Nature Bags

With the leaves falling all around us in beautiful yellows, reds, and browns, we had to make a special bag to go out collecting.
We made the bags during 2, 15 minute Workshop times. Most kids finished completely during this time, but extra time was given throughout the week.

The bag is a 10 x 24 piece of muslin folded in half. I precut the fabric for time. The kids drew on the bags with fabric markers then sewed up the sides. The handle is a long piece of yarn sewn through either side and tied. No, the bag is not "finished" and they may not last a long time, but it was a perfect project for beginning sewers - easy, quick, and great results.

We talked about both the running and whipstitch before hand. I also discussed size of stitches - too big and your findings may fall out! Several kids were caught sticking their fingers between stitches to check for holes.

Next, we took the bags out and walked around the neighborhood collecting all manner of nature's fallen treasures.
As you can tell, the bag illustrations ranged from Star Wars to hearts and flowers to Thanksgiving turkeys.
Part of me wanted to keep the bags at school for future walks, but the kids couldn't stand it and begged to take them home. I think they were very proud of their work and wanted to collect in their own yards.

There are so many versions of this bag to be made. I just spied another cute nature bag at Kleas.