July 12, 2011

CRASH MY STASH: Reusable Sandwich Bags!

Posted by Ethne~

I typically make a sandwich for Shaun each morning for his lunch.  I often make one for myself, too, and it’s especially yummy when I make my own bread.  I like turkey ‘n’ swiss and Shaun likes ham ‘n’ cheddar.  Sometimes I go on peanut butter and jelly binges (especially with Thrifty Nana’s and my black raspberry jam).  That’s how we keep our marriage exciting Friends!  We keep our lunches unexpected…

Anywho, when I saw this little critter, I immediately pinned it to our WOM-MOM Pinterest bulletin board.  And since I already had the things I needed – crash that stash baby! – I got right on it and made one. 

Finished bag.  No velcro for fold-down flap yet.

I have lots of fat quarter and other fabric remnants, so it was FREE to me.  You need:

6.5” x 18.5” fabric strip (I’d make it 8” x 20” if I was going to fold down edges of the fabric and have a size bag I’d like)
2.5” x 5.5” smaller strip (4” x 7” if I was going to fold down edges of the fabric)
7” x 19” plastic bag strip (I used one 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag for my plastic (8.5” x 20.5” if I was going to fold down edges of the fabric)
3” x 6” plastic bag strip (4.5” x 7.5” if I was going to fold down edges of the fabric)
Thread
Sewing Machine

The plastic strips are beneath the fabric strips.

The first bag I made, with folding the fabric edges around the plastic for sealed edges, was way too small!  Didn’t fit the bread machine size bread slices we do here!  

Folding fabric edges over fabric.
Look!  The sandwich sticks out.
Don't get me wrong, it will be used!

Still, I had cut out fabric for this pattern for two more sandwich bags, same dimensions, so I needed to tweak things to make the size better.  For my second bag, this is what I did:

Plastic folded and pinned over the edges of the fabric.

I folded the edges of the plastic OVER the fabric, and sewed it down.  It was completely slick.  This accomplished enlargement of the bag so it would have more room for my sandwich needs.

Close up.

I folded one edge of the fabric-plastic rectangle so that one inch of the plastic faced out.  I sewed this flap down on either side seam.

1-inch flap down.

Next I sewed the smaller side rectangles onto the larger rectangle, with plastic facing plastic, and the edges squared up to each other.

Sew flush to the edge - on the end where the flap is sewn down.

Now you close it up.  Sew the smaller end of the small rectangle to its adjoining length of the larger rectangle.  This will begin to make a square side.  Your seams will stick out, not in.

Bottom edges pinned.

When this is done, sew the longer end of the small rectangle to the adjoining length of the larger rectangle.  This will close the bag up, with the end open for sandwich insertion.  Seams again stick out.

Sewing up the long sides.
Coming together in bag shape.

In order for this to stay together nicely, I stuck some stick-on Velcro circles to the loose flap (plastic side) and the sewn-over plastic flap, which will keep it closed nicely.

Much better size!

The plastic and fabric sewed together easily, which I wondered about.  Though you could, I DO NOT plan to put my loose sandwich in the bag.  I always wrap our sandwiches in wax paper, then stick them into a Ziploc sandwich bag.  Now I will cut sandwich bag plastic out of the equation – reusable sandwich bags instead!  It’s reusable, I suppose, till it completely wears out.

Each of us can do our part for the environment, Friends, one reusable bag at a time.

Happy lunching!

1 comment:

Hannah said...

Hey! I don't know if you've seen this but its like the same concept!

http://www.madebylex.com/2011/07/easy-reusable-snack-bags.html

Hannah