Scripture Bags for my Sunbeam Class

I wanted to sew a small, simple scripture bag for the Books of Mormon I made for my Sunbeam class.

These bags are very inexpensive, cute and easy to make.  I gave them to my Sunbeams on their first day of class with their Book Of Mormon and name tag inside.  I handed them out before church started so they could look at them during Sacrament meeting and get excited about coming to class. I also thought it would be fun for them to look at the class photo list on the back of their Books of Mormon and see who would be in their class.

I didn't want to spend a lot of time encasing seams or adding drawstrings.  I had a stroke of genius while buying some clear vinyl for another project.

I decided it would be the perfect material for me, and I thought the kids would like to be able to see what is in their bag.  I printed a template in Microsoft Word for each letter and cut it out of cardstock.  Then I traced the letter onto craft felt.

For the initial on I started with a zig zag stitch in a contrasting color of thread.  I soon switched to a straight stitch and matching thread to keep things easy.  For the girls I added a simple bow that I secured on with a straight stitch.

The next step was the handles. I used grossgrain ribbon from Walmart, and then I sewed the sides up with a straight stitch.  

I bought the vinyl at Walmart for $3.00 per yard, and it only took 1/4 yard to make 7 bags since the vinyl is 54 inches wide.  It is found on a large roll next to the cutting counter near the material for vinyl tablecloths.

The medium weight vinyl is much easier to sew with than the extra thick vinyl and holds up just fine.

In case you are wondering where I find time to do all of this...On Saturday mornings our family usually takes a Jeep ride and we go for a hike or explore a trail.

I always take my lesson manual and scriptures with me and we talk about my lessons for the next week or two.

On Jan. 1st I even took my letters to cut out and traced them on felt while my boys went out exploring.