What to give to someone at Christmas that doesn't cost the earth, is different, really useful, personalised and made with love out of recycled materials:

Attention Textile & Home Economics Teachers - A Useful Christmas Present for your students to make out of Recycled Materials:

The Easy to Hang Rag/ Sock/ Knicker Bag.

As it is the season of gift making here's a cheap and simple to make but useful Gift for you and your students to make. It is the Rag Bag or Sock/ Stocking/ Knicker Storage Bag. It hangs in any cupboard or wardrobe

You will need

• An old shirt with buttons preferably short-sleeved but it doesn't matter.
• Scissors
• Needle and thread
• Artist Marker Pens or Fabric Paint and Brush.
  Visit www.zigzag.co.nz to purchase these online.
• STENCIL LETTERS of the Alphabet that spell RAGBAG or a person's name plus any other STENCILS such as daisies, butterflies, etcetera.
• Optional fancy buttons plus any other washable decorations
• Coat Hanger

Method

1. If short-sleeved sew up the armholes. If long-sleeved cut off the arms completely or trim to until short-sleeved and sew up the arm-holes
2. Sew together the bottom ends of the shirt so a bag is formed once the shirt-buttons are done up.
3. If you want to decorate by exchanging the original buttons for something fancier sew them on now.
4. Stencil paint on the words RAG BAG or JANE'S KNICKERS or JOHN's SOCKS or whatever seems most useful or generic such as just SOCKS.
5. Add any other decorations or paint on a sock or aerosol can or pair of knickers to depict the bag's usage.
6. Put the finished shirt onto a clothes hanger and do up the buttons

Now you have a storage bag that can be hung up in the wardrobe, on the back of any door or on a hook in the cleaning cupboard. For ease of installing you may wish to add an instant stick on hook to the final gift parcel.

This is really useful gift for people who live in a small flat or have very little storage space. Could even be an alternative to LOCKERS and may rid of the mess in the CLASS CLOAKROOM.