Little Kitty Bags

 This Holiday Season has left Auntie Venus broke for the remainder of the year, which is funny due to the fact that Auntie Venus has not even started Holiday shopping.  Good thing this Auntie is a dang cheap and pretty skilled crafter.  This month I am going to bring you my handmade creations so you can be inspired to make your own holiday gifts and save the dough for the Christmas cookies. 

This first gift is being made in bulk for my little nieces.  I wanted to create something over the top cute, but not so juvenile that my soon to be teen niece hides it from her friends.  Now I am also into making sure my little ones learn the art or Crochet, so the answer was simple… crochet hook bags for the older ones and a pencil-case for the younger ones.  LITTLE KITTY BAGS, I think I can make those!!!!

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Thread  $1.25
• Fleece $5 a yard  (cut 6 inches by 8inches)  
• A Zipper (I used 4 inch) $1.50
• Doll eyes (pack of 4 for 1.99)
• Material for lining. (cost depends on material)
• embroidery thread $1.50
• fabric paint $1.99

I can make about 6 bags with 1 yard of fleece.   

 I cut the lining of the bag to be about 1/3rd of an inch shorter on the sides so that I can sew them inside out and then flip them causing the seam to be invisible.  I also cut out a piece of cardboard to make guide for the size of ears I used.  I wanted this guy to look as uniform as possible so I recommend using straight edges and stencils if needed.  Also I used embroidery thread to make the nose.

I only used the fabric paint to write their names on their bags so the paint is on optional purchase.  I recommend that the zipper be the first thing you sew on.  Do this by cutting a slit in the fleece where the mouth zipper is supposed to go. Sew the zipper to BOTH the fleece and the material you are using for the lining.  Once that is sewed on (hand sewing takes longer but it can be done) I unzipped the zipper and cut out the lining material up to 1 cm away from the stitches that are on the material now that you have the zipper on the kitty.  Once the zipper is done use the embroidery thread to make the nose, and cut out the slits for the eyes.

Once that face is made, make sure to sew all pieces in this order:  Lining ,Back of cat fleece panel ,  face of cat looking at fleece panel, and last piece of lining.  If you are unsure if you have it right sew only one side and turn it inside out.  It should look like the image above. Sew 3 sides together… but LEAVE THE TOP OF THE HEAD UNSEWN!  You need to make sure to sew the ears.  I sewed the ear triangles together and then turn them inside out.

Once that is all done sew the ears in between the top of the cat face fleece panels and BAM!!!!! KITTY BAGS!!!!!

 

If you don’t feel like working on this I am also selling them here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/88160926/customized-kitty-mouth-bag  Have a Great Holiday!