My Little Button is really into shopping at the moment. When she’s at home she likes to fill up little paper bags with objects and then show me what she ‘bought’ at the shops. So I decided to make her a personalised felt shopping bag in which to store all her ‘purchases’. I’m not sure it really counts as a ‘bag for life’ but it’s a step in the right direction, and it will definitely do her until she gets a new obsession!
For this project you will need:
- 3 sheets of green felt
- Scrap of contrasting coloured felt
- Embroidery thread to match contrasting coloured felt
- Sewing thread
1. Begin by cutting your pieces out of felt. You will need to cut the following:
- Front and back of bag – cut two rectangles measuring 7 x 9 inches
- Base of bag – cut one rectangle measuring 3 x 7 inches
- For the side panels – cut two rectangles measuring 7 x 3 inches
- For the handles – cut four rectangles measuring 12 x 1 ½ inches
You do not need to incorporate any seam allowance.
2. Pin and sew the base piece of felt to the front and back piece (as above).
3. Pin the two side panels to the front, back and base of the bag and sew in place.
4. For the handles, pin and sew two of your rectangles together. Repeat with the other two rectangles. Pin the handles to the bag. One goes across the front and the other across the back. I positioned mine 1 inch in from the side of the bag and 1.5 inches down from the top. Sew in place by sewing a square and then a cross inside the square to reinforce the handle.
5. With your scrap piece of felt, cut your little one’s initial and pin it to the front of the bag. Then sew in place using embroidery thread and a blanket stitch.
Finally, go shopping! My Little Button loves to take hers to our local fruit and veg market – now she just needs to realise someone needs to pay for her groceries before she sticks them in her bag!
~ Laura xx ~
Little Button Diaries 