Last year for Christmas, I received a gift that came from World Vision. A coffee mug, delicious fair-trade coffee, a carved scoop, and a handmade bag. First, I love my parents for getting me this. Second, the bag that it came with is fantastic. And it inspired today's project.
A simple gift of a bag of coffee can be made extra special with a little hand-stitched bag. It upgrades an $8 bag of coffee, and says, I care about you enough to spend a little time on this. And honestly, it doesn't take very long. I sewed the entire bag by hand (no sewing machine!), and still was up for making more.
Here's what you need:
Patterned fabric (8x24" is more than enough)
Plain fabric (8x5" should be good)
Embroidery floss
Thread (I used quilting thread)
Ribbon or thick string
Helpful: pins, pinking shears
Cut your fabric so that it will fit the a bag of coffee when folded and sewn into a bag. My piece was 8.5x24 and came out a bit looser than it needs to be.
Cut the piece in two, about 6" in from one end. This is where you'll place an inset.
Embroider a design onto the plain fabric. (This pattern was one from Wednesday's free patterns) In hindsight, I would have stitched this right in the middle, but oh well. This is the inset.
Pink the top and bottom edges of the inset, and lay out the bag as you see here.
Pin the embroidered piece into place. Using a doubled length of thread, sew the inset to the patterned fabric along the top and bottom. A running stitch will work well.
Double fold and press the top edges of the fabric. Pin and sew. This will be the top hem.
Turn the bag right sides together, pin, and sew down the sides with a running stitch.
Ignore the fact that I didn't match the plaid (My mother was disappointed in me), and slip a bag of coffee inside.
Tie with a pretty bow, and share the gift of coffee!
This was inspired by a coffee bag, and is made for coffee, but of course, you could sew up a bag like this for lots of things. And if your sewing machine is kind to you, imagine how quickly you could whip these up for gifts! My mom has asked me how many I'll be making for Christmas presents, and it might just be a lot!
Great posts on coffee - I've been enjoying them all week. I adore the embroidery patterns - I see Christmas gifts coming!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this idea Mollie!! Thanks for the great embroidery pattern and this fab idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! :)
ReplyDeleteSuper cute.
ReplyDelete♥ sécia
www.petiteinsanities.blogspot.com
That's so cute! I don't have any plaid in the house, but I've been liking the way other people use it... maybe it's time to buy more fabric. :D
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this beautiful post which shows the process of making eco friendly bag. This can be easily washed and can be used again and again. We can also use our own creative method in decorating the bags for making it fit as a gift item.
These are adorable! Every year for Christmas I give everyone in my family and my husband's family, coffee and mugs as gifts. These handmade coffee bags are unique and cute and a must have for me this year!
ReplyDeleteRose and I have great minds.... I was thinking how great this would be to put a local coffee bean in for all my Christmas gifts for far away family!!!
ReplyDeleteMan this coffee week could not have come at a better time for me. Ha. My mom's birthday is the first week of October and she LOVES coffee. I got her a new coffee mug for her birthday and this is going to be the perfect thing to wrap it up in. She's going to love it!! Though I'll probably take the lazy way and sew it w/ my machine. Ha.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!!!
What a delicious idea! Found you via sewmamasew :) I'm going to make some with embroidered tea pics too for my pals who are tea lovers. Thanks for the time it took you to put this up.
ReplyDeleteI found some rich brown coloured fabric with coffee beans printed on it ages ago and this project would be an ideal use for it. This is a great gift idea!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Robyn