DIY Valentine's Day Treat Bags

You know, I love Valentine's Day, not because I expect my husband to buy me roses which-have-been-marked-up-to-a-ridiculous-price-every-February-just-because-they-can-get-away-with-it, or because I enjoy dining at overbooked restaurants on the 14th. No, I just like the decorations! Red and pink are my favorite colors! For this project, I pulled a few red and pink fabrics from the scrap basket, and gathered up a few buttons and trims from my sewing room. If you want to make several of these for a group (like your child's class, or for the members of your sewing group), I recommend making 1 for practice, and then you can make the rest "assembly line" style. Also, I machine appliqued around the edges of the designs- but if you want the project to go together very quickly, you can skip the applique process by using a heavy duty fusible web, such as Thermoweb HeatnBond® UltraHold. Fill the bags with candy, paper Valentines, stickers, pens, sewing notions.... Who wouldn't love to get one of these??

For each DIY Valentine's Day Treat Bag, you will need:

• *Applique pattern (click here for PDF or click here for the complete project PDF)
• *2 pieces of fabric for the bag- 5" x 7 1/2"
• *Scraps of fabric for appliques
• *Fusible web (such as Thermoweb Heat n Bond® lite if you will machine applique the shapes, or UltraHold if you want to skip the stitching process)
• *Thread for sewing and machine applique
• *2 pieces of ribbon, each 15" long
• *Buttons, trims, etc. for decorating

We will actually do the fun part- decorating- first! Trace the heart or XO shapes from the pattern sheet onto the fusible web. Cut out the pieces, leaving about 1/8" border around the shapes. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to fuse the shapes to the WRONG side of your applique fabrics. Cut out on line and peel off paper backing. Fuse applique designs to one of the pieces of fabric for the bag front. IMPORTANT: keep the applique shapes within the 1/4" seam allowance and 2 1/2" from top. Machine stitch around the edges of the appliques if desired. (If you are making multiple bags, then decorate half of the pieces of fabric- for example, if you are making 10 bags, you will have 20 pieces of fabric cut but you only need to decorate 10 of them.) You can also add, buttons, etc. to decorate your bag. If you use rick rack or other trims, cut them long enough to go all the way to the raw edge of the fabric, so the ends get sewn into the seam allowance.   Now it's time to sew the bag together. On the right side of fabric for both pieces, mark 2" from top. Press the long edge of the fabric 1/4" toward wrong side of fabric (you don't need to press the entire long edge, just go a little beyond the 2" mark). Stitch from top to 2" mark, backstitch at 2" mark: Press top edge (short edge) 1/4" toward wrong side of fabric: Then fold down that same edge so that folded top edge is aligned with the 2" marks. Press. Topstitch about 1/8" from the folded edge. Don't forget to backstitch at the beginning and ending of your stitching- if you don't, the bag will start to come undone! Place both pieces of fabric right sides together and pin, making sure that the top folded edges are aligned. Sew along sides and bottom, using a 1/4" seam allowance. Backstitch at beginning and end of stitching: Turn the bag right side out. Gently press out seams and corners. Press: Use a safety pin to thread a piece of ribbon through one of the pockets and then the other; tie the ribbon ends. Repeat with the other piece of ribbon: Pull the ribbon so the knots are hidden in the pocket. (If you are a machine applique "newbie", you may be interested in my Fusible Machine Applique Tutorial- it's 17 pages of helpful tips, lots of photos, plus a practice pattern. You can find it here.)