{Valentine} Burlap Treat Bags

The Week of Sweet continues today, with cute and easy treat bags! For someone who claims to not do much for Valentine's Day, I'm having a hard time reeling in my ideas! I figure, why fight it? I love all these sweet projects, and love spoiling my friends and family with treats. I think the little treasures are just as thoughtful and romantic as the grand gestures. (Mr. Sugarplum, that's code for: you aren't getting a grand gesture this year!)

Burlap is a tricky fabric material for me. I love the texture and casualness of it, but sometimes it looks a little country-vintage for my taste. You guys loved my Burlap Gold-Dot Runner, so that was obviously the perfect mix. The other down-side to working with burlap (besides the sometimes musty smell), is the mess. And the crooked cuts.

Tips When Working with Burlap:

1) Mist slightly with water or febreeze to reduce the shedding and dust when cutting.

2) To cut a straight line, make a small snip where you want to cut your fabric, then pull that thread out completely.

It will leave an exposed straight line to follow when cutting.

3) Don't be afraid to iron the burlap. Just use the steam setting, and prepare for the stink.

To construct the bags, cut two pieces of x by x burlap, then sew them together on three sides, leaving the top, and 2-inches of the sides open. (That's right, I'm sewing!) You could just as easily use hot glue or hem tape for this project, but I'm trying to conquer my sewing machine, remember?

Turn them right-side out, just like you would when making a pillow. You can iron them flat, but I liked the puff. Notice the tops and part of the sides are open.

Before decorating the bags, insert something to keep the paint from bleeding through to the other side.

All those years of doodling hearts and Ricky Schroder's name came in handy. Obviously I draw better hearts than bees.

For the drawstring effect, thread your ribbon or string on an embroidery needle, and whip-stitch it around the top, just below the open slits on the sides.

Fringe the top by pulling off the loose threads (hold it over the trash can to contain the mess).

Fill with your waist-busting treat of choice. You may want to choose something you aren't tempted to dive face first in...unless you're okay with eating an entire bag. Not speaking from experience, just assuming.

Then pull the ribbon tight to close the top of the bag, and tie with a gift tag.

I used white raffia, and stamped plain white office-supply tags.

I am a total sewing novice, and whipped these bags out in about 30 minutes, using scraps of inexpensive burlap. Hot-gluing them would probably be even faster!

I would love to receive a sweet gift like this, wouldn't you? Or will there be grand gestures in your house this year?