: Lunch Bag and Accessories :

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The demands of going back to school can be fairly expensive. Between supplies, clothing, and any other necessary accessories, you are looking at spending a chunk of money. Many people have been hit by the recession, so spending heaps of money is not an option. Well, we like to get creative and use what we have. So, this year I decided Jared needed a new lunch bag for school (his old one was somehow left outdoors at night and got chewed up a little by a raccoon). I also decided to make him some reusable snack/sandwich bags to cut down on the waste.

I started the bag itself by measuring 5 rectangles: 6 1/2" x 14 1/2" for the back/flap, 5 1/2" x 6 1/2" for the bottom, 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" for the front of the bag, and 2 pieces of 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" for the sides of the bag. I did this twice on 2 different fabrics (one was an old corduroy shirt from my mother in law) so that it was nice inside and out. You could use the same fabric if you so choose.

I faced each matching size of fabric inwards towards itself (so you have wrong side facing out) and sewed a straight stitch along the outer edge, leaving an opening so that the fabric could be turned right side out. I then ironed the edges and set each aside until I was done with all 5 pieces. I then matched them up and sewed them altogether, as seen above.

Now, for accessories, I made these little bags like the old school disposable plastic sandwich/snack bags, with the fold over closure. I found the tutorial here. I recomend this for anyone. It is fast, easy, and very handy.

Aw, how quaint....

This bag is even cute on the inside and is easily washable.

This sandwich bag was created with the intention of using a velcro closure, but I had no velcro on hand and I then found the other snack bag tutorial. It works well to keep the sandwich fresh until lunch and it stays closed pretty well on it's own. The best feature is the liner in the bag... I made the fabric piece the same as the pieces on the bag itself, and then I lined it with a piece of cereal box bag cut to the same size. I used a straight stitch around the edges and the folded it to create a pocket which was sewn with a straight stitch along either side.

For the other snack bag shown in the center matches the sandwich bag in it's ultimate design. It is double sided fabric, lined with cereal bag material, but the catch is that it was sewn like the other sandwich bags. I want to certainly make more. The fabic snack bags are great for dry goods, but the lined ones are wonderful for sliced apples, cherries, grapes, slices vegetables, and so on. The fantastic thing about the lunch/snack bags is they can be thrown in the wash. The lined bags will simply have to be either quickly wiped with soapy water and dried. If the outer part of the bag starts to get icky, then hand wash and set out to dry. Other ideas may include pocket or slots within the bag or making matching cloth napkins.

I will be making another set this week. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and making a personal lunch kit for your child.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8 comments:

Tonya Gunn said...

These came out great! Thank you so much for sharing such a useful idea and I just love the cow and chicken pattern.

Mrs.G said...

Thanks for sharing! I have been looking for a good way to make these bags without velcro (crumbs get stuck in it :/ ) I love the idea of reusing instead of throwing away so much plastic!

p.s. I LOVE your blog !

Baby By The Sea said...

Perfect! I've been meaning to make this, and thanks so much for explaining it in such a clear way. Glad I stumbled upon your blog.
P.S. High points for cute, sweet fabric.

photo editing Mississauga said...

Photo Editing Mississauga Photographer full Qualified. Full Resolution Copies of Portrait, Fashion, Wedding, Family, Commercial, Pets, Couples, Pregnancy, Newborns and Children Photography.

Anonymous said...

The North Experience jackets may be strong and so they are [URL=http://www.northfacedenalijacket.org/#812]north face denali jackets[/URL] really very easily cleaned in washing machines. You can also wash these jackets in hot ho. Your jackets of the enterprise will not only bargain together with the cold but they also guard you from Ultra Violet Rays that may be pretty damaging. These types of rays usually are produced by sun. In fact anyone desires [URL=http://www.northfacedenalijacket.org/#2151]www.northfacedenalijacket.org[/URL] from these rays but commonly mountain climbers and hikers need to have this sort of safety.

Anonymous said...

ySfw ghd straightener
tBag cheap ugg boots uk
bXlr michael kors handbags
0oHly ugg boots
1wCnk chi straightener
2hDap ghd
6iCfx nike nfl jerseys
0fBoy ghd nz sale
8rBcg cheap north face
5iRni botas ugg baratas
7tJta ghd website
5pJlx michael kors
2zEtj nfl shop
8uMmz ghd baratas
5eLwi cheap ugg boots

Anonymous said...

hQee ghd hair straightener
wQlr ugg boots on sale
uPkd michael kors sale
2hSqk GHD
8bCps burberry bags
6kDso ugg pas cher
7nZdl ghd nz
8zPwp discount louis vuitton
2lBry michael kors outlet
7cEyb ghd stockists
0mRtt ugg uk
2zWjv discount nfl jerseys
5pJcd michael kors
3yUlo ghd
4oBkl ugg boots sale

Anonymous said...

Greetings! Very useful advice within this article!
It's the little changes which will make the most significant changes. Thanks for sharing!

Also visit my weblog: anti cellulite treatment

Related Posts with Thumbnails