Halloween Trick-or-Treating Bags

Halloween Trick-or-Treating Bags

A week or so after completing my kids’ Halloween costumes I realized I didn’t have a bag for them to go trick-or-treating with. Last year I bought two drastically different pumpkin shaped baskets for the kids. They ended up becoming deck and playground toys. This year I had seen several Market Bags from Stitch Upon a Time on my Facebook groups and figured that would be the perfect way to go. Over the weekend the kids went trick-or-treating within in our apartment (a.k.a. filling up their bags with toys and transporting them), ran in circles while holding them, and Monday they were used as our library book bags. I love how these turned out and wanted to share it with you in case you’re also looking for a last minute trick-or-treating bag or for an all-purpose easy-sew reusable bag. These are durable and I don’t have to worry about them getting dirty as they are easy to wash or, worst case, I could just sew new ones.

Sew up a simple Halloween trick or treat bag. Perfect for making your rounds, using it as a grocery bag, or bringing it along to the library.

Materials Used

  • 6 100% cotton Halloween fat quarters I bought at Walmart last year. This would be enough for one bag but since I was making two I had the kids shop my fabric stash for the inside lining of the bags though the pattern says you can also use reuse old t-shirts or sheets.
  • Sewing machine, thread, rotary cutter, and mat
  • The printed and taped Market Bag pattern from Stitch Upon a Time

To design the outside of the bags I decided to use some fat quarters I bought on sale at Walmart last year. I had two ‘Halloween’ looking chevrons, two ‘Thanksgiving’ looking chevrons, one with polka dots, and finally one with stripes. I didn’t want the kids to argue over which bag they wanted so I decided to use all four distinct designs on each of the two bags. I started designing the bag layout by laying one of the fat quarters out on the Market Bag pattern to see how much of the pattern piece it covered. Since it covered just around two thirds of the pattern piece I decided to sew three of the fat quarters together so each side of the bag would be about one and a half fat quarters long (specifically two thirds of one of the duplicate designs and about one third the unique design). When you combine this with the back of the bag there would be all four fabric designs used so they’d have some of everything.

I laid my prewashed Halloween fat quarters out on top of the pattern piece to see how much it covered it and plan what I was going to do.
I laid my prewashed Halloween fat quarters out on top of the pattern piece to see how much it covered it and plan what I was going to do.

Since I wanted to half the single fat quarters (the stripes and polka dots) I sewed them to the duplicates so I had two sets of fabrics. I started by taking the striped fabric and clipping the one set of chevrons to one end and then the other chevron design to the other end. I did the same thing to the polka-dotted fabric too. After sewing where I clipped I trimmed the seam allowance with my pinking shears and then ironed them towards the center (or once sewn the bottom of the bag).

I clipped the fabric I wanted at the bottom to one of my 'Thanksgiving' chevron fabric.
I clipped the fabric I wanted at the bottom to one of my ‘Thanksgiving’ chevron fabric.
Then I clipped the other side of the stripes to the 'Halloween' themed chevron so the stripes are connected on either side.
Then I clipped the other side of the stripes to the ‘Halloween’ themed chevron so the stripes are connected on either side.
I repeated this with my polka-dotted fabric in between the two types of chevrons.
I repeated this with my polka-dotted fabric in between the two types of chevrons.
After sewing them together I used my pinking shears to trim the excess fabric. It had started unraveling when I prewashed it.
After sewing them together I used my pinking shears to trim the excess fabric. It had started unraveling when I prewashed it.
And then ironed the seams towards the center so after the bag was made the horizontal seams hidden within the bag would go towards the bottom of the bag.
And then ironed the seams towards the center so after the bag was made the horizontal seams hidden within the bag would go towards the bottom of the bag.

I then folded the fabric in half and stacked them on top of each other before laying out the pattern piece over top and cutting it out. If I was only sewing a single bag I would’ve been able to start sewing the bag now and had the perfect pieces for both the outside and inside layer. Since I was sewing two bags this was only enough for the outside of the bags.

To cut out the pattern I folded the fabric in half and lined up the bottom of the bag close to the fold so each piece had as much of the unique fabric as possible since I only had one fat quarter each of the stripes and polka dots. This meant each bag had some of all four fabric designs.
To cut out the pattern I folded the fabric in half and lined up the bottom of the bag close to the fold so each piece had as much of the unique fabric as possible since I only had one fat quarter each of the stripes and polka dots. This meant each bag had some of all four fabric designs.

For the lining I decided to have the kids pick their own fabric. As the liner is made from two pieces of fabric I decided to let them choose if they wanted to have one or two fabric designs inside their bag. I decided it would be simplest to take out all my woven fabric (to limit the choices) and laid them out for the kids to shop through. I love how both kids ended up choosing (different) dinosaur fabric while Ada paired it with sharks and Zoey went with ballet (she calls it ballet after watching Shatter Me by Lindsey Stirling… haven’t corrected her to ballerina yet).

As I decided to have my kids pick out their own lining material I pulled out my woven fabric from my stash to make picking easier.
As I decided to have my kids pick out their own lining material I pulled out my woven fabric from my stash to make picking easier.
I laid them out on the bench so they could easily shop.
I laid them out on the bench so they could easily shop.
Many decisions were made and un-made while I kept getting them to confirm. They had the opportunity to pick one or two fabrics for the lining.
Many decisions were made and unmade while I kept getting them to confirm. They had the opportunity to pick one or two fabrics for the lining.
Once done Ada took the opportunity to hug the remaining fabric as Zoey continued to peruse the wares that remained.
Once done Ada took the opportunity to hug the remaining fabric as Zoey continued to peruse the wares that remained.
The outer and lining comes in two pieces so the kids got to pick two fabrics each so half would be one and the other half the other. Zoey went with ballet and dinosaur fabric while Ada choose sleepy dinosaurs and sharks. All fabrics had been bought from JOANN Fabrics with three of them thin fuzzy flannel and the sharks with no fuzz.
The outer and lining comes in two pieces so the kids got to pick two fabrics each so half would be one and the other half the other. Zoey went with ballet and dinosaur fabric while Ada choose sleepy dinosaurs and sharks. All fabrics had been bought from JOANN Fabrics with three of them thin fuzzy flannel and the sharks with no fuzz.

After cutting the lining out all that was left to do was sew the bags together according the pattern’s directions. I love how simple they were to come together. The handles have been folded in half and sewn down to hide the seams so the only exposed seam in the entire bag was in the inside bottom.

The finished bags from the 'Thanksgiving' chevron side...
The finished bags from the ‘Thanksgiving’ chevron side…
and from the 'Halloween' chevron side.
and from the ‘Halloween’ chevron side.
The finished bags inside out to show off the lining. Love how both bags have dinosaurs on them yet the kids chose different dinosaurs.
The finished bags inside out to show off the lining. Love how both bags have dinosaurs on them yet the kids chose different dinosaurs.
And from above... It's kind of difficult to get good photos of bags and yet I had a lot to go through.
And from above… It’s kind of difficult to get good photos of bags and yet I had a lot to go through.
Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween
and happy trick-or-treating.
and happy trick-or-treating.
Kids running around the road track floor mat while carrying the market bags.
And when they were ‘finally’ given the finished bags they went for a run (love the circular track) and later carried toys around the house while going ‘trick-or-treating’. Ada had asked if I was done making them after only cutting out the fabric pieces so the next day (sewed them after they went to bed) was a long time to wait.
Dinosaur, Halloween, and vehicle library books contained within the new market bags.
They made great library bags too. I brought both bags in case the kids wanted their own and it made the books fit into the stroller much easier than when the same amount of books are contained into one bag.

I hope this bag helps if you need to come up with a last minute trick or treating bag. I love how they’re small enough that the kids can easily carry them yet large enough that I don’t have to worry about anything falling out. So far they’ve only been tested with toys and books but I can’t wait to change that tonight. I can see using fabric that matches with your costume to further extend your costume. Oh, if doing Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz I could see making the outer fabric look more basket weave for her basket or, perhaps, adding Toto to the bag to further extend the costume.

If it’s not Halloween the Market Bag has also been designed to be similar to a plastic bag and so can easily fit in the bagging stations at the stores (though I haven’t had a chance to test yet) so I could see making many more of these for so many purposes. Some people on the Stitch Upon a Time Facebook chat group have thought to use them instead of gift bags too.

Hope you have a great day and a Happy Halloween. I would love to see your bags if you want to share them in the comments below, on my Facebook page, or through Instagram. I hope you have fun coming up with your own fabric combination for your bag.



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