Fabric Gift Wrap Challenge

The mountainous pile of gift wrap after Christmas morning was in inspiration for me to make my first fabric gift bag a few years ago. Since then, I’ve made more and more bags and have wrapped about 90% of this year’s gifts in reusable fabric rather than printed plastic. I could go on and on about saving the planet and reuse, but honestly, after the bags are made, wrapping is ridiculously simple- put the gift in the bag and tie a knot. Done. I’m all about making Christmas (and birthdays) easier and simpler.

Here’s my challenge to you:

Make and use 5 fabric gift bags this year. You can use them within your house so you don’t have to make them again next year, or gift them far and wide, hoping to spread the practice of reusable bags. Below is a tutorial on how to make bags along with dimensions for bags that will fit DVDs and DS games, but you can make bags in any size you’d like.

The tutorial:

Materials needed-

• 2/3 yard of fabric to make 5 bags, 2 DVD sized and 3 DS game sized. I use cotton or cotton/polyester blend fabric, usually in dark colors because it’s harder to see though.
• Matching thread
• Sewing machine. We’re only using a straight stitch on a lightweight fabric, so almost any machine will do.
• Cording or ribbon, about 3-4 yards

For the DVD sized bag, cut or tear the material to 12 inches tall by 16 1/2 inches wide (you’ll get 2 from 45 inch wide fabric with a little left over). For the DS game size bag, make the material 9 ½ by 15 inches (you’ll get 3 from a width of fabric).

Fold the fabric right sides together so that the short ends meet. Sew a seam starting about 1 inch from the top to the bottom of the fabric. Finger press the fold at the bottom of the bag. Open up the bag so that the seam meets the finger pressed fold. Press the seam open with an iron. Sew across the bottom of the bag.

At the top of the bag, there’s a part of the seam that you left open. Stitch a “U” down one side, across the seam, and back up the other side. The will help reinforce the fabric for the drawstring and keep the raw edges of the fabric inside the casing.

Fold down the top edge of the fabric about ¼ inch. Fold it down again about ¾ inch. NOTE: If your ribbon is wider than about ½ inch, you may need a larger casing to make it fit. Pin and sew all the way around the top of your bag.

Cut your ribbon or cording to fit through your casing plus a few inches for the knot. That’ll be about 19 inches for the DVD sized bag and 17 inches for the DS game sized bag. Use a bodkin or safety pin to pull the ribbon or cord through the casing. Tie an overhand knot to keep the cord or ribbon from falling out. Turn the bag right side out and you’re done!

Leave me a comment if you have any questions and I'll try to get back to you.

Sea Glass at Alexandra's Battery Park

The other place I found sea glass in Bermuda is just outside of St. George at Alexandra's Battery Park beach. As before, if you click on the map above, it'll take you to a page where you can view or download a .pdf of the map. They're also available on Bermuda where all of the tourist brochures are located.

Since we were staying at the Dockyard, we took a ferry to St. George. *FAIR WARNING* The ferries do not go to St. George as often as to Hamilton and it's a longer ride, so be sure to check your schedule carefully to help plan your day.

From the ferry landing, you can walk or take a taxi. Basic direction: turn right and walk until you get to the Battery. You'll pass houses, more houses, a farm, and more houses before you get to the Battery.

We didn't find as much glass here as I did near the Dockyard, but rumor has it that there's a cave that is much better, but you can only get to it at low tide. Unfortunately, we were there just after high tide. Still, if you're staying in St. George, this is much closer for you than the Dockyard beach and certainly worth a visit.

Glass Beach in Bermuda (Dockyard)

This is a map of Bermuda. You can get one just like this either by clicking the picture and downloading the .pdf file from the tourism website or pick one up in Bermuda.On the back it has insets of the Dockyard, Hamilton, and St. George.

The beach where I got most of my glass is near the Dockyard where our ship docked. I took a bus from the dockyard to the Royal Naval Cemetery (it's shown on the map) about a mile away. When I was ready to go home, I found a blue pole and the bus took me back. Fortunately for me, the buses went on strike a few hours later, but I got my trip into the beach first.

To get to the beach, get off the bus at the cemetery. Turn around and face the turquoise apartments (there are 4 of them). Look to the left. There's a foot path that goes behind the buildings and down some stairs. Take it down to the beach. There's a beach to the left with a little glass, but mostly sand. There's a little dock straight ahead. There's a longer beach with lots of glass to the right. Take your pick!


If it's high tide, you may get wet up to your knees going to the beach on the right. Some of the glass may be sharp so use caution including wearing flip flops or beach shoes.

There are some great threads on Cruise Critic about how to find the beach.
With pictures
Google Maps pictures

Sea Glass Wreath

So starts a string (hopefully) of posts about things I’ve seen and been doing recently. This one’s about a sea glass wreath I just finished making.

So, here’s how I did it:

1. Gather your supplies. I used sea glass gathered from Bermuda, silver plated wire (I used 24 gauge, but 20 might have been better), a wire wreath form, and pliers/wire cutters.




2. Cut your wire to a length that’s comfortable for you to work with. Mine was about 18 inches. Make a hanging loop and attach it to the form. Anchor it to the wreath by folding in half and twisting tight. Wrap around your glass and secure on the back to the form. You’ll probably need to go around each piece 2-3 times.




3. Add another piece, slightly overlapping the pieces, if possible.




4. If you find that the glass is slipping out of place, pass the wire to the back of the form and pull it tight either using your hands or grasping the wire with pliers.




5. When you get to the end of your wire, either twist it to another wire or around the form wires. Tuck loose ends of the wire in to keep from scratching yourself or the wall when it’s hanging. Keep cutting new wire and securing glass to the frame until the whole thing is covered.




6. Tighten the wires to the glass by GENTLY grasping the wire with round nosed pliers and twisting until tight. You can do this on either the front or back (or both).



7. Voila!


This tutorial is for personal use only. Please do not repost it or print it for sale or distribution without prior consent. You are welcome to link to this post if you would like to share this information.