How to Sew Reusable Fabric Gift Bags (Two Easy Styles)

How to Sew Reusable Fabric Gift Bags (Two Easy Styles)

How to Sew Reusable Fabric Gift Bags (Two Easy Styles)

If you’re looking for a last-minute Christmas sewing project that’s practical, reusable, and genuinely enjoyable to make, fabric gift bags are it.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to sew two different reusable fabric gift bag styles:

  • A simple drawstring-style bag (quick and beginner-friendly)
  • A cinched gift bag with an accent band (still easy, but a bit fancy)

Both are perfect for Christmas gifts — especially those awkward shapes that wrapping paper never cooperates with, like toy cars, trucks, books, and boxed toys.

Best of all, these bags can be reused year after year.

Watch the video tutorial:

Fabric & General Notes

  • Use any cotton or cotton drill fabric
  • Measurements don’t need to be exact — proportions matter more than perfection
  • A good rule of thumb: bag width ≈ 75% of the bag height
  • Make bags any size to suit the gifts you’re wrapping

Helpful Tools

  • Safety pin or clover bodkin (for threading ribbon)
  • Chopstick (great for poking out corners)
  • Fabric pen or chalk
  • Clips or pins

Bag 1: Simple Reusable Gift Bag

What You’ll Need

  • 1 piece of fabric: approx 16cm high x 13cm wide (6" x 5")
  • Ribbon: approx 10mm (⅜") wide and 60cm (24") long

Note: slightly wider ribbon will also work if that’s what you have.

How to Sew the Simple Gift Bag

  1. Finish the top edge using an overlocker, serger, or zigzag stitch.
  2. Mark 5cm (2") down from the top as your fold line and mark a small no-sew zone.
  3. Sew around the sides and bottom with right sides together, leaving the no-sew gap.
  4. Trim the corners, turn right side out, and neaten corners with a chopstick.
  5. Fold down along the marked line and stitch around to create the ribbon channel.
  6. Thread the ribbon through, trim ends on an angle, and seal with fray stop or a lighter.

This style is quick to make and perfect for small gifts and stocking fillers.

Bag 2: Cinched Gift Bag with Accent Band

What You’ll Need

  • 2 main fabric pieces: 20cm high x 15cm wide (8" x 6")
  • Accent band: 10cm deep x 15cm wide (4" x 6")
  • 2 ribbons: approx 15mm (⅝") wide and 60cm (24") long

How to Sew the Cinched Gift Bag

  1. Finish the top edges of all pieces.
  2. Attach the accent band to the top of each main fabric piece, right sides together.
  3. With right sides together, sew around the bag, carefully lining up the accent band seams and leaving a no-sew zone.
  4. Press the bag to create crisp edges.
  5. Mark and sew two parallel lines around the bag to create the ribbon channels.
  6. Turn the bag right side out, tidy corners, and trim threads.
  7. Thread one ribbon from each side to create the cinched effect.
  8. Knot, trim on an angle, and seal the ribbon ends.

Tip: Tie the final bow upside down to get neat loops at the top and tidy tails underneath.

Why Reusable Gift Bags Are Such a Good Idea

  • Perfect for awkward-shaped presents
  • Eco-friendly and waste-reducing
  • Reusable year after year
  • Beautiful lined up under the Christmas tree
  • A great scrap-busting sewing project

If you make one of these reusable gift bags, I’d love to hear about it. Let me know if there’s another tutorial you’d like to see.

Have a very merry Christmas 🎄

Back to blog