May I make a suggestion, though? If I invite you to my house for the holidays, skip the wine—and bring a six-pack instead. Don’t get me wrong: my husband and I would appreciate the wine and we’d eventually open it, but we’re beer drinkers at heart. (And while I’m making suggestions, I prefer something nice and hoppy; my husband goes for amber ales!)
And just because you’re toting beer instead of wine doesn’t mean you have to skip the handmade gift wrap. Using felt and a little pearl cotton, you can make a gift bag for the beer lovers in your life. In fact, you will probably spend more time making your beer selection than you will whipping up this project.
Materials
28½” x 26” rectangle of acrylic felt
Contrasting thread
Pinking shears
Pearl cotton
These instructions are for a beer carrier whose bottom dimensions are 7½” x 5” (from my research, this is a standard size).
Instructions
Take your 28½” x 26” rectangle of acrylic felt. From each of the four corners, cut out a square that measures 10¼” x 10¼”. (I found it easiest to use my white Chaco liner to mark the cut lines on the wrong side of the felt.) The result will be a cross that looks like the picture below:
Embellish the bag as you desire. I free-handed snowflakes in pearl cotton on one of the long sides of the gift bag. I made sure to embellish away from the yet-to-be-sewn sides, to ensure my embroidery wouldn’t later end up in the seam allowance. The sides of my beer carrier are 5½” tall; I made sure to place my snowflakes so that the wrong side of the embroidery wouldn’t be visible when the beer carrier was inside the gift bag.
Now, using thread in a contrasting color, sew the side seams together. To do this, match the top edges of two adjacent sides with the wrong sides together and pin. Start sewing a ¼” seam at the bottom corner and work your way out to the top, back-stitching at both ends. (I think a longer stitch length looks best on this project.) Repeat until all four seams are sewn.
Insert your six-pack of beer (the weight of the bottles will help you here). The beer carrier will fit very snuggly in the felt gift bag. This is by design: the tight fit allows you to carry the beer by the handle without losing the gift bag.
Linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday, Let’s Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, Finish It Up Friday, TGIFF at Quilt Matters, and Ho Ho Ho and on We Sew ...
Such a cute and easy project! And it really adds a festive touch to a six-pack! I'm totally making this for my father-in-law who gets beer as part of his "gift" every year! Thanks for the great tutorial!
ReplyDeleteCute! Though, now I need to be invited to a beer drinker's house... :D All of our family is either strictly non alcoholic, or wine. Though - this would be perfect for fancy soda as a gift too! :D Sometimes I amaze myself...:P
ReplyDeleteOh, if I had known! I am too a beer drinker at heart. Loving to try out new beers ALL the time (have you and hubby been to the Beer Store in Nashua?) Create your own six pack ... yep :). Love this project too and would prefer it to the alternative.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to use felt! Beautiful and simple!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! You always see tutorials for wine bottles but never one for beer, which I prefer too :) Thanks
ReplyDeleteLovely idea - I might just have to make this this year! I can think of someone who would appreiciate a 6 pack of craft beer!
ReplyDeleteHow CUTE!!! That is such a clever idea! May have to attempt to make a few of these this year :D
ReplyDelete~ Jess ~
Everything Is Coming Up Rosie
Oh my son would love it :)
ReplyDeleteposted to FB and tagged him! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome!!! I know quite a few people who would much rather get beer than a bottle of wine! I've got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for tomorrow morning that links to your tutorial:
ReplyDeletehttp://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-felt-beer-gift-bag/2014/11/13/
--Anne
Such a festive and thoughtful little gift. Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute idea! Love the snowflake accents! Thanks for linking up to TGIFF, Michelle!
ReplyDeleteSuch a great idea! Thanks for sharing, I'll have to try this :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a super idea. I generally give the guys on my list a half dozen Independent Brewery beers as gifts and they always love the chance to try out new brew. Thanks for making the creative juices work again. Cheers! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's true beer drinkers get ignored usually when it comes to gift bags. I am wine girl myself but my boys love their beer!
ReplyDeleteGreat tutorial, would love to have you link up to our Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew link party on the 18th :)
Eeeep - this is perfect - my sister is a beer drinker and so is her hubby. Now I know what to send them for Christmas!!!!!!!!! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I like the simple construction technique. And I think it could also work as a general gift bag. For that, you could just add some ribbon to tie it together at the top.
ReplyDeletei have made a gift bag similar to this but your snowflake stitches make it extra special!
ReplyDeleteVery clever!! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever idea to take to a friends dinner or for a Christmas present! Thanks for linking up with Ho Ho Ho and on we Sew!
ReplyDeleteOh yes! I'm an IPA girl all the way! Love love love the hoppy. I'm so fortunate to have a nice brewer friend! Ever hear of Thomas Creek Brewery in SC? They brew a mean IPA called Up the Creek....12%
ReplyDeleteFollowing you now via Bloglovin! I like your 6 pack gift bag, I have a few beer drinkers n my house!
ReplyDelete