Halloween Bags: Is Using a Fabric Panel Cheating?

I’ve been making Halloween bags, and somewhere between the pumpkins, bats and orange stitching, a familiar little question crept in.

Does using a printed fabric panel count as cheating?

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  Four handmade Halloween tote bags featuring pumpkins, bats, a white ghost and a black cat, with cont

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  Two handmade Halloween tote bags: a black bag with white and orange pumpkins, and a cream bag with b

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  Two handmade Halloween tote bags featuring a white ghost with “Boo!” lettering and a black cat besid

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  Backs of two handmade black Halloween bags with orange stitching and personalised labels

You know the sort of thought. You’re pleased with something you’ve made, then that little voice pipes up: “Well, you didn’t actually create the picture, did you?”

Thank you, imaginary sewing police. Very helpful.

These bags feature ghosts, pumpkins, bats and a rather lovely black cat. The panels give each one its own character, while the contrasting handles, orange stitching and personalised details help bring them together. They’re fun, useful and ready for collecting Halloween goodies.

But because the pictures were already printed onto the fabric, does that somehow make the finished bags less handmade?

I don’t think so.

The panel doesn’t sew the bag

A printed panel gives you a design to work with. It doesn’t turn itself into a finished bag.

There are still decisions to make about the fabrics, handles, construction and finishing. There’s still cutting, positioning, sewing and the small matter of getting everything facing the right way. A surprisingly important detail when your ghost could otherwise spend Halloween standing on its head.

The panel is one part of the project. What you do with it is where your own ideas and skills come in.

Give the same panel to several different makers and you could end up with completely different things: a bag, a cushion, part of a quilt or something nobody else had thought of.

That’s creativity, surely?

Where do we draw the line?

Most of us use something another person has designed when we sew.

We use patterns, printed fabrics, instructions and tutorials. We buy ready-made zips, buttons and thread. I haven’t spun my own cotton for these bags, and I’m fairly comfortable with that decision.

If using a panel is cheating, is using a floral print cheating because we didn’t paint the flowers? Does following a dressmaking pattern mean we haven’t really made the dress?

There’s a difference between designing every element of an item and making that item yourself. Both involve skill, but they aren’t the same claim.

I can happily say I made these bags without claiming I drew every pumpkin.

Making it personal

One of my favourite parts of these bags is the personalisation. Adding a name makes a useful little bag feel like someone’s own Halloween treasure carrier.

The printed designs provide the starting point, but the choices around them make the finished pieces personal. Even something as simple as the orange stitching adds to the Halloween feel.

And a bag that can come out again next October has plenty of adventures left in it.

So, Is Using a Fabric Panel Cheating?

For me, no. It’s using a material I like to make something I’m pleased with.

Sometimes I want a project that challenges me. Sometimes I want to enjoy sewing something cheerful without first becoming an illustrator. There’s room for both.

These bags are handmade, the panels are lovely, and I enjoyed turning them into something useful.

The sewing police can take the evening off.

What do you think? Do you enjoy using panels, or have you ever caught yourself feeling that they’re somehow “cheating”?

Rhiannon – More Shabby Than Chic