Looking for a better way to wrap a gift? Read on!
I decided to ban wrapping paper from my house a few years ago. Why buy expensive paper only to have it ripped up and thrown away after just one use? And why store the stuff when your family has declared a moratorium on gifts for the sake of gifts? I don’t want you to think I’m a total Scrooge – I still enjoy giving gifts when I can find something truly beautiful and/or useful for my family. But wrapping paper? Hey, there has to be a better way!
I dusted off my sewing machine a couple of months ago and celebrated when it still worked. (Don’t laugh too hard — running a business does not leave much time for sewing…) After a few trips down the wrong path, I finally found a fast and easy way to assemble my new Bosa Nova Bags. Here’s a picture of my first successful attempt. This one got stitched, un-stitched, and re-stitched a few times, but it looks pretty good!
These wonderful little bags are made from two pieces of fabric, a few Lazy Girl Handy Tabs, some Steam-a-Seam 2 fusible web and a few (very few) seams. Fast, cute, functional. What more could I want? Well, if you must know, it would be lovely have someone else write those pesky instructions, but I digress…
To make great Bosa Nova Bags, you need a lining fabric with strong contrast to the cover fabric. With the seam allowances on the outside, the lining is an important part of your bag design. Be adventurous! Isn’t that lime green awesome? And check this out – even the bottom of the bag looks great!
Bosa Nova Bags are fun to make – and your gifts never looked so good! If you just can’t bear to part with them, make a bunch from your favorite fabrics and use them to hold your treasures. Here’s a photo of the new pattern.
I dug into my stash of hand-dyed fabric and used one of Diane Swallen’s water-color sripes for the Small bag. I painted the fabric for the Large and Tall bags with Artist’s Paintstiks and a couple of our Leaves rubbing plates. The Tall bag is perfect for a bottle of wine, and I included a section in the pattern to help you change the dimensions if you need to make a bag of a different size.
I have to admit that the pattern just went off to the printer. I keep telling myself that I won’t do this last-minute fire drill before Quilt Market, but it’s not working… At any rate, the patterns should start showing up in retail stores at the end of October.
Now I’ve got to get started on the next pattern. Can you say “Cha Cha” bags? Or perhaps “Salsa” bags?
Joan R. says
October 3, 2008 at 11:02 amHello Shelly,
The gift bags are beautiful. Great idea and not tons of work. Even an unskilled seamstress, (I use that term losely) like me, can make these bags. I am looking forward to your next creative endeavor.
Joan R.
Rayna says
October 3, 2008 at 5:40 pmYa know, Shelly, I’ve been thinking about those bags since Maumee. Even though I don’t SEW and the idea of constructing something gives me hives, they are so tempting. What else am I going to do with all this hand-printed fabric? So, I need to order a pattern and see what happens. If they are idiot-proof and actually turn out, we’ll see what happens after that.
xo
Rayna
Jackie VAn Fossen says
October 6, 2008 at 9:19 pmWhere are your patterns available in Edmonton, Alberta Canada or anywhere in Alberta.
Thanks.
Shelly says
October 7, 2008 at 11:38 amHI All!
Thanks for the great feedback on the bags. I’m stitching up a bunch for my distributors to display at fall market, and I’m really having fun with them.
Yes, Rayna, even you can make these little bags. They are absolutely a perfect project for your hand-printed fabrics. The pattern includes instructions for where to place embellishements to make sure they show up on the finished bags.
Jackie – the patterns are still at the printer. We expect to be shipping them sometime next week. I can’t give you a specific place in Alberta to look, but Quilting Arts and our other mail-order retailers will have them in stock shortly.
Shelly
Lenore says
October 7, 2008 at 12:56 pmLove the bag! Saw it on the back cover of the Quilting Arts Magazine Oct/Nov Issue and wanted to Order it NOW!!! It is a great looking bag and I hope it will be available so I could sew them up for Christmas.
Great pattern.
Lenore
Jeanne Turner McBrayer says
October 13, 2008 at 7:24 amThese gift bags are so beautiful that they could be the gift itself. I think I will start painting some fabric to have ready for when the pattern is available.
Cathy says
September 4, 2009 at 9:04 amI so wish you could buy this pattern over the internet. I live in Costa Rica and it is extremely hard and costly to have items mailed here. Any chance you will distribute electronically?
Shelly says
September 8, 2009 at 9:26 amHi Cathy, thanks for your comment. At this time, we only sell our patterns through retailers and distributors. We don’t have a retail website that would make selling downloads possible. But I will put this on our “things to consider” list.
DeDe Palmer says
November 29, 2009 at 3:11 pmI just saw your Bosa Nova Bags online and fell in love with them. I am currently visiting in Philadelphia, but live in San Diego, CA and would love to know where I can purchase your pattern. Thank you