Christmas Gift Bags – Made from a Shower Curtain!

I was walking the aisles of Homegoods one day and spotted an adorable seasonal shower curtain adorned with Christmas images. I didn’t really need a shower curtain that is decked out for Christmas, because, well, I just don’t decorate the bathroom in seasonal decor. Yet I began to envision the curtain put to better use….as fabric for Christmas gift bags!

The plain white background and sweet Christmas images on the fabric pulled at my nostalgic heart. With 72″ by 72″ of fabric (2 yards, extra wide!), there was plenty to use for projects other than the original intent. For instance, gift bags! Balsam sachets! Advent calendar bags! So many ideas…so little time.

In addition to plenty of fabric available from the shower curtain, it is already hemmed. Therefore, my projects wouldn’t need quite as much sewing. I envisioned using the top of the shower curtain as the top hem of gift bags. Take a look at how easy it was to make these bags in my instructions below. (BONUS – you’ll have plenty of fabric left over for other projects!)

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Supplies

To make 2 Christmas gift bags similar to mine, you’ll need the following:

• Seasonal Christmas fabric shower curtain, 72″ by 72″. I purchased mine at a Homegoods store, and it is made by Envogue. It costs only $15, so that breaks down to only $7.50 per yard of (extra wide) fabric!

Here are some similar options I found online:

• Sewing machine, thread, sewing scissors, measuring tape, fabric pen, iron.

• Ribbon or twine to loop through top of bag. This will allow closure of the gift bag. I used a hand-dyed muslin ribbon for my bags, which you can find here.

Instructions for 2 Christmas Gift Bags

Cut fabric for 2 bags

Fold the shower curtain in half vertically, right sides together, lining up the 12 holes at the top hem with each other (6 and 6). (These holes are meant for your shower curtain hooks).

Measure 16″ down from the top of the shower curtain and mark with a fabric pen in several places. This will be the height of your gift bag (approx. 15″ after sewn), so feel free to customize your height here depending on the curtain pattern.

Cut across along these 16″ marks.

Next, cut down your vertical fold line. Now you have two fabric pieces to make the two gift bags. Each fabric piece has 6 shower curtain hook holes at the top.

Sew each gift bag

Take one of these two fabric pieces (should measure approx. 36″ wide by 16″ tall) and fold it in half vertically, right sides together.

As you fold the fabric piece, align the 6 holes at the top together (3 and 3). One side edge will overlap a bit. (see photo):

Pin the folded piece at the two raw edges: bottom and one side.

Sew the raw edges together, with approximately 1/2″ seam, making sure to sew on the inside of the existing side hem edge. (see dotted lines in photo above)

Trim the raw edges with pinking shears, turn right-side out, and press seams with iron:

Weave a ribbon or twine through the top shower curtain hook holes, and pull to gather the gift bag closed. Make a knot or bow to secure. I used my hand-dyed muslin ribbons for these bags.

Repeat above steps for second gift bag. Easy!

Tuck gifts inside

These fabric gift bags would be perfect to hold soft gifts, such as pajamas, clothes, stuffed animals, or perhaps skeins of yarn. Fluff them up with tissue paper, too.

And unlike paper bags, they’re more durable to reuse year after year.

Don’t forget to add a sweet gift tag to the ribbon! Feel free to use one from my FREE Christmas Gift tag printables as shown below.

Happy gifting! Share and Pin this idea with your crafty friends…