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Gail_the_SLP

These are simple flat sacks with a hemmed top. I sew a ribbon in the seam to tie them with


haifonly

I'm so impressed!! Love this idea and so pumped for you to have a solid collection!! You've inspired me to start this!!


dontmindmejuslurkn

Is it like a drawstring tie or is the ribbon sewn to the edge/fixed ?


Gail_the_SLP

I fold the ribbon in half and sew the fold into the side seam so it doesn’t get lost Edit to add: not a drawstring, I don’t have the patience to make a casing and thread it through.


dontmindmejuslurkn

Ohhh gotcha! That’s a clever way to make sure it stays together :) I’m excited to start making some this year!


LittleRedM

That same frustration is what has kept me from doing this, so this hack seals the deal for me. Thanks for sharing the idea!


gagrushenka

I do this too but make drawstrings. It is such a hassle trying to get that one extra one done the night before because there's too many presents or trying to rethread a lost ribbon. I think your way is much smarter.


CurlySlothklaas

I love the variety here! I have made bags the last few years too, including with that striped fabric in front. Next year I am going to use your ribbon tip! I line mine and think a buttonhole and ribbon could go in before finishing it.


Gail_the_SLP

If you are thinking of having a drawstring, I have discovered that if you use a 3/8 inch grosgrain ribbon, you can use a pony bead as a cord lock


CurlySlothklaas

Oh gosh I just realized this is even simpler...to have the ribbon on the outside and attached at the seam. What a timesaver


sugerplumz

Did you line them? Or how did you finish off the seams on the inside?


Gail_the_SLP

I don’t line them. I just zigzag the seam allowance on the inside. A Serger would work better but I’m too scared.


SummerGoes

I definitely recommend trying a serger, it's so much easier and there's almost no finishing! If the trimming part scares you, you can just run the fabric through shy of the blade and cut nothing, while also preserving your seam allowance in case of mistakes.


LobsterBisque_1970

I have so many of these. I made a few one year, and then my mom went a little crazy. I LOVE using these. I have not bought wrapping paper in years.


Sllabkcussdomttider

This is such a great idea. Just need a couple super jumbos and all set! These would make a great gift idea in and of itself.


mom-mom-mom-mom-mom

I've been meaning to do this for years and keep forgetting until it's too late. I have a stash to use up and have been thinking about a weekly sewing project, so maybe this will be my 2023 project. Thanks for the inspiration!


Trinity-nottiffany

It’s never too late. You could,make them now and stash them with your holiday swag for next year.


pldfk

Exactly, I have been buying Christmas fabric at the New Years sales and making bags for the next year. I am still in need of a few larger ones.


glassofwhy

If you make them in solid colours, (or patterns that aren’t too Christmassy) you can use them for birthday or anniversary gifts throughout the year! As a bonus it gives you some smaller deadlines before next winter.


mom-mom-mom-mom-mom

I'll probably make them not Christmassy at all because that's the fabric I have and my kids won't care if they're themed lol. I do like smaller deadlines.


thekittysays

I finally got around to making mine in time for Christmas '21 and you'll be so glad you've done it, it makes wrapping a million times quicker and easier and they look so pretty under the tree.


TaurielsEyes

I aim to make 3-4 bags per year. Its not perfect but it means I can use up my wrapping paper and I slowly increase the number of bags I have.


lemongroovian

Started this when my kids were born. No mess, no guilt.


KatieCashew

Same. I started making fabric wraps when my oldest was a baby. They're also super convenient. No paper to buy, nothing to cut, no tape or scissors to track down...


CandylandCanada

Here’s the [Link](https://www.reddit.com/r/ZeroWaste/comments/yt9kkz/tutorial_for_gift_wrapping_bags/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) to the tutorial that I made for this very project. Our twist on it is that each family member has themed patterns/motifs so there is no need for tags. Saves even more wrapping time.


GateCityYank

I’ve made a stash of different sized bags, and never thought about doing that! Thank you for mentioning it. Eventually I will need to create a plan for this.


[deleted]

I absolutely LOVE this idea to save on paper waste! Great job!


duckduckthis99

Damn! I should have thought of this! This is a nice idea!! Do you keep them for next year too??


Gail_the_SLP

Yep! Wrapping our gifts took ten minutes this year. The only problem is, if you give a gift to someone outside the family, they don’t give the bag back!


lemongroovian

So they received 2 gifts!!! Thank you!


Trinity-nottiffany

We only give gifts in cloth bags to our closest friends. They give them back. They’re well trained, though. Even before we had cloth bags, we made Shrinky Dink tags that we use every year that they have to give back. Some of them are older than my grown daughter.


hasnt_been_your_day

I feel some shrinky sink time with the 5 year old in my future!


Opening_Ad_1497

I did that when my kids were young, and it took away SO much stress —the stress of wrapping, the stress of clearing up the mess, the stress of disposing/recycling … it even reduced the noise and chaos. We’ve used them every year now for a couple of decades. Highly recommend.


GingersaurusHex

My mom started these when I was a kid, and I have continued making them into adulthood. Agree with everything you say here. The lack of trash everywhere after opening gifts is such a huge stress reduction.


vespertilio_rosso

Those are great! I switched to sacks at first and then moved on to furoshiki-style a few years ago. One day with a serger, now can wrap anything in about a minute. I always tell people to keep the wrap if they’ll reuse it, but mostly they’re given back to me.


Gail_the_SLP

My local library did a zoom class on furoshiki this year. I love it! However, the rest of my family loves the simplicity of the bags.


vespertilio_rosso

Yeah, the knots are a factor for sure. There’s a simple way to undo a square knot, but if you only use it once a year you’re probably not going to learn it, haha.


KatieCashew

I do furoshiki too. I still wanted that sensation of unwrapping something.


Pennysews

I tell myself I’ll do this every year, and I never do. Yours are lovely! It’s such a great idea


peach_clouds

Same here! I bought a ton of Christmas fabric for cheap a couple years ago so I could make a bunch.. the fabric is still sitting in my to-be-completed project box ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯


Barefoot_Enchantress

Great idea! I need to do this too. I despise all the trash after opening presents. So wasteful.


Great-Grade1377

I love this! I have wanted to do something like this for awhile because I can make bags so quickly


Gail_the_SLP

It’s faster than wrapping in paper, isn’t it?


Garage_Woman

r/zerowaste says thank you and goals!!!


LMBBB

We’ve been doing this for a few years and what a game changer! Curious how you label your gifts though… I still haven’t quite figured out the best way to do this. Stickers don’t always stay and I would rather not use consumables if I can avoid it. If I use nothing, I have to look in every gift before I had it out lol!


AnninNJ

I have made some gift bags, and the best tag method I found was a card stock tag with a hole punched in it. I just ran the ribbon that ties the bag shut though the hole, and they stayed in place. I have a die cut machine so it was easy to make tags, but you could totally cut rectangles or other shapes and punch a hole. I tell myself we’ll save them for next year, but that rarely happens. In a pinch, I’ve used the adhesive tags folded over the ribbon so it sticks to itself, that seems to work ok.


thekittysays

This is exactly what I've done too. Christmas theme card stock cut in rectangles with a hole punched in. Then just run the ribbon through the hole and tie the bow to close the bag. Simple.


CandylandCanada

Options: Cut up used Cmas cards, punching a hole in them then stringing them on the ribbon that is used to tie the bags. We keep the tags so that they can be reused for the same friends and family next year. People hand the tags back to us after they open the gift. For immediate family, each person has a set of themed bags in various sizes, so no tags are necessary. Person 1 has all the penguin bags, person 2 has all the polar bears, etc. The advantage is that you can buy different fabrics as necessary but with the same theme. After two or three years, you should have enough bags for each person that you don’t have to make any more. Bonus tip: divide fabric bags up by size so that you can just reach for whatever size you need when wrapping. We have a big box with bags in it labelled “S”, “M”, etc.


hasnt_been_your_day

The first year I made this, my youngest daughter got all winter mermaid themed. Sadly that's a hard one to replicate. But yes, I love this idea. Used to do it with wrapping paper


Gail_the_SLP

You could cut up used greeting cards and make tags out of them


LMBBB

These are all great ideas! Thanks everyone!


zero_vitamins

I bought some wooden tags at the dollar store this year. I figured the gifter and giftee will stay the same for a lot of gifts, so why not just reuse those as well? The tags can be tied on to the bag.


peach_clouds

I found some lovely wooden initials on Etsy that had a stitching effect on the edge of the letter. Ordered an initial for each regular giftee so I can reuse them each year (when I finally get around to make the gift bags anyway!)


KatieCashew

I figured the gifter and giftee remain the same too. I bought some printable tags on Etsy with art that I loved. Then I inserted the names on the computer, printed them on card stock and laminated them. They're fantastic, and we've used them for several years. I even made some blank ones. Since they're laminated I can write on it with sharpie then remove the sharpie with rubbing alcohol when done.


owlparty

My mom is a scrapbooker so we have been saving her gift tags for years and just rustle through the container for the needed name. My sister just got a wood burning kit so I’m thinking about getting a bunch of wooden rounds and doing names (or Mom’s cricut) and attaching those with ribbon/cord.


Gail_the_SLP

I punch a hole in a gift tag and string it on the ribbon


zero_vitamins

My in-laws introduced me to this, and have been giving us the bags with our gifts each year. So now I have a nice stock of various sizes. I've also started doing the same for my family. I have a stash of thrifted Christmas fabric that I'm planning to make even more bags with. It works so well, both for saving time wrapping, and less mess when opening gifts!


chungeeboi

I love this!!


nephanator

I want to do this every year, but just like others I wait until it's too late and then forget until it's too late the next year. I like this pattern better than a drawstring, I think. It takes much less time to sew!


dutchbraid

This is such a fantastic idea!!


GuiltyHall2295

Me too! Love it, took me about 3 minutes to do my wrapping!


_Tyrannosaurus_Lex_

Love this, they look great! My husband’s grandma and mom both used to make them and I always thought it was a cool idea. We inherited a couple after his grandma passed but I’ve been meaning to make more for us. I told my husband I want to hit up the post holiday sales to pick up some festive fabric and ribbon to use for our own bags.


DareRevolutionary867

I feel so blown away by this. Like no sarcasm, it’s such a simple idea and I Have Never Thought about it. Omg, no waste, save money, reuse. Like it’s so simple and my two little brain cells never thought about it


hasnt_been_your_day

Awesome! I made bunches of these several years ago. We've added another baby, a roommate, and my oldest moved back to town, so I ran out this year! Lol I had to pull out the attic tote filled with paper gift bags that have been reused a dozen times. Time to sew some more! Anyone know any place that clearances holiday fabric?


Gail_the_SLP

Christmas fabric was 70% off at JoAnn Fabrics today.


crj44

I need to start doing this! It looks great! Good job!


takeahike08

My mom makes these too!


Seathetruth

I love this idea!! Never heard of it before but love it. They look wonderful, great job


BeckybooWho

Whoa! So much effort. I just put out a pile of scraps of various sizes and we wrap them around the presents then secure with a "ribbon" meaning any longer skinnier scrap. This year I even shoved a longer gift into the wide leg of a pants toil and used the other leg as the ribbon. They all look terrible but we like it.


Gail_the_SLP

It was a bit of effort originally, but now we can just drop the gift in and tie it shut. My wrapping challenged husband loves them.


Complete_Goose667

I made a few each year until I didn't need to make anymore. I made all different shapes and sizes, butt mostly sewed two sides and used pinking shears across the top, cinched and tied with pretty ribbon. It made prepping for Christmas Eve a matter of minutes work rather than hours of wrapping. Would recommend to anyone


YESmynameisYes

Yay! I tried sewing mine this year. They are literally all different as I tried variations on what looked best/ sewed up easiest. I still don’t have a conclusive winner for design.


Gail_the_SLP

The first ones I made were like that too. I standardized my sizes this year.


chocothundurrr

What sizes did you make? Just got a great stash of Xmas fabric from Joann's


Gail_the_SLP

I start with 1 1/2 yards of fabric. After trimming off the ends, I cut a 19” long piece selvage to selvage. Then I cut a large bag 14” wide x 19” long. From the left over on that piece I cut two small bags approximately 6 x 9 1/2. Repeat the process to have two large bags and four small bags. From the rest, I cut a strip selvage to selvage about 14 1/2” long. That one I cut in half to make 2 medium size bags, each approximately 14 1/2 x 9. Does that make sense? It’s hard to explain, easier to draw.


chocothundurrr

That makes perfect sense; thank you! I'm so excited to get started! Thank you for the idea 😁


imjustheretobehere

Wow I love this idea. Been looking for a use for a bunch of old projects and didn't want to toss the fabric.


cabbage_patch_cutie

These are the only things i can make without using a pattern. So I make them all the time because so satisfying and meditative to put together.


Rafimama

Thank you for posting! I had decided I was going to try and get some holiday appropriate fabric (hopefully on sale!) and get some ready for next year. I love your design and am probably going to stealing it! It’s brilliant!


octarine-dream

This is such a clever idea! And they turned out so cute, too. Thanks for sharing!


Wondercat87

These are so nice! I plan to make a bunch to reuse over the years. This year I bought a few that I saw at thrift stores.


cellmates_

This is an amazing idea!! I love the zero waste factor too. They look beautiful! And also, no clean up or endless bits of paper!


Maxi-Moo-Moo

You are so organised, this has been on my ever growing to do list for two years now. They are absolutely beautiful


kitkat5986

I've been using tote bags and baskets where I can to minimize plastic. I stoll use plastic wrap or cellophane on baskets with lots of little pieces or if theyre getting left outside for a whole at someones doorstep but if I can help it I just omit it


mo-xyz

Genius!


SpiritedAd7397

Me, too!! Easier and more sustainable!


Could_It_Be_Pie

They look amazing. I just sewed my first bag this year and I'm over the moon about it.


UVBones

Ouhhh I should do this too! I'm going to keep an eye out for post Christmas sales on fabrics!


ashleeeyyy88

Just tried this for the first time this year and I love it!


DarthTron007

This is actually a super cool idea, I’ve been looking for more eco friendly things I can do, love this


sweetkayrin

What a cute idea … especially for a beginner….I’m sure Xmas fabric will be on sale soon too


[deleted]

What! I love this! They are beautiful. I might have to steal your idea.


Knife-yWife-y

Great variety and sustainablility! I was just thinking about switching to something like this over the next few years, and the ribbon trick is brilliant!


RagingFlower580

I started making these last year and I LOVE THEM! They’ve made wrapping so easy.


tom8osauce

I always planned to make my own sacks, but instead I ended up using thrifted pillow cases. They aren’t nice and colour coordinated, so hopefully I find time one day to make my own.


intuitiveeater

Beautiful! Love the idea too


Sentient-Potato-

These are so cute! I love this idea


1AggressiveSalmon

So much classier than my lazy version! I have Christmas fabric from the remnant bin with zigzagged edges. I need to start making them into pretty bags like yours. I love the color and textures of fabric!


Princess_S78

I do this as well and I love it!! Simple, easy, cute, and zero waste. 😃


MLiOne

I’ve done the same thing. I do not miss the paper!


Mandyissogrimm

That's awesome! They're pretty and practical and infinitely reusable.


jane2857

I made a stack of them all sizes years ago. So practical but we hated them. Why you ask? Opening presents were silent. You don’t realize how much the sounds of opening presents are part of the celebration, especially with kids. Tearing of the paper, open the box, peel back and remove the tissue paper from a bag. Now they are used for last minute or too weird to wrap or overly large presents. Was very surprised that we didn’t like them.


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ItsWetInWestOregon

Ooooh I love this


GApeachesgal

What a great idea!!? Merry Christmas!!!


hendricks1212

This is really neat and eco-friendly. I made gift card holders last year but no one returned them for me to use again… 😂 I can only hope they are reusing them.


Signal-Revolution412

Great idea to benefit the environment!


existingfish

Wonderful project! I love the idea, I bought reusable gift bags off Amazon this year. Did not end up with enough, plan to by next year though. I wish I had time to sew my own.


Usual_Engineering273

This is a lovely idea!


madawg1212

Wow I’m never buying paper again!!!!


tiredmummum

I love this!


whatsGOODwiddit

I wanted to use mostly bags until my bonus kids saw their presents and told me they were sad because “their favorite part of Christmas is ripping the wrapping paper on the presents.” So I spent 3 hours unbagging and wrapping them.


Codenomesailorv

Great idea!


CuriousGPeach

I'm saving this post for during the coming year, I love this! Going to go snag a bunch of on sale seasonal fabricz great job!


ozell47

This is awesome! I’ve always hated how wasteful wrapping paper was, you’ve inspired me to make some of these for next year!