How to make wine sacks

Wine sacks are a simple and easy way to dress up a bottle of wine. Perfect to make as gift bags, or for a 'blind' wine tasting. Here's how I did it step by step:

Pick any fabric of your liking. Cut a piece 14" X 12 3/4" . 
This size will fit almost any style 750ml wine bottle.

With the fabric wrong side up, fold over and pin a 1" hem across the 14" side. 

Sew the hem. This will create the pocket for the ribbon closure.

This is what your sewn hem/ ribbon pocket will look like.

Now, fold the fabric in half, with the right sides facing each other. 
Pin the bottom and open side.

Sew the pinned bottom and side seams. 

NOTA BENE: Do NOT sew all the way up the side. 
You need to allow space at the top hem to thread your ribbon through. 

Now, take the ribbon you have chosen for your closure (make sure it's long enough! At least 18" for this pattern) and attach a safety pin to one end.

 

With the sack still wrong side out, take the end of the ribbon with the safety pin and guide through your top  hem (ribbon pocket), pulling all the way though. Remove the safety pin once pulled through. 

Turn the sack inside out so the right side of the fabric is showing, 
and you're done!

ENJOY! 

If you are making these for a wine tasting, just add a numbered tag to the ribbon. I was able to bang out 12 of these start-to-finish in about 2 1/2 hours (with the aid of a sewing machine). And trust me, the safety pin step is necessary. It is the best way to fish through any ribbon or string through a closed pocket. Keep that little factoid in mind next time the pull string on your hoodie disappears, and remember to thank me :)

Flowers, wine bottle sacks

It may have been only 1/2 and inch or so, but we woke up to snow. To bad I already entered my 'spring' picture to the local newspaper, because this would have made a nice submission. Well, maybe except for the cable running to the Christmas lights (yes, they are still up) in it. And, just in case you didn't find that hillbilly enough, the picture I did submit I had to crop out the random PBR beer cans in the background. I still think it came out nice though:

From that refreshing breathe of down-home-ness, let's enter the world of suburban bliss. Yesterday I was busy making wine sacks [among other things for] a blind spring wine tasting we're holding.

I made 12 of them easily using a sewing machine. I usually laud the merits and enjoyability of hand sewing, but I banged out all these sacks in a few hours with the machine. I used left over material from my Flower Girl dress at my best friends wedding. Little did she know, she had the perfect colour green for a spring party years later! Only 2 seams were needed to sew in order to make beautiful functional sacks for wine. I would have tapered the sacks more, but everyone brings their own favorite wine to be judged: the sacks are a drawstring design to accommodate different styles and sizes of bottles. A label can then be attached to the drawstring for judging purposes. I am working out the sewing pattern I made up to be easily understandable that I will post next so you can make your own.