**Creating a Plush Fleece Trick-or-Treat Bag**

The first step in creating a plush fleece trick-or-treat bag is to begin by folding the fabric in half lengthwise, and then folding it in half again. This will create a long, thin rectangle that measures 3 inches at the top and bottom. It's essential to ensure that the folded edge is even and symmetrical to maintain the integrity of the bag.

Next, we need to refold the whole thing onto itself, creating a quadrilateral shape. This fold should be crisp and sharp, with no wrinkles or creases. By doing so, we create a puffy, soft, and comfortable strap that can be worn over our shoulder for an extended period.

To secure the edges of the bag in place, we use plastic sewing clips to hold everything together before proceeding to sew. It's essential to repeat the same steps on both sides of the bag to ensure evenness and symmetry. This will also give us a balanced look and feel to the finished product.

**Sewing the Handles**

Once we have secured the edges, it's time to create the handles for our trick-or-treat bag. We'll start by sewing one long edge, then flip the handle over to the other side and sew again. This will ensure that our handles are sturdy and securely attached to the bag.

As we work on each handle, it's essential to keep track of the seam allowance, which should be about 1/4 inch. The stitches should be evenly spaced, and the length of the stitch should be longer than usual due to the bulkiness of the fabric. We're aiming for a Stitch length of around 3 mm.

After completing both handles, we'll take some time to audition them and make sure they look visually appealing. This is an excellent opportunity to assess the size and balance of the handles in relation to the rest of the bag.

**Hemming the Top Edge**

To complete the bag's top edge, we need to hem it in place. We'll start by flipping the fabric wrong side out and pressing the seam allowance open with our fingertips. Then, we'll turn the raw edge down towards the inside of the bag, creating a 1-inch to 1 1/4 inch hem.

To ensure accuracy, we can use a seam gauge or a little ruler to measure the fold. We'll place a pin at the desired point and press it into place, making sure it's aligned with the rest of the stitches.

**Stitching the Top Edge**

With our hem in place, it's time to stitch around the top circumference of the bag using a straight Stitch or Zigzag Stitch, depending on our preference. We're aiming for about 3/4 inch to 1 inch hem allowance.

Initially, we'll use a zigzag Stitch to preserve the stretchiness of the fabric and prevent the stitches from popping if the bag gets pulled too hard. Once we've completed this line of stitching, we can reassess the fabric's stretchiness and adjust our stitch settings as needed.

**Attaching the Handles**

To attach the handles, we need to position them 4 inches from each side seam, ensuring that they're aligned with the top hem allowance. We'll use pins to secure the raw edges in place, making sure there are no twists or kinks.

Finally, we'll stitch the handles down using a zigzag Stitch again, this time working around the rectangular box created at the top of the bag. This will secure the handles firmly and prevent them from coming loose over time. By backstitching when we reach the end of each seam, we can ensure that our stitches are locked in and secured.

**Finishing Touches**

With all the stitching complete, it's essential to inspect our trick-or-treat bag for any loose threads or uneven seams. We can use a needle and thread to fix any mistakes or make adjustments as needed.

Once satisfied with our work, we'll admire our finished product – a plush fleece trick-or-treat bag that's sure to delight kids of all ages on Halloween night. The secret to this project lies in selecting fabrics for fun and festive projects like this one, so don't be afraid to think outside the box when choosing your materials.

**Conclusion**

Creating a plush fleece trick-or-treat bag is a fun and rewarding craft project that requires patience, attention to detail, and a willingness to experiment. By following these steps and using our imaginations, we can create something truly special – a sturdy, comfortable, and visually appealing bag that's perfect for trick-or-treating.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey it's Vanessa The Crafty Gemini and in this tutorial I'm teaching you how to make this fun trick-or treat bag out of a blanket that's right I'll be using this fleece plush throw I picked up at the Dollar Tree in their $5 area and I liked it because it was solid black and then it had these large scale spiderweb motifs in this fun metallic silver so I think that's going to look super cool for a trick-or treat bag it also measures 50 in x 60 in so we're going to be using this as yardage cuz this is over a yard and a half of fabric so this is going to be good you could probably make two or three bags with this one fleece throw now I'm opening it up I love the big motif of the spiderweb looks super cool and fun and then I want to figure out where my Grain Lines are because the fleece is going to stretch more in One Direction than the other usually and so I don't want the length of the bag from top to bottom to be stretchy so I've laid this out so that the lengthwise grain is running vertically down the bag and then the stretch your direction is going side to side on the bag okay now the template I'll be using is a 16 and 1/2 in square ruler I think that's a good size to start with you can obviously make yours bigger or smaller I'm going to refold this fabric so that I don't waste too much at the top so I'm just going to refold it onto itself pretty sides touching just a little bit bigger than my template size okay then we can position the ruler on top and with our rotary cutter go ahead and cut around all four sides to get two squares that are identical next up let's cut two squares from the bottom two corners for boxing the bottom of our bag and I'm cutting these two corners out at 3 in by 3 in square next grab your pins and we're going to pin down the side along the bottom and up the other side as well because these are the three straight seams that we're heading to the sewing machine to sew up next and because fleece likes to move on us let's use a half of an inch seam allowance to sew up these three seams now you're ready to box the corners and to do that we are going to match up the bottom seam with the side seam so that they touch pretty sides touching just like that make sure to try and open the seam allowances too CU that will help you reduce some bulk and we get everything to lie a little bit flatter once you Stitch it so match those up and then we're going to put a couple pins across this Edge and repeat the same thing to the opposite corner now let's Stitch these up and don't forget to back stitch at the beginning and at the end all right and that looks pretty good so let's flip it right side out and you can see that it's nice and lightweight as long as we have some sturdy handles on this thing it's going to be able to hold a ton of candy so push out the corners the fabric and the corners that is at the bottom so you can see the full shape of it and I think we're now ready to move on so we can add some handles to our trick-or treat bag now for the handles you have a ton of different options and at first I thought I was going to use some black webbing that I had in my stash but then I decided against it because guess what we still have a ton of the spiderweb fabric from the fleece throw so as long as we make sure that the straps are not stretching lengthwise we're going to go head and cut out some strips of fabric so that the least stretchy side is running along the length of the straps so notice again I'm going to cut it in this direction so fold the fabric pretty sides touching on top of itself so we're going to cut through the layers doubled up just like we did for the main tote pieces I'm first going to trim off a little sliver down the side just to get a nice straight edge to measure from I'm going to take another one of my strip rulers and measure with that one 6 in over all right so 6 in is how wide I want to cut my strip and then I just cut it the full length of whatever it was for the fleece throw okay and then of course a little Dust Buster because all these fleece bits drive me nuts now let's go ahead and cut where the fold is so that we can separate this right instead of one long piece we'll end up with two because we need two handles okay then on the other end you have the hemmed Edge which is quite bulky so go ahead and cut that edge off as well I'm trimming it off of one of them here and I need to repeat that to the other one as well now to give you a rough estimate in case you're using a different type of fabric I cut these out at about 6 in by 24 in okay two of those pieces because you need two handles now let's go ahead and fold these up because we're using fleece this is going to be super soft nice and plush and so when we double it up like this I'm folding one Edge in an inch and a half and then the other Edge another inch and a half so from top to bottom at this step it should measure 3 in okay now we're going to refold the whole thing onto itself so we have a quadr gred up puffy nice and soft comfy strap to have over our shoulder for a long night of trick-or-treating along the folded Edge I'm placing my plastic sewing Clips to hold all the edges together before we sew go ahead and repeat the exact same steps to create the second handle before we head over to the sewing machine now at the sewing machine you want to set up so that your Stitch length is a little bit longer than usual because we're sewing through so many bulky layers right so I lengthen mine to 3 mm in length and I'm using about an e/ to a/4 of an in in seam allowance and stitching down one long Edge then I'm going to just turn this handle over to the other Edge so that I can do the same thing on the opposite long Edge and that way it just keeps it a little bit more balanced and then you just repeat the same steps to stitch up your second handle okay the handles are done let's kind of audition them here just so visually we can kind of see how that's going to look I think they're a good size and they're going to look really good right there so now we need to hem up the top RW edge of the bag so I'm going to flip it wrong side out and then along the top RW Edge I'm just going to come to the side seam here press that seam allowance open with my fingertips and then turn it down towards the inside of the bag for about a 1 in to 1 and a/4 in hem and then I'm going to place a pin so I'm just going to eyeball it but you can absolutely use some type of a seam gauge or a little ruler if you need to measure it so that you have it folded by the same amount all the way around just like this then we're going to head over to the sewing machine to stitch this around the whole open circumference part of the top of the tote bag for the sewing machine setup I went ahead and left my Stitch length at 3 mm in length and I'm just using a straight Stitch here and using about 3/4 of an inch to 1 in hem allowance that's the distance down from the fold that I'm doing the top stitching at okay but once I did this one time around I realized that hey I have the stretchiest direction of the fabric going side to side this way along the circumference and the stitches were feeling kind of tight like if it gets pulled a little too hard they might pop so we go back back in instead and switch to a zigzag Stitch which is going to help us preserve the stretch in the fabric and that way I don't have to worry about any of those top stitches popping so I selected a zigzag Stitch left the Stitch length at 3 mm and then adjusted the Stitch width to be about 2.5 mm in width went right back around the previous line of stitching I had already done and that feels a whole lot better now we're ready to attach the handles so I'm positioning everything nice and flat with my side seink along the sides and I measure in 4 in from each of the side seams to place the raw bottom edge of my handles right on top of the top hem that we just did so that it's both 4 in in from each side and on top of the Hem allowance I think that's going to make it a little bit sturdier and attaching it to that extra bulky area is going to make uh for some really good you know well attached handles I think at the top of the tote bag here so I'm just placing some pins real important make sure that there are no twists in your handles before you pin and sew them in place and you probably guessed it all we're going to do is Stitch these down again I'm doing it from the Pretty side so I can see what it's going to look like once the bag is done and I'm just stitching a rectangular box going across the top down the side across the bottom and back up the other Edge back stitching when I get to the end to make sure that my stitches are kind of locked in and secured and just doing a little box around that top 3/4 of an inch area or so where where the handles are connected to the Hem and there you have it that's how you make a trick-or treat bag out of a plush fleece throw that I got at the Dollar Tree so think outside the box when you're trying to select fabrics for fun festive projects like this one if you give this trick-or treat bag a try let me know in the comment section below and I'll see yall tomorrow with another spooky craft week tutorial\n"