Last week I did a fun guest post over at The Ribbon Retreat. The Ribbon Retreat is an Idaho-based company that sells all lovely things sewing... not just ribbon! I met them at a blogging conference this spring and finally got around to doing a little work with them. They sent me all the supplies for this awesome project (and more!) and I went to town. I need a sign on my craft room door that says "will sew for pretty fabric" because it is so true! So thanks a million Ribbon Retreat... I can't wait to work on our next project (coming in November!).

My absolute favorite thing that they sell is the mega ric rac. It. Is. HUGE! I've looked for it other places and in stores but I've never seen it else where. It is 2 ¼ inches wide and I use it all of the time. I just made a really cute Halloween fabric bunting for my mantel and the ric rac is the "string" that holds it all together. (I posted a picture on Instagram if you care to see it!) You've got to check out the ric rac!

And now it's your turn to have access to the full tutorial here on Bless this Mess. Enjoy!

Halloween is just around the corner and I, like many of you, have started my Halloween sewing. You can't start too early in my book! I wanted to make a cute trick-or-treat bag and the mega Ric Rac was just begging to be used. I thought it looked perfect for the wrappings of a cute little mummy, so that's just what I did.  This fun and novel mummy trick or treat bag that will last for years to come! Plus it has a secret... you can make it glow in the dark! Keep reading to see what I mean. Enjoy.

My kids have been begging me to let them play with it already, so in my book, it's a big hit!

Here's how you can make one of your very own.

Mummy Trick or Treat Bag

Supplies:

3 yards white Mega Ric Rac (2 ¼ inch wide)
11x14 inch fabric pieces, 4 total, mismatched or the same (fat quarters are perfect for this!)
15-20 inch handles, 2
11x3 inch piece fabric (behind the eyes)
3x8 inch piece of medium-weight clear vinyl
2 1-inch google eyes
2 1 ½-inch felt circles (behind the google eyes)
glow stick
thread
pins
scissors
sewing machine
rubber rat, for moral support

How to:

1. Sew the 11x3-inch piece of material onto one of the four 11x14-inch rectangles, about 4 inches from the top. This will be the material behind your mummies eyes. Don't worry about finishing the edge of the material; it will be behind the ric-rac, and it's a mummy! A little unraveling is ok here.

2. Pin the ric rac where you'd like it, cutting as needed. Feel free to criscross and overlap pieces to get more of a "wrapped" look.

3. Sew the ric rac into place.

4. Glue (hot or super) your felt eye accents and then the google eyes into place. Once the glue has dried place the clear vinyl over the eyes. Sew the vinal down on 3 sides leaving one skinny end open.

Remember how I said that the bag could glow in the dark? Well this is how; this is where the glow stick will go! What kid doesn't love something glowing to pack around on Halloween?

5. Placing right sides together, place a second 11x14-inch rectangle on top of your mummy face. Sew around three edges, keeping the top open. Repeat with the other two pieces. You should now have two "bags" that are inside-out. One is the outside of the bag (the one with the mummy) and the other is the inside lining.

6. Pick open a 4 to 5-inch opening in the bottom of the lining bag using a seam-ripper.

7. Leave the lining bag inside out. Make the outside mummy bag right-side-out, so that the mummy is looking at you. Pin the handles into place on both sides of the bag. Pin with their raw edge pointing up and their curved edges down.

8. This is the only "tricky" part of the project, and it's not really tricky once you do it...

The inside lining is still inside-out. You need to pull the lining up over the mummies face (the whole outside bag) so that the right sides of the mummy and lining are facing each other. All of the raw edges of both bags need to be level with each other and the raw edges of the handles should be poking out. So the order should be the mummy in the middle, handles, then inside-out lining.

Here's what it should look like:

Line up all of the fabric edges and sew around the top circle of the bag so that everything is sewn together. When going over the handles I would back up and sew it a time or two more for added strength.

9. Once the top is sew together you are going to pull the bag through the hole in the bottom of the lining.

10. To finish up you can sew or hand-stitch the hole in the lining shut and then tuck it into place inside the mummy bag. You are done in just 10 steps!

This bag is the perfect size for younger kids. My babies are 6,4, and 2 which means they are short. I didn't want a bag that was so big they'd be dragging it around all night. If you want a larger bag the same sewing principles/instructions apply, just plan on more materials to get the job done.

A big thank you to the Ribbon Retreat and for having so many awesome accents and fabrics to inspire my projects.

And thank YOU for reading! Have a great day.