As usual, my first stop was the local creative-reuse store. In the fabric section, I found some reversible quilted fabric (chevrons on one side and dots on the other), as well as some plain red quilted fabric. And then I saw a Christmas-themed vintage fabric panel. It was designed to create three stuffed toys: Santa, Mrs Claus, and a snowman.
My partner, @MightyMitochondria, had expressed an interest in vintage/retro fabric panels earlier this year. While I knew this was a very different style than the Daisy Kingdom panels she’d mentioned, I decided it still must be the base for her gift bag.
My idea was to create the Santa and Mrs Claus toys as designed, and then stick them to the front and back of a gift bag made from the quilted fabric.
However, the panel was actually very poorly designed, so that the fronts and backs of the toys did not line up correctly. So I just ended up using the fronts.
Nevertheless, I was excited about how it turned out, and wish I’d taken more pictures. The bag itself has an adjustable Velcro flap, and ties on both sides with satin ribbon.
I am completely obsessed with vintage cut and sew panels. I love that @endymion spoiled me with my obsession. Here are a few more photos to give you a better idea of the construction.
@endymion has my wheels turning now. There are several Cabbage Patch panels on ebay. I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy them until I had an idea. Maybe this little lady needs to become a tote bag.
This came out so fantastically! I LOVE how you totally thought outside the box on that panel. (Also, can’t wait till I can shop at that store regularly! I just looked it up, and our rental house is just .4 miles from it.)
Oooh, it might be dangerous for me to live that close… (Actually, I think that was the approximate distance between my house and their previous location.)
