Halloween Treat Bag: Playing with the Pattern

I, like many people, enjoy Pinterest. My sewing boards are rather robust. And while I pin many things, I definitely don't get around to trying them all that often. However I knew that I had a pin for a Halloween bag by Ellison Lane, and after picking up some ADORABLE (mostly Cotton+Steel) Halloween novelty fabrics at Pink Castle Fabrics I knew I wanted to make my girls some trick or treating bags.

The second from the bottom are Lizzy House ghosts but the rest are from Cotton+Steel's collaborative Boo! line.

The things was, when I actually started using the pattern (one that many people had commented on and many people had pinned) there was a MAJOR error in the cutting instructions. (The dimensions for the batting were way off!) And then the instructions for the handles seemed waaaaaaay more complicated than they needed to be. So I made up the handles.

Folded them in half and pressed well.

I then pressed the edges in about 1/4" and put a piece of batting in the middle to make the handles cushier.

I sewed down each side and once down the centre to give it some strength and because it looks pretty.

This is the first bag, for my youngest.

Ghost lining=awesome. The french seams are a nice part of this pattern.

BUT I knew what I wanted to change for my second. The measurements were just a little tight for my liking since things tend to shift when you quilt them. And I wanted to be able to see more of the accent fabric on the bottom. I suggest you cut your main outside fabric at  14" x 13" and the accent at 14" x 3.5" so you can see more of the accent. I also found that I didn't like the look of contrasting thread on the binding around the top of the first one so I used one that blended in the second one. And, as I said, no need to go the insane route for the handles that are in the tutorial. 

Thank goodness I made the size larger because look what happened on the lining of one of the sides of the bag when I was quilting the second one! Instead of this being a disaster I had enough wiggle room to trim it and no harm was done!

I said bad words when I saw this.

The end result was super awesome and my older daughter absolutely loves it (and she's not easily impressed). There's something particularly satisfying about making useful things for your children that will become part of their childhood experiences. I highly recommend putting a quilt aside and putting together one of these bags!

Bag #2