DIY: Reusable Sandwich/Snack Bag

I've been wanting to make a reusable sandwich bag for a long time now. Not only will you save on plastic bags, your lunch will look a whole lot cuter. It took me a while to finally sit down and make one. I was mulling over the course of action to take for the entire week. There are quite a few different ways to make these and to be honest, I just winged this. I am happy with the way it turned out and I learned many lessons along the way. I will share what I learned with you so that you can bypass the learning curve.

I started with a color coordinating PUL fabric and regular fabric. Any woven cotton should be fine. My fabric is a printed duck canvas I found in the scrap bin at Hobby Lobby and the PUL can be found in the Babyville section at your local Jo-Ann Fabrics. You don't really need the PUL if you can't find it or don't want it. The purpose of it is to make your bag waterproof. If you are only planning to use your bag for sandwiches or snacks you shouldn't need it. Things like fruit or veggies, you might want to consider adding it.

To make mine sandwich-sized, I cut 7" by 17.5" rectangles, but you could make any size you want.

The next step is to place your fabrics color/print side together and pin around the edges. This is the first place I encountered a problem. I first tried to sew with PUL side down. Unfortunately, the white side of the PUL is a plastic. It stuck to my sewing machine and bunched. Luckily I caught it before it did any damage to the material. Then I tried it reverse, with the PUL up and the canvas down. Still not quite good. I don't have a walking foot, so I used a rolling foot. It still wasn't super, but it worked a bit better. So, if you are going to use the PUL, i'd recommend using a walking foot, or just skip the PUL altogether.

Sew about a quarter inch or less around the entire perimeter leaving about a 2-3 inch gap on one of the long sides. This is where you will be turning your fabric right side out again. When you are done, flip right side out and push the corners out gently with a pencil or chopstick or something shaped like that.

This is the next point where I made a mistake. I forgot to sew on the velcro. This made the very last step of my bag extremely difficult. But put it on NOW! Sew a strip of the loop side to the bottom of the print side, leaving about 1/4" from the edge. Flip your bag and sew a strip of the hook side to the opposite bottom on the PUL side, leaving 1/4" as well. 

Now fold PUL sides together to make your bag shape, leaving the flap where the velcro is. Fold in the bit you left unsewn and top stitch down the sides of the bag.

Now you have a sandwich bag! Just add a sandwich!

To clean your bag, simply toss it in the washing machine with any load. Turn it inside out and connect the velcro. I would recommend letting it air dry but you can also put it in the dryer on low.