By Emily R.
Thursday has become my favorite day of the week, and it has everything to do with the fact that I get to watch my niece, Pippa. She is the sweetest little girl, and I love watching her grow. One of our favorite things to do together is visit our local bookstore. She LOVES reading (and playing with all the stuffed animals). After last month’s craft, I thought it would be nice to pair our kid’s craft with a book you can read to your child. Reading has been such an easy way for me to bond with my niece and teach her new things.
The children’s book we chose this month is Mirabel’s Missing Valentines by Janet Lawler. This sweet story is about a shy little mouse named Mirabel. Mirabel is so nervous to pass out valentines at school, she doesn’t realize there’s a hole in the bag that’s holding all of her valentines. As she begins to panic about her missing valentines, she’s quickly greeted by the many passersby whose day the valentines brightened. For the craft, I chose a valentine Bag – without the hole 😉
Materials
- Sewing machine
- Needle
- White Thread
- 2 Buttons
- 5 Basic Felt Pieces ( 9″ X 12″) By Creatology in Baby Pink
- Felt Heart Stack By Creatology
- Washable Marker
- Scissors
Step One
Take your first of the 9X12 fabric sheets and measure three 3-inch strips (width wise). Cut out your three strips. Two strips will be used as the sides of the bag & one as the bottom of the bag.
Repeat this process on your second fabric sheet – two strips will be used as handles for the back of the bag (the third strip is simply extra in case you make any errors).
TIP: I marked the 3 inch point at the top and bottom of the sheet with a washable marker to help me guide my scissors
Step Two
Take your third and fourth fabric sheets & sew one of your 3-inch strips between them. To give you a visual, pretend your 3-inch strip is the binding to a book and the whole sheets are the cover & back.
TIP: Make sure you are keeping the seams on the same side – this will make for a prettier look in the end
TIP: I used my ¼ inch footer– if you don’t have a sewing machine you can sew by hand
Step Three
Repeat step two – by the time you are finished with this step you should have ‘closed the circle’ per say.
TIP: Make sure your seams are on the OUTSIDE. Once we are done sewing on the bottom, we are going to flip it right-side out
Step Four
Take your final 3-inch strip, and sew it to the bottom of one of the whole sheets (it doesn’t matter which one, just remember when you sew it on to keep the seam on the same side as the others).
TIP: You’re going to have some extra length on the strip when you sew it on – just cut away the excess (it should be roughly 2 inches)
Step Five
Sew the remainder of the bottom 3-inch strip to the adjacent fabric. You are creating the bottom of the bag in this step. Once you are done, flip the bag right-side out. At this point, ALL the seams should be on the inside of the bag.
Step Six
Now you are going to sew on the top cover to the bag. Decide which whole sheet is going to be the ‘front’ of your bag. Take your fifth and LAST whole sheet and sew the 9” side to the whole sheet that represents the ‘back’ of your bag (REMEMBER – keep the seam on the INSIDE of the bag just like all your others)
Step Seven
In this step we are going to shape our top cover & cut away the extra fabric we don’t need. Lay your bag down (front-side up), and fold the top cover over to the front. Find the place on the bag you want the top cover to end and trim off the excess fabric.
TIP: I chose to round my top cover but, you could cut straight across if you want more of a squared off look
Step Eight
Take your last two 3-inch strips, and space them evenly apart on the BACK of your bag (try not to put them at the top of the bag but, they also shouldn’t fall directly in the middle). Take the ends of the strips & hand sew them to the bag.
Step Nine
Next, you’ll roll the fabric strips around to create a circle (you’re going to cut away the excess fabric, however, make sure you leave enough fabric for the handle to be wrapped around the back of a chair). Once you have cut away the excess, you’ll cut a small slit into the end of the strip (this will be where the button fits through).
Step Ten
Sew a button into the bag (on top of where the handle is attached to the bag).
Step Eleven
Now it is time to decorate your valentine bag! I choose to keep things simple & hand sew a red heart onto the front of mine. I used the extra red hearts to cut out letter/shapes for the rest of my décor.
