Halloween Pumpkin Treat Bag and Wand

This novelty treat bag and matching wand will delight any trick or treater. Using seasonal colours and cotton fabric, our bag is great for a beginner to tackle as it’s made from four identical-shaped sections, which resemble petals. Each point converges at the base, to create a neat bag without any bulging seams.

Essentials

Fabric: cotton, orange, 20cm x 1.5m; green, 20cm x 1.5m; brown, 6cm x 60cm; orange check, scrap
Felt, black, scraps
Fusible interfacing, lightweight, white, 1.5m
Fusible webbing, 1m
Ribbon: narrow, orange and white spot; brown velvet, scrap
Wadding, polyester
Dowel, round, 30cm piece
Paint, acrylic or emulsion, black

Dimensions List

Bag: 15cm x 15cm (excludes handles)
Wand: 25.5cm

Make a pumpkin bag

Carefully trace the templates for the pumpkin bag and green trim from page 83, onto paper and cut them out. Iron the interfacing onto the back of a 20cm x 105cm strip of orange fabric. Pin the petal template to the orange and cut four pieces. Repeat the process with green fabric. Next, cut two 6cm x 29cm strips from brown material and iron interfacing onto the back of each.
Cut a 10cm x 68cm piece of green fabric and iron fusible webbing onto the back. Cut out four triangle trim pieces from the fabric using the template. Peel off the backing paper, turn under and press down 4mm all along the edges; snip into the points to make this easier. Position a triangle piece at the top of an orange petal and iron to fix into place, placing a handkerchief or piece of scrap fabric inbetween. Machine stitch into place, close to the turned edge. Repeat with the three remaining orange petals.
With right sides facing, pin and machine stitch two of the orange pieces together along one side, pressing open all seams. Repeat with the two remaining petal pieces then pin all four sections together to create a bucket shape. Machine stitch into place and press. Repeat with the green petals to make the lining.
Press down a 5mm hem on the long edge of one of the brown strips, then fold the opposite long side inwards to meet the 5mm hem. Take the pressed hem and fold it over again to conceal the raw ed Machine stitch down both sides, 6mm from the edge. Make the second handle in the same way.
Pin the handles to the outside of the orange bag, on opposite sides. With the lining wrong side out, stuff the outer bag inside the lining. Pin then machine stitch all around, matching up the seams and leaving a 10cm gap on the non-handled side. Pull the bag through the gap and push the lining inside. Press the bag into shape and close the gap with small whip stitches. Cut a length of orange ribbon and hand stitch it around the top of the bag.
Make the yo yo by cutting a 9.5cm circle of checked fabric, turn under a 6mm hem and sew running stitches around the folded edge. Pull both ends of the thread until the fabric gathers in the centre and secure with a few stitches on the reverse. Stitch two lengths of ribbon to the back, then attach to the bag by sewing or using a brooch pin.