DIY Felt Gift Giving Inspiration

by Lorrie Everitt

When it comes to gift-giving, the wrapping often brings just as much joy as the gift itself. There’s something about the act of presenting a beautifully wrapped package that makes the experience feel even more special. But what if you could elevate your gift-wrapping game with a personalized twist? Instead of using standard paper or store-bought bags, why not create your own unique gift bags using plain burlap and a little felt DIY magic?

Personalizing plain burlap bags is easier than you might think. With just a few simple materials, like felt fabric and some creativity, you can turn an ordinary fabric bag into a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Felt appliqué is a perfect technique for adding fun shapes or even initials to your bags. 

Hi, this is Lorrie from @makeandmerryco and I am so happy to share how I gift wrapped some of my recent handmade gifts.

Let’s begin by adding a felt heart appliqué to a fabric bag.

Gather your supplies and tools:

You will also need to create a pattern for your applique. For my heart, I simply drew a heart onto paper and cut it out.

If you have never used iron on adhesives before, I recommend that you read all of the how to instructions on the package. Cut a piece of cotton fabric to whatever size will fit your applique shape. You will want to cut the iron on adhesive to the same size or slightly smaller than the fabric if you are afraid of getting adhesive on your iron or ironing mat. Place the adhesive side of the iron on adhesive on the back of the fabric and iron as per the Heat N Bond instructions.

Note: The paper liner on the Heat N Bond must be face up!

Once the Heat N Bond has cooled, use your pattern template and a pencil to trace the heart shape to the adhesive paper backing.

Cut the fabric paper shape out using fabric scissors and remove the paper backing to expose the second adhesive backing.

Place the fabric, adhesive side down, on top of the felt. Keep in mind that you are going to cut a felt border around the fabric so give yourself enough space. Iron in place as per the packaging instructions.

Once the fabric is adhered to the felt, you can cut the felt as shown above. I created a ¼” border of felt around the fabric heart but you could make it any size you would like. If you have scalloped fabric scissors, consider adding a decorative edge to the felt heart.

When I gift these fabric bags, I hope that they will be reused as tote bags for shopping, to carry books to the library, pack lunches for the office, or just repurposed as a gift bag to someone else. And that is why I add a zig zag edge on my sewing machine to make sure that the fabric does not pull away from the felt after years of use. This step is optional but I feel like it’s worth the extra time. 

Note: You could also blanket stitch the fabric edge by hand if you don’t have a sewing machine.

Use a measuring tape to position the applique on the bag, and a large pin to keep it in place. You’ll need to use a sharp sewing needle and two strands of embroidery floss to sew the felt heart to the bag.

I used a running stitch and a floss color that matched my felt. You can use a different embroidery stitch if you wish but keep in mind that the bag is a little awkward to sew onto and this step can be a little time consuming. If you want your stitches to stand out, try using a contrasting floss color that compliments the colors in the fabric for a different look. 

And why stop at just the bags? You can make DIY keychains using felt balls and felt shapes to match, adding an extra thoughtful touch. These keychains can be used as small, but meaningful, gifts on their own or as part of the gift presentation.

Here’s what you need to make my floral mushroom keychain:

  • Felt mushroom shapes
  • Mini felt balls
  • Scraps of felt to make small flowers
  • Embroidery floss and 5” doll needle
  • Wood or silicone beads (assorted sizes, shapes and colors)
  • Metal keyring hardware
  • Carded felting wool
  • Felting needle

I cut small five-petal shaped flower from felt scraps to add to the felt mushrooms. I attached the felt flower to the mushroom using a single stitch of embroidery floss to keep it in place then I needle felted a white center to the flower using a small ball of felt roving. 

Note: If you don’t want to needle felt the center of the felt flower, you can embroider French knots to flower center and sew the flowers to the mushrooms to finish. 

Creative Alternative: Cut butterfly shapes from felt scraps instead of flowers.

Use a 5” long doll needle and two strands of embroidery floss to attach all of the pieces to the metal keychain. Make a couple of small stitches at the bottom of the mushroom to knot the embroidery floss in place. Push the needle through the bottom of the needle and straight up the center to the top of the mushroom.

Continue to string beads and a mini felt ball until you have a combination that you are happy with. Tie the embroidery floss to the keyring and knot a few times to secure.

You can add a ribbon bow to the keyring to hide the knotted embroidery floss (see photo above) if you wish.

Recently, I wrapped up several handmade gifts in personalized burlap bags adorned with felt appliqué, and I couldn’t be more excited to share some of them. This gift bag applique was created using felt scraps from a handmade gift that I created for a special little girl. The keyring was personalized with her name and can be added to her backpack when she is old enough to start daycare.

This hand embellished denim jacket was tucked away inside of the personalized gift bag. I combined felt and embroidery floss to create the dog patch. The dog was embroidered with a technique called thread painting. This was my first attempt at using this technique combined with layers of felt and I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I am eager to design and create another felt patch using this embroidery technique. You might notice that the small felt flowers on the jacket are the same flowers that I added to the felt mushrooms. 

Creative Note: I sewed these felt patches to the denim jacket so they could easily be removed and added to a larger jacket. After spending so much time thread painting the dog, I am really happy that I decided not embroider it directly onto the denim. Children grow up way too quickly. 

This sweet handmade felt bunny doll was a Christmas gift and was added to a burlap gift bag that was embellished with a DIY felt ornament and ribbons. I choose 100% wool felt to make the doll because if the bunny is played with, I did not want the felt to pill or wear out. By the way, the doll pattern is one of many from the book “Handmade Animal Dolls” by Melissa Lowry.

I encourage you to try these easy, creative ideas for your next round of gift-giving—whether it’s for a holiday or just a thoughtful gesture. Personalizing your gift wrap with personalized fabric bags and DIY gift toppers not only makes the wrapping process fun, but it also shows the recipient just how much thought and effort went into their present.

I hope that this post inspires you to get crafty with your gift wrapping and gift giving. If you do, I would love to see your finished projects!

Please tag @The_Felt_Store and @MakeandMerryCo on Instagram so we can see what you are creating.

Happy Crafting!

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