Recycled Pillowcase Halloween Treat Bags

It's only been the last few years where Halloween has taken off in Australia. We never used to celebrate it as children back in the "Old Days".  My kids were keen last year after our neighbours dropped an orange balloon and a note in our box asking if we were interested in participating to put the balloon out the front of our house. What a great idea.

As I am new to Halloween I hadn't really prepared so I whipped out the face paint, a cat mask and a tee which I sewed earlier for a Cat in the Hat costume. The rest of the kids came out looking smashing and off they went. I soon realised I hadn't given them anything to collect the treats in and shoved a few plastic bags in their pockets. They did the job but I decided this year I would do better.

I have loads of old pillowcases at the moment that were donated by St Kilda Mums as they can't use them for health and safety reasons. I am using them to make dresses, buntings, aprons and anything else I can think of for the up and coming St Kilda School Fete. 

Whilst researching "recycled pillowcases" I came up with a few posts on Halloween Treat Bags!! What another great idea. I decided to test them out. They are very simple and I think look fab.

 Firstly, cut a potato in half and carve out a triangle shape. Get some orange fabric paint and dip it in.

Get an old pillowcase, preferably white or a light colour. Put a piece of paper inside so that the paint doesn't come through onto the other side and stain your table (I figured this out quickly). Come up with any design you like for the pumpkin and stamp away.  I let my kids do the stamping and they decided on eyes, nose and scary teeth! You can paint a shape like a pumpkin or just leave it with the stamps. Let the pillowcase dry overnight on a flat surface and press on the wrong side when it is dry to set the paint.

 Meanwhile make the tie. Luckily, I had some old orange tee fabric and an old black tee. I cut strips, braided it and made a tie.

Now here is where your sewing skills come in. Before making the casing for the tie sew two button holes big enough to thread your tie through at the top and in the centre of the pillowcase. Fold over and sew around creating about a 5cm casing. Thread your tie through using a big safety pin.

Ta Da! A BIG treat bag for Halloween.