Sunday, August 21, 2011

Homemade Reusable Snack Bags

You know I like to be green and economical, not to mention have fun with food, so I've had it in my head for a while now to make some reusable snack bags to pack school lunches for Pierce.  I toyed with the idea of drawing up a pattern, but you all know my sewing skills level.  Instead, I paid $3.00 to Mamma Can Do It on Etsy and she sent me the easiest pattern to make my own.

Even though the pattern was super easy, I still ran into a million glitches along the way.  Couldn't find the PUL to make the insides (it's a waterproof yet washable fabric that is hard to track down), bought the wrong kind of velcro (don't buy sticky back -it'll mess up your machine!), messed up my machine, took it to a shop, messed it up again, lost the new velcro I bought....well, I could go on and on.  Somehow, I persevered, partly due to the loan of my mother's machine, which I absolutely do not know how to use, so it's a good thing I didn't have to rethread the bobbin.

Sandwich bag -

Inside of sandwich bag (don't look at the messy velcro stitching, my machine was messed up!) -

Snack bag (for pretzels, grapes, cookies, etc.) -

Inside of snack bag -

I'd like to make more of these.  At some point.  But for now, my machine is locked up in a cold, dark place, where it belongs.  I'll be down to torture it later.

31 comments:

Cat said...

These snack bags are adorable! And so special because you made them. I know Pierce has the best lunchbox on the table :-)

Melodie said...

Those are terrific! I like the reusable and totally cute bags!

Nancy said...

My, you are persistent! I would have called it quits with all the problems you faced. Good for you! I love the idea. And I really like the colorful fabrics you chose.

Michelle said...

A great idea and yours turned out well. I have zero sewing skills, so I am impressed by yours!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

So cute, Lisa... Hope it works... Seems like you'll be washing them alot though. The grocery store clerks always talk about people bringing DIRTY canvas bags into the store for their groceries.. Seems like that may be worse than the plastic ones... ha ha.. Can't win, can we?
Hugs,
Betsy

Gone Country said...

You sound like me when it comes to sewing! I am self-taught and don't really know how to sew and I am constantly running into glitches! Thankfully, I have a wonderful neighbor friend who really knows how to sew and she's been a lifesaver on more than one occasion! Great idea for the reusable bags!

Jill said...

This kind of stuff happens to me everytime I try to sew. Hence, I do it about every 5 years. ha!

So glad you stuck with it cause they are really cute!

jp@A Green Ridge said...

You really are a domestic queen of green, aren't you, Baby Girl?...:)JP

Sonya @ Under the Desert Sky said...

What a clever and cute idea!

Unknown said...

I love the rainbow liner! We have these and love them.

Ginny Hartzler said...

You did better than I would have!! And I love the boy pattern you got, too. I bet Pierce loves them!!!

Misty said...

You brave, brave woman! Great job!

This Farm Family's Life said...

What a cool idea!!

Betsy Brock said...

these are really cute!

Angela said...

Your poor sewing machine.... Why do you torture it so?

They turned out great Lisa! Have you made anything with the juice pouches yet? I did that a few years ago. I think you could make a neat pouch for snacks out of those too.

Chatty Crone said...

I think it's great!

Katie said...

Absolutely adorable and inspiring. They will be SO handy!

Leontien said...

I was wondering how that would work with the inside, but it is some kind of plastic and that made a whole lot more sense.


Good luck with the machine!
Leontien

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

So cute! I would have given up long before completing a bag. You are persistent.

Mary said...

Those are great! Such a good idea. I had plenty of issues when I made Hailey's dress. But I had someone to help me. So you did an awesome job. :)

Anonymous said...

that is a great idea!

Marina said...

They look great! Now go to sleep! :)

Liz Mays said...

You made those so cute! I reviewed something like that once, but yours are actually nicer!

E @ Act Fast Chef said...

Those are great! You did a better job than I would have. I probably would have quit and then ended up buying them pre-made :)

Eat To Live said...

How cute these are!!

Great way to use my scraps up.

Texan said...

I wish I had known you were sewing sticky velcro when your machine was acting up. Your bags turned out real cute :O). .

My Mad World said...

I have seen so many of these wonderful patterns out there and have wanted to make some for a while now... but like you said, tracking down that PUL is a major PITA!

and yep, learned that lesson the same way about sticky back velcro. lol So you are not alone there!

Cute bags though!

Sally said...

Great job, Lisa! So cute! :)

Ann Jones said...

Great idea, and super cute :)

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Your snack bags turned out great! Though after reading about what they did to your machine I think I'll buy mine! I do own one reusable sandwich holder. It lays flat, then you just wrap it around the sandwich.

Tina L. Hook said...

What a cute idea!