Several years ago, my husband and I brought a bottle of pricey wine to a fancy holiday party. We didn’t have a bag and it was a pot luck so we just grabbed the wine and got into the car. You can see where this is going. When we got to our destination, I got out of my seat only to drop the wine on the curb. UGH!!! I was so mad at myself. I won’t forget how upset and embarrassed I was. I pledged from then on to use a sturdy bag for transporting or gifting wine. Over the past few years I’ve tried to keep a few handmade wine totes hanging around. Not that we’re going anywhere these days, but just in case, I’ve replenished my supply of scrappy fabric wine totes.
The wine totes were made with this free Craft and Carry wine tote tutorial that I found on AllPeopleQuilt. You can download a free PDF pattern here as well. Finally, here’s a video tutorial you can watch too.
The pattern is very easy for anyone with sewing experience. It calls for light interfacing, but you probably could eliminate that if you prefer. In addition, there’s a special genius technique that is used to sew both sides of the handles with one stitch. The bottom round piece of the bag is a bit of a challenge, but mostly mine came out fine. Just use lots of pins and take it slow. Only one of my bag bottoms is wonky. Since it’s the bottom of the bag, no one will see it anyways.
These wine bags are great for hostess gifts & holiday gifting (yes, I’m dreaming of better times ahead.) I think having one of these bags to carry for a socially-distant picnic could be nice as well. Make one bag and you’ll be wanting to try another scrappy one as well. You can also practice your quilting lines and then turn those pieces into wine bags too! They are fun and quick to pull together. Use your imagination and have fun.
Linking to:
That Fabric Feeling 
Oh!! Your post title spoke to me!! what adorable wine carriers you made!!
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Thank you so much. I probably made more than enough but I don’t want to stop!
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Thanks for the link to the pattern and the tutorial! I love this idea for all bottle type gifts. Wouldn’t it be a fun way to present a homemade sauce or a special bottle of homemade hand sanitizer! Fun!
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Judy, I like the way you think!! Great ideas…keep them coming!
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I think you’ve got something there! Perfect hostess gifts, indeed!
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Thanks. I really enjoy making them and using up scraps. If only I had places to go right now!!
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Nothing more irritating than breaking a good bottle of wine. Luckily, our recent issues with dropping things was a can of pretty cheap carbonated water that popped up from hitting the floor. What wasn’t so fun was it started spinning and sprayed water all over the place. I thanked my lucky stars it wasn’t a sugary soda! Thanks for giving us the links to the pattern.
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Ooh, that sounds like you dodged a bullet with it just being water. That’s the sort of thing that usually happens here at our house! I’m happy to share the pattern. It wasn’t so easy to find initially, but now I’m determined to keep some of these bags around all the time.
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Love, love, LOVE this idea! Yes, better times are definitely ahead. I can’t say when . . . but definitely. And just reading the first paragraph, I knew what was going to happen. Shaking my head, muttering no, no, no . . . I kept reading. Brilliant idea and the perfect hostess gift. I’m going to check out the link. Thanks for sharing it. ~smile~ Roseanne
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I sure hope better times come soon. Thanks for playing along despite knowing where I was going!! You will love making them and they would really be great holiday gifts with a nice bottle of wine in them.
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You left out the hand lotion… and just standing there and watching it sliiiiiiide out of your hands. 😊
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OK yes, you’re right that I left out the hand lotion. I took full ownership of the dropping but the hand lotion was another piece that I left out. Suffice it to say that I learned my lesson!!
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