Valentine Fabric Gift Bag

Print the fabric to make a gift bag? Put a photo on a fabric bag? Don’t think it can be done? YES it can! Using our inkjet fabric sheets or any cotton broadcloth type fabric cut to size and prepped for an inkjet printer you can print a design or a photo or a special message and make a gift bag that will be as treasured as the gift inside! And to make it even better, it’s easy to make this bag without having to do any sewing at all! We’ll show you how to make it either way! You can even make the bag twice the size by using two fabric sheets and sewing them together!

MATERIALS

Inkjet fabric sheet or a piece of cotton broadcloth (in a light color, of course) cut to 8 ½” X 11”.

Piece of ¼” wide satin ribbon in a color coordinating with your design, about two feet long.

Fabric glue, hot glue or an iron-on fusible webbing tape similar to Stitch Witchery (found in most sewing stores or in craft stores in the sewing department)

Needle and thread or sewing machine – if you decide to sew the bag

Velcro “dots”

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Open a blank page in your graphics program in landscape orientation.

2) Place a straight line from top to bottom and center it so that the page is divided in half. This line will be removed once you have your design set and you have printed out your test page.

NOTE: If you are using an inkjet fabric sheet you can skip this step. Prepare the fabric for the printer either by spraying with spray starch and ironing until it is just stiff enough to feed through the printer (make sure you trim off any frayed threads from the edges) or by ironing a piece of freezer paper to the back of the fabric to serve as a fabric carrier. This will be peeled off after the printing is complete.

4) On your blank page, design your bag with clipart or photos or text, as you desire.

5) If the design is the same on the front and back of your bag, you can do the design on one side of the dividing line you placed on the page and then group, copy and paste to the other side. Just make sure you leave yourself about a half inch all the way around the design to allow for seams

6) Once the design is finished, print a test page out on plain paper and fold at the dividing line to make sure alignment is correct and that there is enough of a seam allowance.

7) Once you are satisfied with the layout and alignment, you can delete the dividing line from the page and print the design out on the prepared fabric or inkjet fabric sheet. If you went the freezer paper route, you can now peel that off the fabric.

8) Either sew a tiny hem along the top of the bag or use fabric glue or a hot glue gun or the iron-on fusible webbing tape to do this.

9) Once the top hem is finished, fold the fabric sheet in half with the unprinted sides facing you. Now you can either sew the sides and bottom seam or use the glue or fusible webbing tape to do the same. Trim all seams to about 5/8” after they are sewn or otherwise fused. Turn the bag right side out.

10) Fold the satin ribbon in half to find the center. Place this center just beneath the top hem on the back of the bag and attach with a tiny dot of fabric or hot glue. Now attach it to each of the two side seams the same way.

11) Tie the ribbon into a bow on the front of the bag and trim away any excess. Attach the back of the bow to the front of the bag with another dot of fabric or hot glue.

12) Cut each part of a Velcro dot in half and stick them to the inside of the top of the bag to serve as a closure.

How’s that for a “hand-sewn” gift bag that can be made without any sewing?!

Valentine Fabric Gift Bag Instructions

For a print friendly version, click on this link.