Reusable sandwich bags...

So, the kiddo had a friend over a couple of weeks ago and the friend brought lunch.  All of the goodies in the lunch were wrapped in reusable sandwich and snack bags.  I thought, "What a great idea! I bet I can make those!"  We go through way too many plastic sandwich bags around here and these seemed like a perfect solution.

I started out using other people's directions from various websites and blogs but realized that I wanted something a little different than what was out there.  Here is what I came up with...

To make this, you need decorative fabric (I used quilt cotton), waterproof lining fabric (I used ProCare fabric which you can get here), and some sew on Velcro.

Cut one piece of the decorative fabric that is 18" x 7".

Cut one piece of the lining fabric that is 14" x 7".

You will also need a 5" piece of Velcro.

Once you have all of the pieces cut, put the decorative fabric and the lining together with right sides facing and sew one of the 7" edges with a 1/4" seam allowance.  You will have a very long piece with decorative fabric on one end and lining on the other end when you open it up.

Now you do the same thing with the other 7" edge to make a tube.  Just line up the edges and don't worry about the fact that the pieces don't really line up.  The excess decorative fabric becomes the flap of the sandwich bag.

When you are done, it should look like this:

Now, squash everything out flat.  You can't iron it because of the waterproof fabric that will melt.  Get it nice and flat and sew along the long edges just like you did with the short edges.  On one side, leave an opening about 2" long so you can turn it right side out to finish it.



Clip the corners close to the seams and then turn the entire thing right side out.  You will end up with a bag with no side seams.







Now it is time to put on the Velcro.  Lay out the hook side of the Velcro on the flap part of the bag and pin it in place.  Sew around it to attach.

Do the same thing with the fuzzy side on the other end of the bag.  I fold the bag into shape to figure out where the Velcro should go.  Sew the Velcro down (make sure that you open the piece back up so you aren't sewing your bag shut though!)





Now you are ready to do the side seams.  Carefully make sure that the area that you left open so you could flip the bag right side out is lined up and that the seam allowances are tucked in. Then, fold the bag so that the top edge sits just below the beginning of the flap. I pin the part that has the opening along the seam allowance just to be sure.  Then starting at one of the bottom corners, sew very close to the edges (about 1/8") to form the sides of the bag.  About 1/2" from the top edge, I switched to a very tight zigzag stitch to form a bar tack at the corner of the bag.  Then continue around the edge of the flap and down the other side, creating a matching bar tack.






Now your bag is ready to use!

It is easy to clean, just rinse it out and let it air dry.  If it gets really dirty, you can through the whole thing in the washing machine!