If you are following along with ‘Simply Christmas’ you are about to discover the secret of turning the most stress-full time of the year into the simplified Christmas you have always imagined. By December you will have your gift making done, gifts wrapped, cards ready to send, shopping completed (hopefully) and your home decorations ready to go, for what is promised to be your most joyful Christmas yet!
It wouldn't be Christmas without gifts under the tree, so let’s continue on with some simple gift making. Coming from a large extended family, we decided many years ago that spending Christmas together was the most important aspect and chose to give small token gifts to all family members. We have an agreed amount which is small and keeps budgets within reason. The main focus is the fun of a large group getting together and opening our gifts. With so many small gifts to give, year after year, I often rely on my handmade offerings to keep me within the budget.
Today’s tutorial is for a super easy item that everyone can use and it can be made in so many different ways...
it’s the humble doorstop!!
There are quite a few free tutorials on the web:
I love this one from Melbourne designer Nancy of Wolf and Willow
What about these cute box shaped ones from Claire’s make and do.
If you are fairly new to sewing and only have basic skills, then these little pyramid doorstops by Trish Allen Designs for the Oz Material Girls are super easy.
Tutorial #6 – Bag Doorstop
I’m going to show you another versatile doorstop that I’ve made for my home... the bag doorstop. You can change the measurements to suit your needs and fill it with weights of your choice. I prefer to use sand or rice for mine.
For the tutorial I have chosen to use some more of the parchment coloured hessian, as it fits well with our beachy decorating style.
Materials:
2 x 30 cm squares of both the main fabric and the lining fabric.
3 cm wide strip of ripped fabric to use as a tie.
Place the two pieces of main fabric right sides together and stitch around 3 sides. Press seams flat.
So that the bags will stand up nicely, I squared off the bottom. Squaring off the bottom is a little tricky at first but once you do it the first time it’s a piece of cake. Put your hand inside the bag and flatten the bottom corner the opposite direction. The side seam will lay flat on the bottom seam. Make sure the fabric on the inside and out is really flat. Then sew across the corner making a triangle. See where I drew the black line. The closer to the tip that you sew the narrower your bottom will be. Trim off the fabric and repeat on the other side.
Repeat the process for the lining fabric, but leave a 3 cm opening on the bottom seam for turning out later. Don’t forget to square off the bottom seams.
With right sides facing, insert the lining fabric in the bag and sew around the top edge.
Turn bag out through the opening in the bottom edge of the lining. Insert lining back into bag and press top edge.
I then stitched a seam along the top edge about 5mm from the top to secure.
Fill the bag with pebbles, sand or rice. I’ve heard that some people have had problems with bugs when using rice but that has never been my experience. I used sand in this one. I ripped a length of red gingham for a shabby look bow to secure it shut.
The beauty of this bag is you can re-open it easily and top up with filling.
These fabric bags are so easy and very quick to make but the best part is they are so multi- purpose: use it as a gift bag; potpourri/lavender bag; adjust the size and make a mini bag as a paper weight or a page holder for a book reading friend. Try pretty floral fabrics, bold and bright for kids, tea towels, Christmas fabric…. see the options really are endless!!
For this week’s Friday Followers Giveaway I made a Christmas inspired bag. This one is actually a different sized one to that shown in the tutorial. It stands slightly taller and narrower (35cm x 25 cm) and is adorned with some greenery and a rusty bell.
The recipient can decide whether to use it as a Christmas doorstop to welcome their holiday visitors or fill with Christmas treats.
Don’t forget, to be in the running for Friday Giveaway’s you must be a follower of the Shabby Art Boutique blog.
I hope you have fun making these easy lined bags.
Pop back Wednesday for another guest post and tutorial.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
