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Drawstring Bag Advent Calendar

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After Janssen posted her adorable Advent calendar, I decided to blatantly copy her and post my own.  Because imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?  Bonus – this project is simple enough that there’s still time to get it done before tomorrow!
Even better, you can all copy, too.  As you may suspect, I have a fond affection for the holidays, and for holiday traditions.  And I want to see all of yours!  So I can steal your ideas, too.  So I thought it would be fun to do a little linkup on traditions – Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Thanksgiving, whatever.  I want to hear about them.  I’ll be sharing activities and songs and talks that will be included each day for the Advent calendar, as well as other Christmas traditions we have.
So get ready to link up next Wednesday, December 5th, with your favorite holiday traditions!*
*Please participate.  I kind of have a fear that no one will.
Drawstring Bag Advent Calendar
You’ll Need:
Fabric for the bags (depends how big you want your bags…I used ,maybe half a yard? I’m so bad at estimating these things)
Fabric for the backing (depends how big your backing is)
Some sort of backing – mounting or wood or plain ol’ cardboard
Stapler
24 clothespins
Glitter + craft glue (or just paint)
Paintbrush
Ribbon or twine
Sewing machine
Safety pin
1. Make the Drawstring Bags
 1.a. Cut out a piece of fabric.  I liked the sizing best when it was
about 4″ x 5.5″, but you can make it whatever size you want.  (I
happened to have this snowflake fabric lying around.  It was randomly
included in a fabric.com order I made about a year ago, and is
absolutely hideous for anything but something like this.)
1.b. Fold down the longer side and sew it down.  I used a straight stitch for most of them and tried a zigzag on the last few, but I don’t think it really matters.
1.c.  Fold your fabric in half (with the long ends coming together) with right sides together.
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 1.d. Beginning UNDER your first stitch, begin sewing along your open side and open bottom.  Do not sew along the top (where you previously folded and sewed down the fabric).  Make sure you start sewing under the stitch so you don’t close off the hole for the string.

 

 

1.e. Turn your bag right side out.
1.f. Pin a safety pin through the end of your ribbon (I used twine) and push it through one opening in the casing on the top of the bag.  Work it through and pull it out the other end.  Tie a knot with the two ends and you’re done with your bag!  Make 24 of these (sounds like a lot, but it goes super fast once you have the fabric cut and you get into the rhythm).

 

 

2. Make the Backing

2.a. Find some sort of backing.  I was just going to use a thicker cardboard, but then we had some old, thick backing that worked perfectly.  You could also use a piece of wood, I would imagine.
Stretch your fabric over the backing and adhere to the back (I’m classy and just stapled it in place.  it’s the back!).  I used some white fleecy felt that I had and did a second layer with some pretty, stretchy white lace.

3. Make your Clothespins

3.a. Paint your clothespins however you like.  I painted them with regular craft glue and then sprinkled them with gold glitter.  I’ll probably go back over them with some more glue so glitter doesn’t get eeeeeverywhere.  I imagine that fancy stuff called Mod Podge I keep hearing about would work, as well.

4. Put it Together!

4.a. Hot glue your clothespins to your backing and clip the bags on.  (Don’t worry, those of you who are very concerned about my clothespins not being straight, they’re not glued down yet.)

 

 

Admire your pretty work!
Linking up with the winthrop chronicles

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