I always make up a few spare gift bags around Christmas for an emergency- popping a bottle of something yummy in a pretty handmade bag makes the perfect gift.

You will need:

• 2 fat quarters cotton fabric, one each for the outer and lining
• 50cm ribbon
• Sewing machine
• Basic sewing kit

 Seam Allowance is 1cm

Step 1

Cut out two rectangles 8” x 14” (4cm x 20cm) from both fabrics, you will have four rectangles all together.

Cut out 1 ½” (4cm) squares at the bottom corners only from all of the fabric panels. Pay attention to the direction of the print- you don't want to end up with upside-down reindeer's!

Step 2

Taking one of each fabric, place them together.  Put the main fabric right side up and lining fabric right side down so the right sides are together – pin the two fabrics together at the top, short edge and sew.  Repeat with the other two rectangles.

Separate the lining from the outer fabric and press the seam open.  Press the seam allowance towards the lining fabric.

Step 3
Bring the 2 joined panels together with right sides together aligning the seams.  Use a pin to help line up the lines of sewing as show in the photo.   Insert the ribbon, folded in half, 15cm down from the seam on the outside of the bag, facing inwards, and pin in place.

Step 4
Sew the four long straight edges, securing the ribbon in the seam allowance.

DO NOT SEW THE CORNER BOXES.

Pinch out the corners so they are flat, bringing the lines of stitching to meet in the middle.  Sew three corners closed, leaving one corner open in the lining fabrics.

Step 5
Turn out the box by the final corner, by pulling the fabric through the hole.  It's easiest to find the opposite corner and ease it though.  Try not to pull on the opening as the stitching can come undone. 

Poke the seam allowance of the open corner inside and sew the corner closed either by hand or by machine stitching close to the edge.

Step 6

Push the lining into the bag then press the top edge flat.  Topstitch the top edge of the bag  approximately 1cm down from the top.

Step 7

Pop in a bottle of their favourite tipple, and tie the ribbon around the neck of the bottle.  Fold down the top of the bottle bag to expose the lining.

 There you go, a fun and simple project, you can whip up a handful of these in a couple of hours so you always have one on hand when you need one.

Shop our range of Christmas Fabrics here!