Goldilocks and the 3 Box Bags

I think it's so special to give handmade gifts for the holidays.  A lot of people will advise you to pick your holiday gift for the year and then churn them out assembly line style.  I know from past experience that I'll lose my mind if I have to make too many of the same thing (14 napkins, what was I thinking!?!) so this year I came up with a couple of different ideas.  First up I wanted to make knitting bags for the Elementary and Jr. High librarians I volunteer with.  I decided to go with box bags.

There are a ton of tutorials for making box bags out there but these are a mash up of the awesome tutorials by Kelby Sews and Pink Stitches.  For my first one I used some Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush with Sky Grunge for the lining.  I lined both the exterior and lining fabrics with Shape-Flex SF101 and added a layer of duck in the middle.  This one was way too soft and the handle was too short.

For the next one I tried some helpful tips from The Plaid Scottie for adding zipper tabs and stitching the ends together before finishing.  The exterior and lining are Cotton + Steel.  This time I lengthened the handle to 8 1/2" but now it was too long;-(  I lined the exterior with Decor Bond (Pellon 809) and the lining with Shape-Flex.  The texture of this one is better but still too soft.

For the final one I used this adorable Knitty Sheep print with Tula Pink Acacia Pixel Dot for the lining.  This time I tried Fusible Fleece on the exterior and Shape-Flex on the lining.  I like the look of this best but it still would probably be better with some duck inside.  I did add Shape-Flex to the handle and it was just right.

I have so much respect for my friend Caro who makes and sells these as Splityarn.  I never did find the perfect combination of interfacings to give it the body I wanted and overall I found these rather fiddly and annoying to make.  If I get inspired again I'll try making one using Oh, Fransson!'s quilt as you go panels but next year I'll be thinking outside the box;-)  Are you making hand made holiday gifts this year?

Linking up to the fabulous Finish it Up Friday by Crazy Mom Quilts.