by Ann
Thanks to the Dec., 2009 Quiltmaker, page 20, I have discovered two new techniques for gift bags: one for invisibly stitching up the opening left in the lining for turning the bag, and the second for squaring off the bottom of the bag. To stitch up the opening, you stitch all the way around both the outer bag fabric and the lining. Then, when you stitch the two together at the top, you leave an opening for turning. “But how to hide the opening?” you ask? Simple – just top stitch around the top after you turn the bag!
The technique for squaring off the bottom is a bit more complex, and I haven’t tried it yet. It requires that the front and back of the bag and the lining be made from two pieces of fabric, so that there are two side seams on both the outer bag and the lining. Before stitching anything together, you cut a 2″ (or larger or smaller, depending on the size of the gift) square out of the bottom two corners of both the front and back pieces. Then you sew the front and back together along the bottom straight edge. Then you square it off somehow and stitch it. Obviously that last step is a bit vague, as I have described it. It is clearer in the article. I will try it out after I finish the 6th of the Hungarian gift bags I am making. More news as events warrant.