Don’t let cost of Halloween scare you

What is going on with Halloween these days?

Various sources say Americans spend up to $8 billion on the holiday each year and that it’s second only to Christmas in terms of commercialization.

I like Halloween well enough, but we don’t go bonkers for it at our house. So far, we’ve spent about $5 to make a pumpkin costume for my daughter and a little less than $10 to make the trick-or-treat bag for this month’s HomeMaker column. I’m not sure how that figures into the national average, but I’m guessing we’re under par.

Of course, we haven’t bought the candy for trick-or-treaters yet. Nor have we bought the second round of candy that usually comes on Oct. 30 when we panic because we’ve eaten so much from the first round that we fear we won’t have enough for the sugar-crazed monsters – I mean children – that ring our doorbell.

Bag it

Several weeks ago, I came across some Halloween-themed fabric for sale at the Repro Depot (www.reprodepot.com), a superhip online sewing shop. The vintage-inspired material features cherublike youngsters parading around dressed like clowns and cats and whatnot. I couldn’t think of how to use it at the time, so I didn’t order any.

Then, I stumbled upon the same fabric at Sew Easy Too, a fabric store on Spokane’s North Side. Figuring it was meant to be, I purchased a small amount.

When I later read about a bag project that blogger Carol Lee (check out her Oct. 2 post at www.kidding-around.net ) made so her young niece could carry around her toys, it all came together. I would use the fabric to make a trick-or-treat bag for my daughter.

Keep in mind the dimensions listed below are for a bag sewn for a 2-year-old. When my husband saw what I was making, he kindly informed me that kids just want to carry around a pillowcase so they can rake in as much loot as possible. I think this bag is plenty big for any child up to 5 years old or so, but enlarge the measurements if your kid is older or a more serious trick-or-treater.

The steps

First, cut your fabric pieces. For the main body of the bag, you will need a front and back piece, each measuring 13 by 15 inches. Also cut two side panels, measuring 3 by 15 inches, and a bottom panel, 3 by 13 inches.

(I designed the bag to have the shape of a shallow grocery bag. If you don’t want to give your bag that depth, skip the steps involving cutting and sewing the side and bottom panels and just make a flat sack.)

You’ll also need to cut two top handles, 10 by 4 inches each, and two backpack straps, 20 by 4 inches.

A note about the backpack straps – they’re totally unnecessary, but I remember as a kid that by the end of Halloween night, my hands and arms got tired of carrying a heavy sack of candy.

The backpack straps will allow your little one to shoulder the burden – if you can call a heavy sack of sugar a burden – on his back instead.

Now is also the time to cut out any decorative elements for the bag.

I ended up using one trick-or-treating duo from the vintage-inspired fabric and a spooky tree that I cut out of black felt.

Sew these to the right side of one of your main body fabric pieces, which will end up being the front of the bag, either by hand or with a machine.

Notice that I made the girl and boy patch a pocket by hemming all sides and then sewing just the sides and bottom of the patch to the bag, leaving an opening at the top. This could be a good place to stash a flashlight or some glow sticks.

Sew the four handles by folding them lengthwise, right sides facing, then invert the tube you’ve created and press it flat with a hot iron.

Finally, pin all the bag components together, right sides facing, being sure to pin the handles in place so they’re sewn into the seams for a finished look.

Sew the pieces together and hem the top, turn the bag right side out, press it, and brace yourself for the big night.