Ruffled Cinch Bag {Mini} Tutorial...Cutest bags EVER!!!

It's okay, take a minute and just enjoy the cuteness of it all! I still giggle every time I see my girls sporting one of these.

Best part???

Each bag cost me less than $1.50 to make.

So here's the story quickly...

Attended a Thirty-One Party and saw this...

Loved it, ordered it. OH! Happy me.

Had a trip to Sea World with my two super-cute nieces planned, thought "How cute would it be to have those little munchkins running around Sea World with their own little ruffled bag to tote a few goodies in?"

Loved the idea-so excited, got all the supplies needed...ran out of time before the trip to get them made...bad aunt and mom!

Did however get them made after we got home. Perfect for toting around our new friends...

Do you love the outfit? She's so in the I can dress myself phase...

Seriously, super easy, and the compliments we get! Makes me a happy "Yes, I made those," mama.

Here's the skinny on making one for your little munchkin:

Small piece of muslin to make the bag

*Mine were 20 x 14 inches

1 XL plain T-shirt for the Ruffles

*I bought X-LG t-shirts from my local Dollar Tree, one shirt easily covered one bag in the size I cut. I just bought a few different colored t-shirts and the girls picked their designs.

Matching ribbon for the ties

*I used about 8 ft of ribbon per bag

That's it! So let's make one of these cuties...

I checked out this tutorial

from Little Birdie Secrets

 to learn the basics of how to make a cinch bag.

 And made my bag...

From there, I cut the t-shirt into 2 1/2 inch wide strips. I cut the strips across the width of the shirt-from one side seam to the other, so that it made a great big loop. And NO HEMMING! 

 Hooray for jersey knit!

Then I marked out my guide lines on my bag (1 inch up from the bottom and then every 2 inches) and started sewing the loops into place...

I didn't pre-pull my ruffles, I just tuck the fabric up under my presser foot as I go-there is no rule that says you can't pre-make the ruffles, I'm just a bit lazy that way!

Keep adding those ruffles until you reach the top...

Thread your ribbons through the top of the bag and then sew them into place on the bottom of the bag.

Pack your bag, cinch it up, and you're on your way!

You can finish the top in a few different ways, in fact if you look really closely at this picture, you might notice that I finished three of the five bags in a different way.

{I didn't take any pics of them individually, sorry. I'll add some in in a bit.}

 I love how the pink one came out but it was by far the hardest-probably just me.

I cut a strip of pink 4 inches wide and folded it over the top of the bag being sure that when I started sewing I would be below the pocket that the ribbon would run through.

And then I ruffled.

 It was probably hard because I was so paranoid that I was going to sew my ribbon channel shut and then there would be no "cinch"!

I also had to cut a slit into each of the sides so that the ribbon could come out.

Method 2 (the purple bag) was just to add another ruffle right over the seam line of my ribbon channel. Easy, cute, but you can see the different color of the bag along the cinched up edge.

And Method 3 ( the white & coral bag) I like this one best overall. When making the bag, I left the top alone-I didn't sew a channel for the ribbon. Instead, I folded one of the long loops in half, long side to long side, and sewed the edges closed to form the channel.

I then sewed on all my ruffles, making sure the last ruffle lined up with the top edge of the bag.

I then sewed the channel piece onto the edge of the top ruffle, seams together, so that when the ribbon was threaded through, all you see is a matching, finished edge.

What ever you choose, have fun and enjoy your ruffles!

Happy Crafting.

 

You can find this post at the CSI Project Knock Off Challenge!