Otomi-Inspired Knot Bags

As part of my never-ending quest to wrap every gift in reusable handmade wrapping, I’m always on the lookout for cute gift bags to make. Flipping through old magazines, I recently stumbled upon the Otomi-Inspired Knot Bag by Mags Kandis in the Fall 2013 issue of Stitch. The embellishment did not speak to me, but the shape of the bag did, so I printed the pattern, skipped ahead in the instructions, and got to work.

I found that I could quickly cut four pattern pieces from a half yard of fabric, which lent itself well to making two matching bags from each pair of fabrics.

The first two bags were made of yardage I had on hand of Just Wing It! by Momo and Bold and Beautiful by Michele D’Amore.

The last two bags were made from Kingdom by Jessica Levitt fabric and Stoff Quilters Basic Style fabric, also from my stash.

While the finished products turned out cute, and were well liked by the recipients, the construction left something to be desired. After attaching the lining, and turning it right side out, the bag is finished by folding under the seam allowances and topstitching around the handles. For all four bags, I found this step to be finicky and frustrating. These bags are rather small, and I'm sure that didn't help the situation. I’m happy I tried this pattern, but I will leave it behind as I continue my search for the perfect stitched gift bag.