Some of the cutest bags around for Heather's niece and nephews

Last month my neighbor, Heather, commissioned me to make some toy bags for her niece and nephews for Christmas.  Her family was celebrating Christmas at Thanksgiving, so these gifts have already been received (and reportedly adored!).

We took a really fun trip to Jo-Ann's together to buy the fabric.  As usual, the biggest problem was having too many choices!  We think we did a pretty darn good job of it though, and the results speak for themselves.

The first bag (for Heather's niece) was sewn from a "Kids Activity Bag" tutorial I have made before a couple of years ago, and I forgot that I was not thrilled with how short the top drawstring part was (something the tutorial acknowledges and gives instructions for amending in a place deeply buried in the instructions, unfortunately).  It turned out okay, though, but I would make a taller drawstring top if I made the bag again.

For the two older nephews, Heather chose one of my favorite patterns (from the Fabric-by-Fabric One Yard Wonders book that Erin got me).  These were the fifth and sixth bags I have sewn using that particular pattern, and I already have a few more planned for Christmas presents,  This pattern alone was worth the purchase of that book.  Thank you, Erin!  Anyway, we thought the combo of the skull and flame fabrics was all kinds of hilarious, and perfect for upper elementary school boys.

I swapped the fabric placement when I sewed the set so the brothers could tell their bags apart.

For Heather's tiniest nephews (age 3 and 7 months), we found some adorable monster fabrics.  I especially love the combo of the checkered flag lining with the monster truck fabric.  We couldn't decide what to line the other bag with, so we just chose a plain green.  Still looks pretty cute, though.  I love the Peek-a-Boo Toy Sack tutorial (with the same modifications I have used in the past to simplify the drawstring casing creation) and already have plans to make a couple of these for Christmas presents as well.

Heather reported that all the kids loved them (well, she guessed that the 7-month-old liked his, but I guess we won't know for sure until he learns to talk) so I'm going to consider that a success.