Using Unloved Fabric for Parts of Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Gift Projects

While purging my fabric stash of unloved fabrics I wondered what to do with fabrics too sheer for pillowcase dresses, too lightweight for my Operation Christmas Child shoebox sized drawstring tote bags or just a design I do not like.  I decided I can use them for PARTS of other projects.

I have almost enough tote bags for this year, but with a goal of at least 100 shoe boxes next year I will need 200 drawstrings for the tote bags I plan to make.  Making them from unloved fabric will be

Patchwork Apron & Drawstring Bag for an Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box Gift

Along with my patchwork pillow case dress, I designed a scrappy apron for my Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift with my scraps.  I love to figure out designs and piecing scraps of fabric together so I am having fun making use of my scraps in my effort to purge my stock of fabrics.  It is hard to see in this image, but the center fabric is yellow with green vines and pink flowers.

If you'd like to make drawstring tote bags for your Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes check out our tutorial:  Drawstring Gift Bag Sized to Hold a Shoebox.

Purging Party Patchwork Dress for an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox

I shared earlier that I have joined up at the Purging Party over at Stitched in Color and one of the items I am working on purging is all of my scraps left from pillowcase dresses I have made.  I decided it was about time to try to match them up and make patchwork dresses for my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.

I have seen some gorgeous patchwork dresses online but have never tried my hand at matching fabrics, other than two at a time and often one of those is a solid.  But I took the plunge and this is the result at my first attempt.

I had this center piece just the width it is here and started with that.  Of course, as you can see, I added two solid fabrics right off!  The mustard gold piece was just wide enough to cut into two to put on either side of the center panel.  The rose and blue/pink piece I had the most of, but used it all up in

Shoebox Drawstring Bag Style #2 ~ Large Enough to Hold Operation Christmas Child GO Box

After sharing my scrappy drawstring bags sized so an Operation Christmas Child shoebox can fit inside, I received dozens of requests for a pattern.  I designed three bags to share instructions for and one post became too long to share them all at once.  So I am sharing them in three different posts (find links

Drawstring Gift Bag Style #1 ~ Illustrated How-To Instructions: To Hold an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox

I recently shared my drawstring bags I made for my OCC shoebox gifts sized so a shoebox can fit inside.  Operation Christmas Child shared the post for my Scrappy Draw String Tote Bags on their Facebook page and I have received dozens of requests for a pattern.  I've designed three bags and the original post was too long to share them all at once.  So I am sharing them in three different

Simple Drawstring Tote-bag to Hold an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox ~ Illustrated Instructions & Pattern

I posted about my drawstring bags I made that a shoebox could fit inside to include in my shoe box gifts.  Operation Christmas Child recently shared my post for my Scrappy Draw String Tote Bags on their Facebook page which generated dozens of requests for a pattern.  Here is a step by step, illustrated how-to of my method for