How to sew a bag from felt. This fringed flower bag makes an easy sewing project for kids and would be a nice handmade gift idea for a friend.

Sewing projects are a great way for kids to practice fine motor skills, learn patience, learn a traditional hand craft and make something useful at the same time. This tutorial on how to sew a bag is by the queen of kids’ sewing crafts herself, Trixi from Coloured Buttons Blog. It would make a sweet hand made gift idea that kids could make for a friend, and is a part of our November focus on hand made gift ideas.

How to sew a bag from felt

This simple fringed shoulder bag is a great project for beginner sewers and the perfect place for your child to put his or her precious objects. It’s also perfect to use when shopping with mum or dad. I’ve decorated my bag with felt flowers but your kids may want to create their own decorative designs.

You will need:

• Two 30cm X 25cm rectangles of purple felt
• 10cm X 10cm square of yellow felt
• 10cm X 10cm square of orange felt
• 10cm X 10cm square of pink felt
• 80cm X 3cm strip of purple felt
• Green felt for leaves
• Coloured felt for flower centres
• Three ribbons for flower stems
• Needle
• Pins
• Thread
• Glue (optional)

How to

Cut out a flower from each of the yellow, orange and pink felt squares. Cut out flower centres from different coloured felt. Cut out leaves from green felt.
On one of the purple rectangles, draw a line from one side of the rectangle to the other 5cm up from the base. This is the sewing line for the bottom of your bag.
Position your flowers just above this sewing line. Pin and sew them into place. Alternatively, you can glue your flowers into place.
Pin the rectangle with flowers onto the remaining rectangle of purple felt.
Position the ends of the strip of purple felt between the two sides of the bag. Pin and sew them firmly into place.
Sew the bag together along its sides and bottom.
Cut the margin of felt left at the bottom of the bag into fringes.

Note: You can have lots of fun creating your flowers. I’ve used ribbons with different patterns for the stems and different stitches for the flower centres. I’ve even sewn some beads onto the centre of one of my flowers.

More kids sewing projects you might like

• Make a dinosaur softie using our free printable pattern
• These hand sewn bookmarks would also make lovely gifts
• Make a draw string bag for garden rocks or weather rocks
• This happy pear ornament looks cute on the Christmas Tree!