Choose your favorite spooky fabrics and create your own quilting design! Add reflective handles to keep you safe at night.

Add a cute lining! Photo by Modern Domestic.

Pattern Overview

Sewing Level	total beginner
Age Level	kids and adults
Sewing Time	an afternoon
Skills Practiced	seam allowances, quilting, boxed corners, adding a lining, edgestitching
Finished Measurements	10” wide x 11” tall x 4” deep or can be modified to your desired size! Orange bag: 9” wide x 13” tall x 4” deep

Choose your favorite spooky fabrics and add your own quilting designs to make a one-of-a-kind trick-or-treat bag! Reflective handles will help keep you safe while you go house to house on Halloween night. I created this pattern especially for kids learning how to sew, but adults will love making it too! It’s a wonderful project for beginning sewists, doesn’t require an iron, and only takes an afternoon to make.

If you’d like in-person support and instruction, please sign up for my classes at Modern Domestic or contact me to schedule a private lesson. Terms that are bolded and highlighted are defined in the Glossary at the end of the post.

Gather Your Supplies

1/2 yard (or 2 fat quarters) of Halloween quilting cotton, Essex (cotton linen blend), or similar weight woven fabric for the exterior.
1/2 yard (or 2 fat quarters) of Halloween quilting cotton, Essex (cotton linen blend), or similar weight woven fabric for the lining.
1/2 yard of batting, fusible fleece, or flannel to add loft during quilting
1.5 yard of 1”–1.5” wide reflective tape or webbing for the straps
1 spool of thread that matches or contrasts with your exterior fabric (you will have visible quilting lines)

Helpful Tools and Notions

A fresh sewing machine needle (my favorite all-purpose needles are Schmetz Microtex 80/12; universal needles also work great)
Regular presser foot or walking foot
Edgestitch presser foot
Fabric marker, chalk pen, or other temporary fabric marking tool that shows up on your fabric (you can also make marks and creases with a butter knife or Hera marker)
Ruler
Scissors or rotary cutter and cutting mat
Basting spray or quilting pins (I prefer curved safety pins)
Point turner to turn corners inside out (you can also use a chopstick or the eraser end of a pencil)
Seam ripper
Iron (optional): This pattern was made with kids in mind, so the instructions call for finger pressing seams. If you’re comfortable using an iron, feel free to press your seams with an iron instead.

Cut Your Fabric

From your exterior fabric, cut a rectangle 15” wide by 30” long.

Fold in half hamburger style. Along the fold, mark a 2” square on the outer corners (2” up from the fold and 2” in from the side edge). Cut out the square through both layers of fabric. Once you open up the fabric, you will have cut out a 2” x 4” rectangle. This will help us make boxed corners with bulky quilted fabric.
If you are working with fat quarters or a directional fabric that you’d like to face a certain way on both sides, you can cut out two (almost) squares that are 15” wide by 15.5” long. Cut out 2” squares from the bottom corners as instructed above, then sew the bottom seams right sides together using a 1/2” seam allowance to make the exterior panel. Press the seam open.

From your lining fabric, cut out a rectangle 15” wide by 24” long.

Fold in half hamburger style. Repeat the instructions above to cut out 2” squares for the boxed corners.
If you are working with fat quarters or a directional fabric that you’d like to face a certain way on both sides, you can cut out two rectangles that are 15” wide by 12.5” long. Cut out 2” squares from the bottom corners as instructed above, then sew the bottom seams right sides together using a 1/2” seam allowance to make the lining panel. Press the seam open.

From your batting, fusible fleece, or flannel, cut out a rectangle that is slightly larger than your exterior fabric (about 17” x 32”). This will give you extra room to work if your fabric shifts while quilting. You’ll trim off the excess later.
Cut two straps that are each 26” long (this accounts for the additional 4” needed for seam allowance and folding over the top edge of the bag). A finished length of 22” should work for most kids (and their parents), but you can lengthen or shorten your straps as desired. Try measuring your favorite tote bag (measure from the top edge of the bag, not from where the straps are sewn on) and adding on 4”.

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Adjusting the pattern to create your desired size

Quilt the Exterior

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Unless otherwise noted, sew all seams using a 2.5 mm long straight stitch and a 1/2” seam allowance.

Lay your exterior rectangle right side up and draw in your quilting lines (if desired) using a chalk pencil or fabric pen. You can also add creases using a Hera marker or butter knife.

Quilting design ideas: vertical lines, horizontal lines, squares, diagonal lines, diamonds, waves, circles, spiderwebs
The closer your lines are together, the stiffer the bag will feel (and vice versa). Not sure where to start? Try about 2” between your quilting lines.
If you don’t want to plan out your quilting lines in advance, you can just wing it!

Baste your exterior fabric to your batting material using spray adhesive or quilting pins. The right side of your exterior fabric with the quilt markings should be facing up and you should have a ~1” border of extra batting around all sides of your exterior fabric. If using pins, avoid placing them too close to your stitching lines so you don’t have to take them out while sewing.
Sew your lines! Start sewing lines in the center of your fabric and work outwards, smoothing the fabric down and out as you go to keep it from bunching.

You can use a walking foot to help prevent the layers of fabric from shifting around.
You can increase your stitch length (3.0–3.5 mm long) if desired.

Once you’re finished quilting, trim away the excess batting material using scissors or a rotary cutter.

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Remember to return your stitch length to the regular length of 2.5 mm after quilting.

Attach the Straps

Pin or clip the straps to the top edges of the main fabric, right sides together.

I like to place the outer edge of each strap 3.5” in from the side edges. Position them at whatever distance looks best to you.
Ensure that the straps aren’t twisted!

Sew across the straps within the 1/2” seam allowance, backstitching well to secure.
Before moving on, take a moment to double check that the straps aren’t twisted!

Sew the Side Seams

Fold the quilted exterior fabric in half, hamburger style, with right sides together. Pin or clip the sides together, then sew using a 1/2” seam allowance. Ensure that your straps don’t get caught in the seam. Press the side seams open with your finger or an iron.
Repeat for the lining.

Box the Corners

Working with the quilted exterior piece first (right sides still together), open up the corner and rearrange so that the side seam is facing up and positioned in the middle of your fabric. Now bring the raw edges of the side together with the raw edge of the bottom section and pin or clip. Sew using a 1/2” seam allowance. Press the seams open with your finger or an iron. Repeat for the other side of the quilted exterior.
Repeat the steps above on only one side of the lining. We’ll leave the second corner of the lining open for now.

Attach the Lining

Turn the lining piece right side out, then place it inside the quilted exterior piece so the right sides of the exterior and lining are together. Ensure that the straps are pointing down and sandwiched between the exterior and lining fabrics.
Align the side seams of the exterior and lining and pin or clip in place, keeping the seam allowances pressed open. The top raw edges of the exterior and lining should be aligned. Continue pinning or clipping around the top edge of the bag.
Remove the tray from your sewing machine, place your bag on the machine like a sock, and sew around the entire circumference of the top edge of the bag using a 1/2” seam allowance. Remember to backstitch or overlap the beginning and end of your stitch line to secure your stitches.
Reach through the open corner of the lining that you did not sew closed and carefully pull the entire bag through the opening until it’s right side out. Use a point turner, chopstick, or your finger to neatly push open the boxed corners of the exterior and lining pieces.
Close the hole in the lining corner by tucking the raw edges inside and edgestitching.

Finish the Top Edge

Recall that we cut the exterior piece longer than the lining piece, so the quilted side will extend above the lining—here’s where we account for that!
Tuck the exterior piece of the bag into the lining piece.
Pull the the exterior fabric down towards the lining until it’s about 1.5” from the top edge of the bag. Make sure it’s even all the way around the bag. Tug the lining fabric down, away from the fold, so it doesn’t get caught in the next line of stitches.
Pin or clip around the top circumference of the bag. For this step, ensure that your straps are pointing straight up and are perpendicular to the top edge. Edgestitch around the top edge, remembering to backstitch well at the beginning/end (and over the straps, if desired).
Turn the bag right side out!

Final Touches

Use small scissors to trim any thread tails.
Remove any lingering marks from your chalk or fabric marker
Celebrate!!!

Keep In Touch

Thanks very much for reading! If you have any questions, feedback, or corrections regarding the pattern, please don’t hesitate to contact me! I’d love to see what you make, so please tag me on Instagram and use the hashtag #QuiltedTrickOrTreat. You can also find me and this pattern on Threadloop.

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