Appliqué Bunny Bag

I like to give my friends handmade gifts, but when they’re all very creative and crafty themselves  it can be tricky to think of original and personal gifts. So I had the idea before Christmas to make personalised tote bags – straight forward and practical. I have a habit of over complicating things; I initially thought I would make the basic bag myself as well as decorating them however trying to keep things simple I actually decided to buy some plain ready-made bags (it did feel a little like cheating, but I have learnt the hard way – sometimes you have to make some short cuts to make things feasible, especially given how busy the run up to Christmas can be). 

I decided appliqué shapes and animals would work well, something that I’ve not done a lot of before, but I figured I had everything I needed to give it a go, bags, fabric, sewing machine, thread and fusible interfacing.

I made quite a few different designs to suit the different people. I made stars, cats, dinosaurs and giraffes for Christmas presents and recently for a friend’s birthday I made a bunny bag (she has two cute n fluffy bunnies herself) so it seemed very appropriate.

I like the drawing process; it’s always very sketchy before I actually cut out the design.

I roughly cut out the basic shape from interfacing, iron onto the back of the fabric, then draw the template out and cut out the fabric.

I then positioned the bunny on the bag and ironed it into place.

I did a basic zig-zag stitch all the way around the edge (it’s not the neatest close up – sorry – ears are tricky)!

I selected a complimentary button to go with my lovely Liberty print fabric and it was finished!

I’ve liked making these for my friends they seem to have been received well and I enjoyed seeing one of my friends using it weekly for knitting group. I will definitely be making more!