This Green Faced Witch and this Queen Elsa (who’s really Harriet) would like you wish you a very Happy Halloween!
Here’s that Green Faced Witch looking extra spooky with a mean face and a real, decorative broom. I made her dress using a pattern for the Wizard of Oz wicked witch. I really wanted her to have an old-fashioned looking dress, and this pattern was perfect! The spider web fabric makes it extra spooky and extra fun!
But she doesn’t want you to be too scared. She’ll rip off her hat and say, “It’s me! It’s Alma!” in case you look too spooked by her green face.
There was no question that Harriet wanted to be Queen Elsa for Halloween. She’s pretty obsessed, and this hand-me-down from my cousin’s daughter was perfect! She’s quick to point out that she’s ‘Just Harriet” if you call her Queen Elsa. She doesn’t want there to be any confusion.
Here she is freezing everything, but not really since she’s not really Queen Elsa, she’s just Harriet:
Now let’s just hope for a dry evening so we can get some good trick or treating in!
I love wrapping gifts, but I’m so, so bad at it. The ends are always crumpled and there’s way more tape than there should be. I also hate all the trash that we throw away on Christmas morning. But, I love how reusable gift wrapping is getting more popular!
Start by ironing down about a half inch on the top of the bag. You should note, at this point, that I don’t use actual measurements to make this bag. It’s all estimated and eyeballed. This is partly because the amount of material you use will determine how you construct your gift bag. Also, it doesn’t have to be perfect since it will be all scrunched up in the end. 
Fold down again, this time a few inches. You can see this in the below photo. If you look to the left of my hand, you’ll see the first fold, then how I folded again on top. Does that make sense? I hope so.
Unfold the fabric, and put your buttonholes in. (My sewing machine manual had instructions on making a buttonhole, and I’m not sure if the directions would be similar for different machines, so if you don’t know how to make a buttonhole, you should search for your specific machine.) You want to make sure you just put the holes in the top layer of fabric, so be very sure that you unfold your fabric before you start sewing the holes.
Refold your fabric and sew along the bottom edge, all along the top. Now, you’re going to finish the channel for the ribbon. Start above the buttonhole, and sew all the way across the top to make the channel. For me, I had a narrow ribbon, so I sewed my second line a couple inches above the bottom line. 
For these gift bags, I love making it as finished looking as possible, so I like to do a French seam on the inside. French seams are really fun, and I actually use them a lot when I make clothes, too.
Turn your bag inside out, and sew around the seams you just sewed, again with a 1/4 inch seam. You’ll want to make sure the first seam is nestled inside this seam. 
Now, all you have to do is string your ribbon. Cut your ribbon so it’s about 4 times as long as your bag is wide. I’ve ready about fancy ribbon threading tools, but I’ve always done just fine with the safety pin method. Attach a safety pin to one end, stick it in one of the holes, and work your way around until the pin comes out the other hole, pulling the ribbon with it.
Magic! 
The purpose of quilting is to hold the three layers all together. I have yet to get too fancy with my quilting. I usually just do straight or wavy lines, and I like how that turns out. For this quilt, I didn’t really want to see the lines, so I used a technique called stitch in the ditch. Basically, this means that you will sew right over the seams. The quilting lines are almost hidden in the seams. I used red thread, so it stands out more than if I had really been trying to match, and hide the quilting lines. 
Keep quilting until it’s all sewn together! To bind it, use 
