Another Little Pre - Sewing Summer Series Project

 So, as I mentioned, being part of the sewing ministry group has encouraged me to pull out my sewing machine a little quicker.  As a result, even before my usual summer sewing has begun, I've been making some pretty quick but useful things.

One thing I've tried to stop doing is buying gift bags. For some time, I have preferred to get reusable bags for gifts when I can. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of them available unless you want to pay a bit more. When you do find them inexpensively, they tend to be kind of cheesy or intended for a kid's birthday party at best.

I realized though that I have several smaller pieces of fabric in my stash. Unfortunately, there aren't many 10th graders (11th grader now) who are into clothing for their 'big doll.'  I had always saved all these small but good sized pieces from projects because they made clothing and accessories for that doll. So what to do with them now?

One thing that doesn't seem to fall out of favor is gifts. We have a pretty thriving congregation and babies, in particular, seem to be arriving at a steady rate. 

A few months ago, a friend was about to have a 'bonus' baby girl. Knowing that they likely had most of what they needed already (or were getting it in the 'sprinkle' our church was sponsoring for them), I figured a gift card might be the most useful thing. I set it in the lap of a small stuffed animal from their list but didn't really want to go get a little gift bag for it.

I've mentioned my love of drawstring bags before. And even made a drawstring backpack.

I noticed some perfect pink fabric in my stash so I made a little drawstring bag to put it in. It was the kind of drawstring bag that could be used to corral something small in the diaper bag or wash all those miniature socks without losing one. Or just for baby to play with.

I was pretty happy with my solution. And I didn't mind making a tiny bit more space in my bin either.

Next came a wedding shower. Hey, hey! 

I found a very pretty little fabric that I can't even remember getting. And then found a bead in my bead jar that matched it perfectly for the string.

I picked a small gift from their registry and went the gift card route again since I wasn't sure about their plans after the wedding.

All bagged up and ready to go.

I really liked this method of using my stash and making these gift bags too. 

So I decided to make up a tag for them. On one side, I put a list of uses for drawstring bags that I found on the internet. And, trust me, this wasn't all of them at all. But there is only so much space on these even if I made them fairly large (about the size of an index card).

enlarge to see my list

On the other side, a simple "to:" sufficed because I included a card inside the bag with the gift.

On the next one I made (another baby gift), I threaded the drawstring through the hole of the tag before securing it inside its casing.  That made it look much better and assured it wouldn't fall off as easily.

I am loving this project. Not only does it add a personal touch, but it also gives them an extra gift that can be quite useful and I'm not buying one more thing that will go in the trash at the end of the day. It's a win for everyone.