Trick-or-Treat Bags

Hi there! Today our blog contributor Trina is stopping by to share these fun Personalized Trick-or-Treat bags with us today!! I know your own Trick-or-Treater would would to have one of these for Halloween!

If you follow me on my blog, Will Cook for Shoes, you will know that I love to spoil my nieces Nina and Tess! When Lindsey at Fort Worth Fabric Studio asked if I wanted to take part in September's feature on Halloween I knew right away I wanted to make Trick-or-Treat Candy Bags for my favourite girls.

This is a fun project and I love that I can customize it for the girls.

This is Tess's first Halloween and while I'm sure she'll get a lot of candy, she won't be consuming it or even that worried about it so her bag is a little smaller. Nina, on the other hand, I think this is the first Halloween she'll understand the Halloween concept so I made her bag big enough to hold a fair amount. I'm a good Auntie like that. 

I played with three different fabrics for this project. It's so easy to customize based on colour and texture. For this project, I used:

• Kona Cotton Black, Robert Kaufman
• Essentials Sparkles Pumpkin Orange Wilmington
• Hatch Metallic Black Timeless Treasures

Larger Bag:

• Exterior fabric: 15 inches wide by 19 inches tall (2 pieces)
• Interior fabric: 15 inches wide by 19 inches tall (2 pieces)
• Handles: 4 inches by 9 inches (2 pieces)
• Batting for Handles: 1 1/4 inches by 9 inches (2 pieces)
• Batting (optional): 15 inches wide by 19 inches tall (2 pieces)

Smaller Bag:

• Exterior fabric: 10 inches wide by 14 inches tall (2 pieces)
• Interior fabric: 10 inches wide by 14 inches tall (2 pieces)
• Handles: 4 inches by 9 inches (2 pieces)
• I didn't use batting on the smaller bag for either the bag or the handles.

Assembly Instructions:

To make the two-tone version of the bag shown above, begin by cutting two pieces of fabric and sewing them together to achieve the required 15 x 19 inches dimensions. (I used a 15 x 15 1/4 inch piece of orange and a 15 x 4 1/4 inch piece of the metallic black. All seams are sewn at a 1/4 inch.) Press seams flat.

If using batting, align to wrong side of exterior fabric. 

The next step is to decorate. Have some fun and customize your bag. I googled for some silhouette images. There are many free, open-source images available! I found a fun cat (for Nina) and a cute pumpkin (for Tess). I printed these out and then used them as a template to cut out using the block Kona fabric (which I had prepped using a light interfacing with double-sided adhesive). To make the letters for the girls names, I found a font in Word that I wanted to use. Using an appropriate font size, I printed them out and used the letters as templates on the prepped Kona fabric. 

Position your designs on the exterior fabric, peel off the adhesive backing and secure silhouette and letters to the bag. Press in place to secure and finish with an appliqué stitch.

If desired, add decorative quilting to your exterior fabric.

Next make the handles for the bag.

Press each of the handle pieces in half lengthwise. Open up and press a 1/4 inch edge. Add in your batting (if using) to one side and fold lengthwise again in half, taking care to match up the pressed seam. Pin or clip in place. Sew along the long side to close seam, add decorative matching stitch to other side. Add more stitching lengthwise for decorative finish and to add strength to the handle straps.

Centre your straps on the right side of the exterior fabric (both pieces) and clip into place. Using a scant 1/4 inch seam, tack your straps into place.

Place your exterior fabrics right sides together. Sew around all three sides (excluding the top).

Place your interior fabrics right sides together. Sew around all three sides (excluding the top).

If you want to give some depth to your bag, this is where you can add box corners. I figured Nina and Tess would appreciate being able to carry a little extra candy in their Trick-or-Treat bags. 

To create box corners, on the large bag, mark in 2 inches from each side (see first image). Pull the side seams and the bottom seams so they match and the line will create a straight line across. Pin in place and sew across the marked line. Trim off excess fabric to a 1/4 inch.

To attached the exterior and interior fabrics, turn the interior fabric right side out and place inside the exterior fabric (which will still be inside out). Match up the exterior and interior along the top so the side seams match. Pin/clip in place all the way around.

Sew around the top with a 1/4 inch seam making sure to leave a 2-3 inch opening.

Use the opening to turn your bag right side out. Particularly if you used batting, you will have to work slowly and gently guide the fabric through the opening. 

Press the top of the bag with an iron to create a clean edge and also to turn in an edge on the opening. Topstitch all around the top of the bag to finish off. 

Give to your favourite trick-or-treater. Fill with plenty of candy first!

I don't know about you but I think Nina is pretty excited about her new bag (and her costume, too). I sure hope I get to go out on Halloween night with this cutie!