Gussied Up Toy Bags

This Christmas we were shopping not only for our own little person, but for our four nieces and nephews as well - ie, we bought a whole bunch of toys from Amazon. For the toys with smallish or numerous parts (like blocks and shapes, etc), I was feeling a little guilty/preemptively annoyed that they would be opened on Christmas day, quickly poured all over the floor, and stepped on, with some pieces never to be seen again. To keep things together and organized- I thought it might be helpful to make little bags. I like the idea of making homemade gifts anyway, and we still have a lot of leftover fabric from the kid's room projects to use up - so this is perfect.

Note: I actually made drawstring bags after thinking through the process and building my own pattern. Once I was done, I was devastated that my bags wouldn't close all the way - leaving an opening about the size of a hand that toys would easily fall through. A quick search of mom blogs and pinterest suggests that everyone else has the same problem (it's the same reason that pole-pocket curtains won't open all the way, you're trying to compress fabric without giving it anywhere to go). So I decided to go back and retrofit my nearly-finished bags to have zippers instead so that they would actually close all the way. The directions below are what I should've done from the start, based on the infinite wisdom of Martha.

Step 1. Shopping and Prep
First up, find a good sturdy fabric that can take some abuse (I used leftover cotton drapery fabric), and wash and dry it to preshrink. Then iron and cut out two large rectangles, sized to whatever you're trying to hold. (I used a large cutting board as a pattern). Then take the lining fabric and cut out two rectangles the same size as the exterior pieces. I also bought a pack of multicolored zippers to close the top.

Step 2. Make it Fancy
This is totally unnecessary, but a fun step to make things a little more personal/difficult. Using another Martha idea, with some variegated embroidery thread and an embroidery needle, I just made some simple running stitches and backstitches to add highlights and trace around some of the patterns in the fabric. The idea is just to add a little texture and visual interest, nothing super complicated. This step is easier to do now before the bag is put together so that you can access the back of the fabric, but be careful to stay away from the edges of the fabric, which may get cut off when the bag is put together. [FYI - this is why the bag is lined. If it weren't lined, you'd be able to see the backside of all this stitching, which is unattractive and could snag on toys.]

embroidering around a starfish

closeup - note the cool ombre thread happening

Step 3. Sew the Fabric to the Zipper
Once the detail work is done, it's time to put the bag together. Layer the exterior fabric on the bottom (facing up), then the zipper (facing down), then the liner (facing up). Then sew across the top. Flip, and repeat for the other half of the bag.

Step 4. Sew Panels Together
Now all four pieces of fabric are sewn to the zipper, but not each other. So pull the liners together (facing each other) and the exterior pieces together (facing each other) and sew the three sides of each panel. Don't sew over the zipper, and don't sew the liners all the way closed.

Step 5. Flip and Hand Stitch
Using the remaining opening in the liners, flip the bag right-side out. Hand stitch the remaining gap in the panels, then push the liners through the zipper into the exterior panels. The bag should now be finished.

Step 6. Add Ribbon, stuff with toys
Lastly, I added a couple inches of ribbon to the zipper pull, just to make it a little easier to grab. Then the bags are truly all the way done and ready to be stuffed with whatever needs to be put away. For us right now, it's small teething toys.

a bit of ribbon added to the zipper makes it easier to pull

finished bag holding our many teething toys

soooo many teething toys.