Countdown to Christmas: DIY Fabric advent calendar

Last year I had plans to make an advent calendar for Elise, but time got tight leading up to the holidays and it never materialized. So this year, I decided to start early. (Yes, before Halloween!)

I really wanted to make a calendar we could re-use year after year. Based on a few ideas I saw on the internet and on Etsy, I went with the concept of 24 small bags to fill with treats or prizes of varying sizes.

I bought one and a half yards of lightweight cotton fabric (a half yard each of three different Christmasy prints). After pre-washing the fabric, I was able to cut eight 9 x 10.5 inch rectangles out of each half yard for a total of 24 pieces. How cute is that fabric above? Seriously, I about died when I found it.

I started the project with a little trial and error. I made the first bag I made by folding under all the edges twice and hemming them, but this was really time consuming.

I decided it would be quicker and easier for the rest of the bags if I just pinked all the edges instead of hemming them. I used a rotary cutter with a pinking blade to do this, but a pinking shears would work just as well. Not having to hem the edges allowed for a much simpler assembly.

Next, I folded down the top about an inch, pressed with an iron and then stitched across from left to right.

I fed one after another through the sewing machine, “chain stitching” them and trimmed them apart afterward. This definitely saved the time of stopping and starting between each piece, cutting threads, etc.

Then I folded each piece in half, wrong side out and stitched up the sides. (Again, feeding one piece after another, chain stitching them.)

There were a few pieces that didn’t line up exactly when folded, but I just made sure the top edges matched and didn’t worry about the edges that would end up inside the bag.

Turned right side out, they look like tiny pillowcases!

And that’s it! Simple simple. From start to finish, creating 24 bags took me about three hours, but that includes the first bag which took longer than it should have.

I haven’t filled them yet because (hello!) it’s October. But I plan to put small prizes and treats in them closer to December 1.

Elise is already looking forward to that.

See how I created the number clips >>

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Fabrics used in this project:
Merry Main Street by Alexander Henry
Red & white candy stripe (from Jo-Ann Fabric, no selvage info)
Red & white gift fabric (exclusive to Jo-Ann Fabrics)