Upcycled Reuseable Textile Gift Bags

The gift bag can be made from an old pair of denims or a similar weight of fabric. Once you draw a pattern and make your first bag, you can use this technique to make your own bags at home in different sizes. 

You will make the bag’s front motif from small waste scraps of fabrics and yarn using a dissolvable fabric along with machine and hand stitching. This is a bit of a magical process where something unique and beautiful is created from waste. 

Making the bag itself will involve using an overlocker, zigzag stitch and buttonhole stitch.

If you specifically want to use denim for this project, please bring along a pair of old jeans with most of the legs intact.

• Price: £75/person for four participants

• Who it’s for: Ages 16+

• Length: 5 hours

Mairi Flood

Hello, I’m Mairi the stitching creative behind @Meandering Yarns which is a documentation of my explorations into textile art and sewing. From a very early age, my mum instilled in me a love of making with yarns, textiles and much more. My parents took us on holidays to the Cairngorms and west coast of Scotland where we walked, camped or hostelled so not surprisingly that fascination with the natural world resulted in me studying Forestry at Aberdeen University. Later, when I had my children, I retrained as Primary teacher specialising in early years. All through my career, I continued to craft, sew and be creative.  After early retirement, I bought a new sewing machine and decided to see if I could sell what I made as Bosie Hug Tweed Baby Booties and, latterly, as Meandering Yarns. I developed a love of Tweed and wool. In 2024, after ten happy years of this, I decided to change track to give me more time for my personal exploration of sewing and textile art. I was keen to find opportunities to sew with others and share skills. So, I started volunteering at Birkhill. I now run workshops and, when needed, help plan and deliver longer projects at Birkhill, such as the Multiply 10 Cats Numeracy Bags, Saturday Slow Stitchers and making tote bags with the Wednesday Makers Group.