Hi everyone! My name is Beth Byrge from 110 Creations, and I am excited to be guest posting on the ISee Fabric blog. Today, I’m sharing an idea for using up those larger linen scraps. Create beautiful, long-lasting reusable gift wrap bags!
If you’re like me, you have a LOT of ISee Midweight Laundered Linen (https://iseefabric.com/products/desert-linen). It’s one of my all-time favorite fabrics. I always have bits left over from my garment projects, and not wanting any of it to go to waste I decided to make some gift bags. For this project, I used the free Zero Waste Tie Bag pattern from Rarely Idle (https://www.rarelyidle.com/resources/zwrectangletiebag). This pattern is more like a tutorial, giving directions for creating bags of any size. I prefer having a paper pattern, so I went ahead and drafted a few sizes on paper to maximize my scraps. Here I used these beautiful Isee Linen colors: Pond, Sea Glass, French Rose and Tawny.
The bag is constructed from four identical triangles. To draft the triangle, first, select the length of the bottom of your bag. The smallest it can be is 7”. A 7” bag, when completed, can hold a jewelry box sized item. It also makes an adorable purse for a doll.
Once you have your base length, you will need to draw the other straight side of the triangle. This is the tie. The length can vary, but it must be at least the length of the base, plus ¼ of the length of the base, tall. The max height is the length of the base x 3. Pick a spot anywhere along that line, being mindful of the size of your scraps. If you’re more of a visual person, this illustration should help!
Lastly, use a straight edge to connect your perpendicular lines. Now you have your triangle pattern piece!
I grabbed all my scrap linen and cut triangles wherever I could, keeping the grainline running properly. My bags vary in size from the small 7” base, to an 8” base, to a 9” base. I once made a bag with a base of 12” and that’s fairly large, big enough for an adult purse. As I said above, you will need four triangles for each bag. Feel free to mix up your fabrics! I think it’s fun to combine different colors.
Follow the directions in the tutorial to construct the bags. I highly suggest staystitching the long edge as soon as you cut your linen. This edge is more or less on the bias and it WILL stretch!
I used grey thread throughout since I was mixing up my colors. You will be topstitching and the thread will be visible.
Make sure to press well along the way. The wrinkles in linen are part of their character, but your gift will look more sharp if you press the fabric before you wrap it.
I’m so glad to have a stash of these stylish bags! I’m pretty bad about keeping paper gift wrap on hand, and I hate how wasteful it is. I’m sure I will use these eco-friendly bags over and over again!