lunch bag tutorial

It's that time of the year....back-to-school-shopping time! And looked what I whipped up for Cindylou's lunches this year!! We were inspired by a little cloth bag we saw at Starbucks the other day...It was longer than this one and not lined....and it was $16.95....just a little bit of fabric....$16.95??! Of course you know what the Treatgirl did....she inpected it, took mental notes and of course came home and re-created it!!



This is the one I came home with just last week. I could tell by the look on her face and the way she said "aaaah.thanks." that it wasn't what she had in mind. I told her we wouldn't take the tags off and if we saw something she liked better we could take it back. :)




This is what she wants to fit in her bag....we are really trying to be "green" over here....hence, the lunchbag...no paper bags everyday....and this water bottle and container for her sandwich and chips....no plastic baggies either. So this is how I gauged how big to cut the fabric.




I used two different fabrics...oh, and did you notice the fuschia pink fabric?? ...it's leftover from the headboard we did in her room last week. I also got clear plastic to line it with....just in case there are any leaks or spills.



I cut 4 pieces 2 1/2 inches wide....and the length you'd like your straps to be....Cindylou wanted each of the fabrics for her straps.... Two pieces for the sides.....your desired width and length.....and one piece for the front/back.



Press the fabric pieces for the straps....also press the top hem of the bag so there isn't any raw edges showing.



Then sew the side pieces, right sides together, in the middle of the front/back piece. I cut the clear plastic lining the same size as these pieces and found it was REALLY hard to sew...I couldn't get it to slide along....well, I solved this problem by putting just a tiny bit of baby oil along the edge of the plastic. Perfect! Then I sewed the sides up.



I sewed the front and back of the straps together....then attatched them to the top of the bag. That's it. You're done. This project is pretty easy....I'm not sure if my directions are easy to follow.....but once you're into it...it's not hard to figure out. That's pretty much how I sew....without a pattern, and winging it :)



Cindylou didn't care for the trim.....I just attatched it with some pins to give her the effect...I thought it looked cute, but she gave it a "no." I've had this silver gift tag that says "enjoy" that I just had to dangle....you know how the Treatgirl likes to dangle things :)