Sewing my own advent calendar bags challenge

quidsy

Ok, so I bought a lot of small gifts for my sons advent calendar this year from crafycrocoldile.co.uk & then I started thinking about how none of it will actually fit into the calendar he has!!.

This took me to search for some kind of alternative but tbh they all cost quite a bit so I have had the idea to sew my own reusable dated bags (ok, you can all stop laughing now)

To say my needlework skills are limited is an understatement but I am the go to girl at work when buttons or zips go wrong so I have some skills.

So the challenge is to source some cheap christmassy material, cut & sew 24 gift bags & cut & sew 24 numbers & sew on.

I will post pics as I progress & expect some real disasters but I basically have until December 1st to make a decent enough go of it.

Wish me luck :xmastree::rudolf::xmassmile:snow_laug:snow_grin:santa2:

good_advice

Just an idea I cut up some of my old trousers a few days ago. They had x2 back pockets with flaps and a button on. Well I cut around the pockets and it made x2 little bags. I cut the zip out too!

Happy crafting.

quidsy

Good idea about the pockets. I have quite a lot of spare material & even some Christmas cloth napkins that could be utilized.

I plan on digging around at the weekend to find some options.

tylers_mum

quidsy wrote: »

Ok, so I bought a lot of small gifts for my sons advent calendar this year from crafycrocoldile.co.uk & then I started thinking about how none of it will actually fit into the calendar he has!!.

This took me to search for some kind of alternative but tbh they all cost quite a bit so I have had the idea to sew my own reusable dated bags (ok, you can all stop laughing now)

To say my needlework skills are limited is an understatement but I am the go to girl at work when buttons or zips go wrong so I have some skills.

So the challenge is to source some cheap christmassy material, cut & sew 24 gift bags & cut & sew 24 numbers & sew on.

I will post pics as I progress & expect some real disasters but I basically have until December 1st to make a decent enough go of it.

Wish me luck :xmastree::rudolf::xmassmile:snow_laug:snow_grin:santa2:

Rather than seperate bags what about a shabby chic flag style garland each flag numbered and with a back to it open at the top to pop in gifts ? sorry not explained very well .. hope u get my drift lol x

Pooky

I made stocking shapes out of felt - sewed them together by hand and then sewed onto a long ribbon to drape like bunting. I chain stitched on the numbers before sewing the front and back together.

The little gift or sweetie was wrapped in tissue/crepe/newspaper - just losely - no tape, just to stop prying eyes seeing what was next.

Felt is so easy to work with - I eventually went on when my two were older to make an advent calendar out of felt with a christmas tree on it - buttons were sewn on to form baubles and in each numbered pocket I'd made a tree decoration out of felt (small and fiddly but fun). There's a christmas pud, a chain of paper (felt) chains, a fairy for the top etc. Felt is my go to fabric for things like this as it doesn't fray and it's cheap.

Don't forget to show us what you make! We all love a good nosey.

maman

Felt is a great idea as it doesn't fray and you could glue the numbers on if you wanted. I always buy mine at a local fabric shop where they sell it by the metre rather than those very expensive squares in craft shops. You could make bags or bunting (just sew one side to the tape so like triangular bags) from any fabric you have or buy cheaply then add bold, felt numbers. Gingham, spots or candy stripes in say red and green would look good for an Advent calendar.

-taff

It would be a lot easier to sew a traditional type, with squares in rows. You could have the number outside, then a flap that attaches to it, so you tuck that in to cover the gift, then when you've removed the gift, pull the flap out to show the nmuber/date has gone.
Velcro is a wonderful thing too...you could do gathered pockets [ very easy, they just sound difficult] which velcro shut.

I'd also recommend going to the library and getting some sewing books out, it's easy to do quite a lot of stuff, but it does tend to put people off because they think it's lot more difficult than it is.

Also, Ikea seem to be the cheapest place for a new sewing machine, or freecycle/ebay if you haven't got one already....older ones that just do straight stitch are ideal, because you can't go wrong, and the tension/thread tension doesn't seem to be as critical, or at least, it's not on mine.