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I am a photography fanatic. I love taking pictures, tweaking pictures, and finding the beauty in every day items

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Toy Bag Tutorial

Oh it feels so good to be back blogging again, it's bloggerific! So I am going to ease back into the blogging world with a nice easy craft, plus hopefully posting something that is simple will tempt you non-crafters out there to finally jump in on this.
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I made these cute bags to help with Lucy's toys from over flowing and taking over the house. I swear, I think they were plotting against me and on the move! I finally sat down and start pouring a few out to help keep blocks, books, puzzles, and animals in their place. I even made a few to help keep her laundry separated. They are really easy and need a minimal amount of sewing, cutting, and time. All you need is...

1 foot of fabric
1 yard of string or ribbon

Take your foot of fabric, fold it in half and trim it so it will be 11 inches wide and 18 inches tall. Measure 3 inches from the top and mark it on the right side of the fabric, THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE FOLDED SIDE! Cut at that 3 inch mark a little less than 1/2 an inch into the fabric.
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Unfold the fabric so it is now 22 inches wide and the back of the pattern is facing up towards you. You should have two little cuts on both sides of the fabric. Now go ahead and fold the 3 inch slits inward and pin them, do this on both sides. Sew these flaps down, when you are done it should look like the top three inches are thinner.

You can now fold the top down about 2 inches down. You can now place the string in the flap and sew it shut. You will want to make sure that the line you sew will line up with the edge of the 22 inch wide part of the fabric. Now fold the fabric so it is back to being 11 inches wide and have the back side of the fabric facing out, which means that the patterns should be inside and facing each other. Pin the edges together. Start to sew the fabric together, when you start sewing make sure that the line you are sewing also lines up with the top folded edge, so this should be about a 1/2 inch seam on the side and also do a 1/2 inch seam on the bottom. Once done, go ahead and turn the bag right-side out. Go ahead and tie the strings together which will be the final step for this wonderful bag.
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These are cute bags to make and really cheap, you can pump out 3 bags with 1 yard of fabric. So go ahead and make some, I would even love to see some of the bags you make and what you add to them. Happy sewing!

11 comments:

  1. Ahem...adorable bags! I have 3 kiddos and an entire playroom right now. They don't make enough fabric in the world for the amount of toys I have!!! HA! But they would be great for travel toy bags for us or something. Thanks for the idea!

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  2. That's a very good pattern. We did something similar with the Queen's toys (particularly all the small animals that come with the Little People sets). We nailed a painted board to her wall at her level and put decorative drawer knobs at intervals, then we hang the bags on the knobs to get them off the floor. Well, that's the general idea. The execution is often lacking . . .

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  3. Those bags are so cute!!!
    Glad to see you back. :)

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  4. Those are so cute- love that idea!

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  5. Those are so freakin cute! I love them!!

    I wanted to also apologize to you- I don't think I ever got back to you on a comment you left on my blog MONTHS ago. How awful am I?!?! I'm SO sorry it took me so long to get back to you, I just now realized I had comments on there! I hadn't posted in months and didn't have comment moderation on (doh!) so imagine my surprise when I found out I had unwittingly been ignoring all of you!! Next time, I promise it won't take so long for me to respond. :) So- belatedly- I thank you very much for stopping by!

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  6. I have thought about making bags but don't have any energy to do it without a sewing machine

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  7. Very clever! I love your fabrics too.

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  8. So cute! I might have to give my (minimal) sewing still a try!

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  9. Hi there! Great tutorial! I hope you don't mind, I posted this on the Blossom St. Blog!

    Thanks!

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  10. I loved this so much...I made some right away. I can't wait to make more. They are so easy and quick. I think I whipped them out in less than 20 minutes. Thanks so much for giving me this idea to start organizing my new year!
    http://beholderinsinspirations.blogspot.com/2010/01/toy-bags.html

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