Bag #40: Bottle Gift Bag

I picked up my first Christmas catalogue in a shop this week and it made me think that I ought to start getting ready for Christmas.  It seems a long way away but I turn my back and it creeps up on me every year.  At least one person will be getting a bottle of wine from me.  I know they’ll like the wine, but I always worry that it looks as though I haven’t made much effort.  This way, they’ll see I was thinking about them and I’ll probably personalise the bag so there’s no doubt.  This would also be a great idea for birthdays, housewarming, father’s day, etc.

The bag is big enough for most types of bottles.  There was plenty of room width ways with a normal sized wine bottle, so it could easily take a large bottle e.g. bubbly, spirits or a taller bottle, but as always, it’s best to check the measurements of your intended bottle and make any necessary adjustments.

You could decorate it in any way you like, by painting, embroidering, appliqué, etc.  That way, no two people will get the same gift bag. Personalising it adds that special touch.  I haven’t got round to it yet, but I’ll probably sew on a name tag to look like a gift tag.   

There are various types of hessian out there, but to hold the weight of a bottle, it needs to be a stiff, more tightly woven hessian and not the really floppy type.

The finished size is 14”/35.5 cm high, 5”/12.5 cm wide, 4½“/11.5 cm deep, although the measurements inside are smaller as each side is reduced by 1”/2.5 cm due to the side seams.

Skill level: Intermediate as the mitred corners can be tricky the first time you do them.  A quilter would find this EASY.

I used a slightly larger stitch length than normal (3) as I was mostly sewing through several layers and increased it to 4 when sewing through all the layers of the handles.  I used larger seams than usual - ½”/12mm – as they formed a decorative element to the bag as well as forming the construction.

I have included metric and imperial measurements but they are not exactly interchangeable, so you should stick to either one or the other.

Skills used in this project:

• Using overlapping edge seams

Step 1: Cutting out

Cut out the following from sturdy hessian:

5” x 15½”/12.5 cm x 39.5 cm Bag Front and Back (cut 2)

6” x 35”/15 cm x 89 cm Bag Sides (cut 1)

4” x 12”/10 cm x 30.5 cm Bag Handles (cut 2)

Decoration (I used 3 panels cut from fabric)

Step 2: Decorating the bag

Before making the bag, the front panel needs to be decorated.  This could be done by painting, appliqué, embroidery, cross stitch, etc.  You could also decorate the back if you wanted.

I chose to only decorate the front and cut 3 squares from a fabric, folded the raw edges under and sewed all round.

Step 3: Making the handles

Fold the handles in half lengthways to find the centre.  Fold each side in so that the edge is against the fold line.  It will now look like bias binding.  

Fold in half along the original fold line and top stitch close to the edge along each long side of the handle.  This will hold it together and make it look professional.

Step 4: Attaching the handles

Attach one handle to the front of the bag and one to the back.

Prepare the front and back by pressing the top hem.  I allowed ½”/12 mm to turn over the raw edge and then turned over a further 1”/2.5 cm to hide the raw edge and pressed. Do not sew the hem until the handle is in place.

Making sure that the handle is not twisted, push the raw edges at each end of the handle firmly into the fold of the hem you have just pressed about 1½”/4 cm from each side. Now fold the handle up over the hem as shown in the photo.  Sew 2 lines of stitching to hold the hem and handle firmly in place – one will go along the top edge and the other will be along the bottom edge of the hem where the handle is folded up.  This method hides the raw edges of the handle and sews through 2 layers, making it doubly strong.

Do this for both handles, attaching one to the top of the front and the other to the top of the back.

Step 5: Assembling the bag

Prepare the sides by pressing and sewing the hem at each short end, just as you did for the front and back.

Turn under each long side by ½”/12 mm and by the same again and press.

The side panel is sewn first to the front and then to the back, or vice versa.

Match the top seam of the side to the front so that you get an even top line. 

With the raw edge of the side panel folded under by ½”/12 mm, place the edge of the side panel over the edge of the front panel so that they overlap by ½”/12 mm.  Both fabrics should have the right side facing up.  Fold the side panel over the edge of the front panel so that you have ½”/12 mm of the side panel completely encasing one long edge of the front panel (as shown in the photo.  Sew through all these layers almost down to the bottom of the bag. 

The corner needs to be mitred.  If you have sewn a binding around a square/rectangular quilt, the same technique is used.  Stop sewing about ½”/12 mm from the bottom and change the direction of the stitching (without moving the fabric) so that you sew diagonally towards the bottom corner. 

Fold the next part of the side panel so that it encases the bottom of the front panel and make a neat fold at the corner.  Start sewing where the new seam begins (about ½”/12 mm in) and stop short of the next bottom corner and repeat the process.  Sew up to the top where the top edges should meet exactly.

Do the same for the back.  

That’s one Christmas present sorted.  All you need to do is buy a bottle of something tasty to go in the bag.  Now you have one less present to worry about during your hectic December. 

In this project I learnt:

• Most hessian bags appear to be made this way, so I was looking forward to trying it. This method looks and sounds complicated, but it actually very straightforward if you have done any quilting, as I have.  When I made my first quilt, I watched several You Tube videos on how to sew mitred corners and that helped enormously. The trick is not to sew to the end of the seam in the corners and then you can make a neat fold in the fabric. I was worried that some of the hems/seams would be really bulky, but they squashed quite flat and my machine had no problem sewing them. Now that I know this technique works, I’m looking forward to trying it on a larger bag in future.

• It’s a shame that I sewed the middle picture square on a bit wonky.  I thought it was perfect straight when I sewed it on!  I even pinned it first.  Next time I’ll tack!