Sew A Gift Bag or Shopping Bag
Article by KarensVariety.com

Gift bags are an easy way to wrap a present and they can be recycled. It can be difficult to find the right size and design for the occasion and they can be expensive. You can easily make a gift bag from leftover fabric or purchased fabric ends. Choose a plain colour or a design. The handles can be made from fabric or purchased ribbon. If you choose a sturdy fabric, the bag can be used as a shopping bag.

Decide the size of bag you wish to make. It can be square or rectangular, large or small.

If you wish to use ribbon handles, fold the bag in half. If you wish to use fabric for handles, fold the bag as shown in the diagram, leaving approximately 4 inches of fabric (2-3 inches for each handle). Cut each handle.

Sew the sides of the bag on the wrong side to within an inch at the top. To reinforce these seams and prevent fraying, sew twill tape centered over the seam on the inside running from the top of one side, across the fold at the bottom and up the other side. Sew a seam on each side of the twill tape keeping the raw edge of the seam inside the twill tape. Keep these seams straight and neat as they will show on the outside of the bag.

Fold over the top edge and press. You may use ribbon or fabric handles. Cut the two pieces of fabric for fabric handles to size and fold in half. Sew this seam and turn inside out. Lay the handles centered on each side of the bag and pin. These should be set 3 to 5 inches apart (depending on the size of the bag). Line the top edge of the bag with twill tape using two seams as you did with the side and bottom seam.