Tutorial: toddler trick-or-treat bags

A couple years ago I made some trick-or-treat bags for my kids that were basically two pieces of material sewn together with a handle on each side. But I quickly realized that these bags weren't going to work very well: they dragged on the floor when the kids were holding them down by their side, and my youngest wasn't coordinated enough to open the bag with both handles to put the candy in. So this year I got a little smarter and made (what I think is) the perfect trick-or-treat bag for young hands! They have one handle, a nice big opening that stays open so the candy can be easily dropped in, and they're short enough that they don't drag when held down to your side. AND they still have plenty of room to fill up with candy. The perfect bag!


Read on for the tutorial...

What you'll need:
- About 20"x23" felt
- 1"x27" contrasting color felt (for top lining)
- Small amount of felt for pumpkin/ghost/bat
- Sewing machine

In the middle of a 20"x20" square of felt, draw a circle. I just traced a paper plate that was about 4" in diameter.


I pretty much just eyeballed this part. Divide the circle in 6 and draw 6 petal shapes (mine were about 8" long).


Cut that piece out, cutting the petal shapes all the way to the circle, then cut one piece that is 3"x13.5" for the handle and another 1"x27" piece of felt with a contrasting color for the lining of the top of the bag.


Now begin sewing the petals together. I sewed mine with wrong sides together because I wanted the stitching to show. I just used a zig zag stitch, but if you're lucky enough to have a surger you could use that too.


You end up with an awkward looking upside down bakers hat.


Trim the top of the bag.


Pin the lining on to the top of the bag.



Then sew it on. I used a zig zag stitch again.


Fold the felt you cut out for the handle in half lengthwise and sew around the entire thing.


Sew the handles on the sides of the bag.



The kids chose which Halloween figure they wanted on their bag, then I cut them out of felt and used a glue gun to glue them on. You can print out the image below if you want one of those.


And there you have it! Three little pirates who are all ready to go trick-or-treating :)