Snack Bags Revisited

I've been thinking of a variation on those reusable snack bags I made to let them open up a bit more in the bottom.  At first I thought of making a pleat in the bottom like those pleated sandwich bags have, but I like what I came up with instead better.  

Sew the bag the same as the older version.  Then open the bag, pinch the bottom corners open one at a time and sew them flat open, straight across about an inch from the point, creating a little triangle.  (That is a gray side seam running down the middle.)

Then trim off that extra triangle of fabric, and cover that seam with bias tape, and the bottom looks like this.

 It leaves a nice wide open space inside for filling.

And the best part is--it makes it a self-standing bag.  That makes filling easier too.

Come back tomorrow to see the whole system I have worked out for doing Owen's school lunches.  That is--IF he brings his lunch box and containers home.  I forgot to explain to him that that is how this "sack lunch" thing works: bring home the containers and mom will wash them, fill them up again, and send them back to school with you tomorrow.  I hope someone stops him from throwing his whole lunch pail in the garbage!

I'm sharing this idea at:

Weekend Sewing

I love when I see a project idea that makes me want to just jump up right away and get started. Because honestly, if I'm not really, really motivated about doing something it probably won't happen.

I saw a great idea recently on the Progressive Pioneer for making reusable "Ziploc" bags. For a lot of things I just use a sandwich baggie--they are cheaper and I feel like they are less plastic to be wasting than a zip-top--but I also keep zip-top bags in the house, because some things need to be sealed up tight. But those little baggies and zip-tops are one of the things I really feel bad about for how many I go through and throw away.

Enter: reusable baggies.

("Sorry Mom, were you using this?")

The Progressive Pioneer suggested using a vinyl tablecloth as the lining and, of course, fun fabric for the outside. (I got my tablecloth sealed new in its package at the thrift store. I opened the package and hung it over my shower rod to air out for a day, then wiped it down.)

I brought over some zip-top bags to determine how big to cut the fabric. (The really cute farm fabric!)

Put wrong sides together and sew hook and loop tape on opposite ends of the vinyl side about 1/4 inch down from the edge. Then bind the raw top edges with bias tape. (I found it was much easier to do the binding for the top edge at this point, rather than wait to the end. Also, I got my 4 yards of bias tape at the thrift store for $0.35--sweet!)

Then press the hook and loop tape together. Sew straight up the sides and then bind the edges with bias tape. This way there are no seam edges inside the bag to collect crumbs.

So far I've made two. The second one was much easier, but it was my machine giving me grief on the first one, not that the project is hard. I'd estimate it took me about 45 minutes to make one. Now I want to make different sizes. I want to make one large enough to fit a loaf of homemade bread. But I was also thinking it might be good to make some of those little "snack-sized" bags too.

That is--if I get any "alone time" to work on the project!