These DIY trick or treat bags for halloween are simple, budget friendly and so spooky cute. Let’s get started ghouls!
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I’ll be honest- ghost and goblins are not exactly what I look forward to when it comes to fall. More like sitting on the front porch, surrounded by pumpkins, drinking a hot cup of coffee or maybe inside baking pumpkin bread in my bread machine. The crisp air, falling leaves, I am truly just the best version of myself come fall.
Halloween is cool too, it’s just not usually top on my list to plan for. But, as my kids are getting older, they are begging for us to decorate for halloween so of course, I am trying to embrace it.
We are going to add some simple but spooky halloween decorations to our porch next week. We have gathered a list of spiders climbing on the house (giant ones! eek), some bats flying on the house (which I do actually love the look of this), and a Skeleton hanging out on the porch rocker, I can hardly wait to share it with you all. In the mean time, I decided to make handmade halloween tote bags.
Halloween Treat Bag Pattern
Supplies
- 1 yard of burnt orange fabric for your bag – depending on how many bags you are making, I made 3 halloween treat bags with 1 yard of scrap fabric.
- 1/2 yard of quilted fabric for your shapes – Any fabric you choose or a scrap piece of a cutter quilt. Now, don’t go cutting grandmas hand quilted quilt and if you do, do not mention my name!
- Fabric or cotton webbing for your handles.
- Scissors
- Sewing Pin Needles
- Sewing Machine
- A printer to print the free templates I am giving you-otherwise you can draw on a piece of card stock paper whatever design you choose.
- I did not use lining fabric, but you could.
While walking in my favorite Friday morning thrift store a few weeks back, I was rambling through their scrap fabric pile. A piece of burnt orange fabric caught my eye, immediately I grabbed the fabric like someone was going to take it from me. If I’m being honest, this thrift store does have women RUN in at opening time, I wouldn’t know because I am not one of them. Ok, maybe I am, shhh.
So basically, what I am trying to say is you can either search through your scrap fabric drawer at home for scrap fabric or fight the ladies at the thrift store for some, either way, this can be an extremely budget friendly project. Cheap, simple and handmade. If you’ve been around long enough, you know this is the only way projects get done around here.
When I saw that burnt orange fabric that morning, my mind immediately went to halloween bags. I had a perfectly imperfect cutter quilt at the house, just dying to be used. I just knew these two fabrics would be a perfect match, coming together for the perfect halloween treat bag, cottage style of course!
DIY trick or treat bags for Halloween | free pattern
Okay Ghouls, enough chit chat. Let’s get started.
STEP 1- CUT AND TRACE
First, start by printing your free template that I have provided for you. If you would rather draw your own, you can do that on card stock paper.
Next, cut and trace your shape onto your chosen fabric, I chose a cutter quilt. I do this by pinning my template on to my fabric and cutting around it.
STEP 2 – CUT YOUR BAG OUT
Using the fabric for your bag, cut 2 square pieces of fabric measuring 12×14 each.
STEP 3 – SEW YOUR SHAPE ONTO THE FRONT BAG PIECE
Now, Pin the shape onto the front piece of your fabric. Start sewing your shape onto your fabric, removing the pins as you go.
STEP 4
Fold the top of your fabric over about an inch and sew a straight line on both pieces of your bag to hide the top raw edges.
STEP 5 – SEW YOUR BAG TOGETHER
I jumped the gun on this bag, you don’t need to have your handle pieces yet. That is our next step.
Next, turn both pieces of the fabric so that the correct sides are touching, leaving the back of the fabric showing.
Leaving a 1/2 inch seam allowance, you are going to sew a straight line across the bottom of the bag and both side of the bag. Leaving the top of the bag opened.
Essentially, you are sewing 3 straight lines, making a U shape. Do not turn your fabric right side out, yet.
STEP 6 – SEW YOUR STRAPS
Now, I sewed my own handle pieces and this is totally an option but just know they are perfectly imperfect this way and if I could go back, I would have used cotton webbing for this. I will show you how I sewed my own handle pieces incase you are like me, and don’t like to buy anything if you can make do without it.
So first, cut your chosen fabric for your strap pieces. I chose drop cloth.
Cut each piece of your straps 4 inches wide and 18 inches long (2 pieces)
Now, double fold the straps. Folding one side, then folding the other on top.
Next, Pin the fabric together, then sew one straight line down the edge of the fabric.
Finally, now that you have your bag and straps sewn together (separately) we are going to sew the straps onto the bag.
STEP 8 – ASSEMBLE YOUR BAG
So first, Making sure your fabric is still inside out, place your straps pieces near the middle of each side of the bag and pin together.
You can either sew one straight line across the bottom like I did, or sew a square shape on each side of the straps for added support.
STEP 9 – YOU DID IT!
Flip your bag inside out and give your self a high five. You did it, sister. You just made the most cutest DIY halloween treat bag for your kids to use for years to come.
Now the fun part, using your halloween treat bags to collect candy on halloween night, at halloween parties and getting to say ‘I made that’..man! That feels good.
Now if you are thinking, that was way too simple. You are probably right, Im sure there is much better treat bag tutorials out there and much more (complicated) ways we could have done this. But, if you are anything like me and like to take the easy way out or you are just a beginner sewer, perfectly imperfect is the way to go.
MORE HALLOWEEN TRICK BAG IDEAS:
- This simple halloween tote bag could actually be used to make pillows. Lose the strap pieces, sew one more straight line across the top edge and you have yourself an adorable halloween pillow to add to your farmhouse or throw on your fall front porch.
- Use the same pattern for all of your bags or change the bag designs. A few ideas: a black cat, a jack o lantern face, a pumpkin, a ghost. If you’re really good, maybe even try a spider web!
- Make your bag a bit larger and use as an adult tote bag through the fall season. Who doesn’t want to wear around a pumpkin tote?
- If you aren’t sure how to sew but still want to make a DIY halloween treat bag, just grab you one of those canvas tote bags from hobby lobby, cut out a shape and hot glue your shape onto your bag.
- You spent all that time making your bags, let’s put them to good use! These special Halloween trick or treat bags are so cute, you could hang them from a peg rail for decor all through the halloween season.
Like I mentioned earlier, halloween isn’t my favorite holiday but what I do love about Halloween is the chance to craft. An excuse to use my hands to create?! Now I can find joy there!
What I love most about these halloween treat bags is that they can carry my kids through all the years of trick or treating. Meaning I don’t have to buy a new bag every year, they are handmade and who knows, maybe one day they will pass them on to their kids.
Tell me in the comments friend, what is your family doing for halloween projects?
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