With the holidays around the corner, I am pulling out my Christmas list and deciding what I am making for whom. Many of our friends like wine, and although I am not a wine drinker, I think a nice bottle is a simple, easy, and less pricey host/hostess gift. This holiday season I might include a handmade reusable touch to our family’s gift: a linen fabric wine bag.
Here is how to hand-make a beautiful, unique gift bag of your own.
Need:
- linen cloth for bag and complementary color linen scrap (the finished embroidered label will be 2″x 3″ but use a scrap that is a bit larger to fit into an embroidery hoop)
- matching thread
- fabric scissors
- fabric tape measure
- slide ruler
- straight pins
- disappearing ink fabric pen
- an iron with a steam setting
- embroidery thread in two complimentary colors
- sewing needle
- tapestry needle
- embroidery hoop
- grommets and setter (optional)
- fabric glue (optional)
- ribbon, twine, raffia, other tie material (about 18″ length)
- sewing machine
How to:
1. Cut (2) rectangles of linen cloth for bag, each 20 1/4″ x 8″.
2. Align short edges and pin bag pieces with wrong fabric sides together. Start at a long edge of the rectangle and machine stitch on three sides with a 1/4″ seam allowance; leaving one short side open.
3. Turn piece “inside-out” and press seams open with a hot iron on steam setting. Starting at the same long end of the rectangle, and machine stitch on three sides with a 1/2″ seam allowance; leaving the same short side open. (You just created french seams that make the inside of the bag look finished and neat.)
4. To create the square corners at the bottom of the bag, with bag still turned inside-out, flatten the bottom, and create a triangle with the side seam at the top corner of the triangle. Measure 1 1/2″ from the top corner (side-seam) with the slide ruler and mark this bottom line of the triangle with a disappearing ink fabric pen. (If this is confusing, go here for a picture tutorial, just don’t cut the corner off; simply mark your triangle with the ink pen.) Machine stitch along your marked line, back stitching at the beginning and end. Repeat at other corner.
5. Fold the corners up so that they lie vertically along the sides of the bag. Hand tack the corner to the side seam allowance at each side.
6. Turn bag right-side out but do not press. Measure 4″ from the top of the bag and 2″ from each side seam and mark for grommet or button hole placement. Create grommet holes or sew button holes. (Button holes should be approximately 1″ in length.)
7. Mark the message you choose to embroider on the label linen fabric with a disappearing ink fabric pen. In one thread color, embroider your message. Cut out the label to measure 2″x 3″, lightly fray the edges, and hand stitch to the front of the bag using a complimentary thread color and a running stitch. (You can use a tiny bit of fabric glue at the edges of the label to keep the piece from fraying further.
8. Fray the top edge of the bag slightly with a straight pin. Insert your gift bottle of wine, thread the ribbon through the grommets or button holes, and tie up the top of the bag.
Stay tuned for more gifty and gift-wrapping ideas. Enjoy your holiday season!
