloth to the collection of gifts I made for my good friend, Marsha, who LOVES purple. I used one of my vintage Black Americana dish towel transfers on a large flour sack dish towel and embroidered it with 3 strands of floss and did a running stitch along the outside edges in perle #8.  (Doesn't the cat look like it has a moustache, not whiskers? That cat is kind of creepy. ) Previously I embroidered other days of the week towels for her. And then I made one of those quick and easy hot pads from 5 - 9 inch squares plus a square of Insulbrite and quilted it with perle #8. ..

 ...and I will gift it to her in this groovy reversible grocery bag...

...and finally, I made two totally groovy coin purses for my lovely 8 year old granddaughters. Little purses to follow in the next few days. Peace, baby!

Old Bag Makes New Bags

Make a pattern from an old plastic grocery sack traced on to an old paper grocery sack. Lay out 1/2 yard of two pieces of fabric since bag will be reversible. Cut out.

 Sew around the sides and bottom of bags. Stitch again over the top of the previous stitching for reinforcement. Clip corners.

 Place one bag inside the other - right sides together. Pin top together. Leave opening for turning and pin bag straps 1/2 inch from the top.

 Sew together. Clip curves.

 And make sure not to stitch all the way to the top of the straps.   Turn bag inside out through the opening.

 Sew straps together.

 Pin openings closed in top and straps and blind stitch closed.

 Top stitch around top of bag. Reinforce straps by sewing across the seam previously blind stitched closed.

Voila...reversible bags in a matter of minutes.

My granddaughters will turn 8 in October (on Halloween) and December (on Pearl Harbor Day) and I will use these as their gift bags. Now I just need to decide on gifts to fill the bags.

 I'm linking up to Sew Many Ways Sew Darn Crafty linky party - a great place to pick up ideas. Also linking to Linky Party Tuesday at Freemotion by the River. 

Dancing Dishes

I finished a few more Christmas gifts - sets containing a fabric shopping bag, embroidered dish towel, crochet dish rag, hot pad.  

The bags. 

 Contents of bag 1 - embroidered dish towel, hotpad, crochet dish rag. 

Contents of bag 2 - embroidered dish towel, hotpad, crochet dish rag. 

Bag Lady

Made some reversable patchwork bags using a tutorial at Pink Penguin.  Purple and cats were the themes. I will use them as gift bags. And thankfully they use up scraps.