How to Make a Santa Sack - Free Pattern

Have you made your Christmas list? Now is the time to decide if you have been naughty or nice and learn how to make a Santa sack that is going to take ALL the presents you are expecting. A Santa sack is an easy project and very rewarding to make. You can decorate the sack and personalize it for use every year.

How to Make a Santa Sack

Supplies

Materials needed to sew a Santa sack:

• COTTON FABRIC - Buy Christmas patterns or use plain red or green for Christmas colors. Keep aside scraps of fabric to appliqué and decorate or buy fat quarters to sew together to make the Santa sack. Then there is no harm in upcycling an old pillowcase. Another option is buying cheap calico and trying your artistic hand at some fabric painting or using fabric stencils to design a Santa sack. 
• CORD - Look out for cord in different colors or pretty ribbon to use for the drawstring. The drawstring should be ½" wide or narrower.
• SAFETY PIN - You need a small safety pin to thread the cord or ribbon through the casing. Basic sewing supplies. An alternative for threading is a sewing bodkin which is a long tool designed for threading cords and elastic.
• SEWING SUPPLIES - Theads, needles, scissors and so on will be used alongside your sewing machine.

How to Make a Santa Sack Pattern & Tutorial

Steps to take to cut and sew a Santa sack:

Step 1 - Cut the Fabric

Cut the fabric to the size you would like your Santa sack to be. A pillowcase size is a common favorite for this project, but you could go smaller if you wanted. 

Here are the suggested measurements for a small, medium, or large Santa sack. The large-sized sack is roughly the size of a standard pillowcase. Note you will cut 2 pieces of fabric and 2 pieces of cord.

	SMALL	MEDIUM	LARGE
Finished Size	7x8" (18x20.5cm)	11x13" (28x33cm)	20x26" (51x66cm)
Cut Fabric x 2 Pieces	8x9.5" (20.5x24cm)	12x14.5 (30.5x27cm)	21x27.5" (53.5x70cm)
Cut Cord x 2	20" (51cm)	24" (61cm)	33" (84cm)

Step 2 - How to Sew a Santa Sack

Remember at this stage if you plan to decorate or embroider your sack this must be done before you continue with the rest of the sewing. (Pattern ideas to be discussed later.)

• With right sides together, sew the bag up with a ½’’ seam (12mm). 
• Leave a gap of 2” or (5cm) at the top on both sides.

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• Finish the seam edges separately to the top so the casing can be created. I used pinking sears since the sack wouldn't be washed very often.
• Press the seam allowance at the top gap.

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Step 3 - Create the Casing

• With the Santa sack still the wrong way out, press over the top by ¼” (6mm).
• Press down another ¾” (2cm).
• Sew both sides for the casing. The ribbon or cord will thread through this casing.

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Step 4 - Clip and Turn

• Clip the corners to be sure they are neat.
• Turn the bag the right side out.
• Push out the corners to make a neat, pointed corner for the bag.

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Step 5 - Thread the Cords

• Attach one cord to the safety pin and thread it through the casing. Make sure you go all the way around. 
• Then do the same with the other cord through the other hole in the side. 
• The first cord travels through the casing easily, however the second cord is more difficult and some patient jiggling helps to get the ribbon moving through. 
• Knot the ends if you wish to stop fraying or to create some decoration, add beads or tassels to the end.

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Decorative Ideas for Your DIY Santa Sack

If you wish to personalize your Santa sack then here are some ideas of different things you could do. Remember it is best to do these before sewing up the sack. It is easier to work on a single layer of fabric and you may need to iron some fusible interfacing on the wrong side of the fabric in order to reinforce it.

How to make a Santa sack with decorations:

• Embroidery: Choose from a range of Christmas patterns and add some simple cross stitch or an embroidered Christmas designs to the front of the sack. If you are new to embroidery, read my article on how to embroider for lots of beginner stitches and tricks.

• Appliqué: Cut out some Christmas shapes like a Christmas tree or a star and use your machine to appliqué the letters or shapes on to the sack with a zig zag stitch. Hand stitch using a blanket stitch or even a small running stitch depending on how much washing you intend to do to this bag. I have some free Christmas tree template printables for you to start with.

• Cut Shapes with Pinking Shears: Appliqué shapes cut with pinking shears onto the sack using a simple running stitch to outline the shape. The pinking shears reduce the amount of fraying around the edge of the fabric and simplify the applique process. Finding fabrics with Christmas designs on them and cutting around the outline of the design is another alternative to an appliqué design.

• Fabric Paint: Using your plain calico as a canvas, there are wonderful opportunities to get creative with stamps and stencils to add fabric paint to the front of the bag. Try stamps or fabric stencils or Christmas cookie cutters to get into that jolly holly frame of mind. You can make your own stencil by tracing round a shape on a piece of card. Cut out the shape and leave a card outer edge. Use your fabric paint to sponge into the cut out stencil and then remove the stencil and the design you drew is left imprinted on the fabric. Learn how to do fabric stenciling or fabric painting.

• Felt Cut Outs: Felt is a great medium to work with for Christmas. Bright pieces of felt used to create Christmas decorative ideas make really beautiful festive finishes. Felt can be layered and making a funny Santa face is easy to do with felt. Use some googlie eyes and a piece of faux fur to finish off Santa’s beard and hat. Learn how to sew felt.

• Trims and Bobbles: Bobbles and baubles are very memorable Christmas trims.  Sew bright red bobbles to the bottom of the sack and a few rows of red and green ric rac will soon change the color and texture of the sack. Shiny sequins or brightly colored buttons add a sparkel to the Santa sack. 

How to Make a Santa Sack - In Conclusion

There is no doubt your finished Santa sack will look festive and ready for all the treats you have asked Santa for this year. Don’t forget to leave out some Christmas cookies next to your Santa sack and everyone will have a jolly, merry Christmas.