8/16/2011

Olivia's Snack Bag || Tutorial






This is a fun little project.  These cute little snack bags help reduce waste by not using Ziploc bags.  Plus,  you will look uber chic pulling one of these out of your bag. :)  They are perfect for kids or those long car rides we all dread.   Bonus? You choose what size & color bag you want or need, and they are eco friendly.  No more mass produced bags!  Except I doubt you want to marinate your chicken in these.



Items Needed:

Prewashed Fabric :  I cut out (8) 7" x 6.5" pieces of cotton fabric.  4 pieces per bag.  Seam allowance is 1/4" (already included in dimensions).  If you want your liner fabric to be different like mine, you will need 2 pieces of fabric for the outside and 2 pieces for the inside.
*You can also use laminated cotton for wet items like sandwiches, or you can head on over to Chica and Jo, who use plastic bags.*
Light weight to medium fusible interfacing
Marking pen, chalk, or pencil
12" long piece of Velcro
Point turner for the corners (not necessary but nice to have)
Hot iron
Sewing Thread
Sewing pins
Measuring tape or quilter's ruler
Sewing machine


How to make your own reusable sandwich bag: 

Step 1.
Iron out your fabric first.  Measure your fabric, and mark dimensions.  Cut out fabric, and iron again, if needed.
Follow instructions on your interfacing, and apply to one side of the liner.  Apply another piece of interfacing onto the second piece of liner.


Step 2.  
Place a 6" strip of Velcro (either the fuzzy piece or the hook piece) 1/2" from the top of your fabric, and pin it onto the right side of your fabric.
Stitch Velcro onto fabric.   I stitched 3 rows to secure it tightly.


Step 3.
Place the liner right side up on your work surface.  Velcro is at the top.  Place your outside fabric face down lining up all the edges.  Pin into place.
Sew 1/4 from the top.  This attaches the liner to the outside fabric.


Step 4.
Open your seams and iron flat.  Fold fabric over and iron again.  In my experience, ironing can make all the difference.  You get more professional results, so don't skip this step.  Set fabric aside.
Repeat steps 1-4.



Step 5.
You will now need to join both liner pieces.  Take your Velcros, and attach them together.  Make sure they are straight and even.  Pin the two liner pieces together.  Your outside fabric pieces will be together on the opposite side.
Sew the three sides of the liners together.  Do not sew the top edge with the Velcro. 





Step 6.
Sew the 3 sides of the outside fabric together, BUT you will need to leave a 2 inch opening at the bottom.  Make sure you sew your corners though.  This hole will allow you to pull all your fabric right side out.  Don't sew the edge that is joined to the liner. Basically, you are repeating step 5 but for the outside fabric instead. 
Trim off excess seam allowance.  Do not cut your stitches!  Cut off your corners at an angle to reduce bulk.


Step 7.
THE PHOTO ABOVE IS ONLY TO SHOW YOU THE HOLE AT THE BOTTOM OF MY BAG.
Your bag should be complete now with the exception of pulling out the fabric and stitching the hole.
You will now need to push your fabric through this hole, so everything will be right side out.  Using a turner tool, you can poke at the bottom corners carefully to have a sharper edge.  Otherwise, you corners will be rounded.  I know people who have used various objects to help push out corners, if you do not have this tool.
Your options to close the hole are to slip stitch or sew the hole shut with a sewing machine.  This will depend on your skill and the look you want.  I am terrible at slip stitching, so I mostly use the machine because it is fast.  My bags were done using the machine.

Happy sewing!









xx nancy

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56 comments:

  1. I love this idea! How cute are those?! I can't get over it. I need one right now. :)

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  2. love these! I have scraps of that same yellow chevron; looks like I will be making some snack bags!

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  3. Hahaha I love this stuff! I finally came here and realized this is *your* blog. Hahaha! I really like it a lot!

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  4. Turned out so cute. Great tutorial, too. :) Would love to have you link this up to my {wow me} wednesday link up party going on right now over on my blog. :) (New follower, cute blog!) :)

    Ginger
    gingersnapcrafts.blogspot.com

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  5. I love these, thanks for sharing!

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  6. Love these! Been looking for a simple tutorial. Found you through Ginger Snap Crafts. Check out my blog if you get a chance.

    Kelly
    herecomesthesun-kelly.blogspot.com

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  7. LOVE the fabric, great tutorial! Everything about your post is fabulous! Even the name Olivia--since I have one of my own. :)

    I would love to have you share this at my first link party--

    http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/2011/08/show-share-1.html

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  8. These are adorable! What a great idea! I have the Yellow chevron fabric too! It seems to be a popular thing right now! Visiting from WhipperBerry link party

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  9. @ Lindsay- Thanks! I love the name Olivia too, but then again, I am biased. ;) I would love to share the tutorial on your blog.

    @ Angela- I LOVE chevrons, and I am glad others do too! Don't you just love the linen look lines throughout that fabric? Thanks for finding me!

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  10. I love these!! I need like 10 of them! If only I knew how to sew....
    I'm hosting a party right now, & would love if you stopped by & linked up!
    http://formamas.blogspot.com/2011/08/show-tell-party-2.html

    Chrissy @ formamas.blogspot.com

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  11. How cute! And what a great tutorial! Would love it if you linked up to my Crafts for Under Twenty Somethings party going thru noon tomorrow!!

    New follower!!

    Melanie
    http://bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com/2011/08/crafts-for-under-twenty-somethings_17.html

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  12. Totally fabulous! Have pinned this project to try, become a new follower and now I am off to see the rest of your blog!
    Lowri :-)

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  13. Great idea. Definitely going to have to make some of these soon!

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  14. Absolutely fantastic!!! I love these!!! I am visiting from Tatertots & Jello and I am a new follower! I would love if you linked this up to my Delicately Constructed linky party tomorrow morning! Also, I am having a giveaway over at my blog and I would love if you would come enter!
    Hope to see you soon!
    Michelle
    www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

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  15. I simply adore these. Fabulous idea - great fabric choices too! Hope you have a wonderful week. ~ Stephanie Lynn

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  16. Going to make these for sure! Thanks for the great idea

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  17. FINALLY!! A tutorial on making these snack bags that doesn't require PUL as the liner fabric!! DUH! Why didn't I think of that before?? Thank you!!! I may be trying to make these soon.

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  18. Cindy W8/24/2011

    Love this idea!!! Just wondering, have you washed them? How do they stand up to that?

    Thanks,
    Cindy

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  19. @Amy- No need for that if you are not putting anything wet or sticky in it. (Or unless you don't care about jam getting on your liner. It's just fabric, right? :)

    @Cindy- You should prewash your fabric BEFORE starting the project. That way, there should be no issues with shrinkage. Bags will hold up great in the machine. Just make sure you securely attach your Velcro with several rows of stitches (I did 3), and if you want additional strength, shorten your stitch length for the entire project.

    Good luck to the two of you!

    Thank you for stopping by!

    Good luck to the two of you!!
    Thank you for stopping by.

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  20. Sorry about the repeat verbiage. :)

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  21. Anonymous8/24/2011

    These are fabulous! Thanks for the tutorial. I just picked up some oilcloth so I'm excited to try this!

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  22. I adore this tutorial- thanks so much! I shared it here:
    http://dollarstoremom.com/2011/08/make-a-reusable-snack-bag/

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  23. Now I have a project for my scrap fabric. Brilliant idea!

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  24. This is just about the coolest idea I have seen in a long time. I LOVE this, and I cant believe I didnt think of this one on my own, lol. Getting some facing today to try this! THANK YOU!!

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    Replies
    1. Great! If you have a site and post pics, I would love to see the outcome. Best of luck!

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  25. Anonymous3/29/2012

    you can put 2 little handles at the top as well to make it easier for toddlers to open on their own :)

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  26. talk about a 'recycle queen'.... what a great idea. Have you made your own napkins too? Cute idea. Thanks for sharing.

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  27. What a lovely idea ... I have made something similar for bread rolls for the breakfast table. Never thought making for snacks and sweet. Brilliant.

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  28. Those are great. Pretty and practical, what more could anyone want?

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  29. Thank you so much for this, found you on pinterest and just made 6 of these (3 with plastic liners...the fused grocery bags from the linky you posted...and 3 with just cloth liners). Can't wait for my daughter to use them for the first time tonight. She has a gluten and nut allergy, so she takes her snack to nursery every Sunday and Wednesday and I was tired of buying Ziplocks (so expensive and use em once and their done), so had to make these. Easiest tutorial ever and if I knew how to post pics of my finished product I would. You can look at them on facebook if you'd like http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3851164952020&set=a.3851162951970.161392.1065126109&type=1&theater
    Thanks again. :) So happy with the finished product and pretty proud of myself as well. :)

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    1. Awesome Jocelyn! I wasn't able to see the link. :( I am so glad you are happy with the finished product! Thanks for the comment.

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  30. Turned out great. I am a novice sewer so Thank You for the concise tutorial. I used nylon for the liner because I couldn't get oil cloth and was a little nervous about melting plastic. Do you think nylon will hold up?

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    1. Great! That makes me happy to hear. I don't see why nylon wouldn't hold up, but I can't promise you anything. I would be curious to know down the road after lots of washing. My cotton ones are going strong. Did you look online for oil cloth? Thanks for the comment!

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  31. Thanks so much for this wonderful tutorial- I'm currently making a bunch as favors to hand out to guests at my little boy's 1st birthday & can't wait to see the reaction...from the Moms:) Also making some for Christmas gifts:) Will post info on my blog once completed. Super excited!

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  32. Anonymous8/29/2012

    love this fabric, where did you get it?

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    Replies
    1. One is Dwell Studio and the other is Premier Prints.

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  33. Thanks for a great idea and tutorial! I just made some with fused plastic inside. Great fun to make and pretty useful too! :) http://beinginspired-blog.blogspot.ie/2012/08/day-7-sandwich-wraps.html

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  34. Katherine9/16/2012

    Just finished a set for my twin three year olds. My husband looked at them and said, "maybe you could make them with pull tabs". (he's always full of great ideas) So then I made another set with pull tabs. I used some ribbon that I had lying around and I sewed it to the top of the outer fabric before sewing everything together. It came out great! Thanks for the inspiration Nancy!

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  35. Anonymous9/19/2012

    This is fantastic! I've been trying to find a pattern like this for a while now, thank you! You can also sew in the measuring tape that raft carpenters use instead of the velcro. It gives the top a little bit of a form and it's more of a snap (for lack of a better word...) together then a stick together. Thanks for posting!

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  36. Anonymous10/14/2012

    Could you make a video so it would be easey.

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    Replies
    1. I could definitely try when I get a moment to make a video. Thank you for the suggestion!

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    2. Anonymous10/21/2012

      Thank You, and where would you post it?

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  37. Love these! In the process of trying to have another baby-yes I said process ;-) not there just yet. My only child now is 14 and I really wasn't into saving money and any of the diy's . I wanted something I could just pick up and go. But through my many years of seeing and searching for ways to save money I have learned lots of and plenty life savers. I will be making these while I'm out on Christmas break. I'm a school teacher on a budget. Thinking about a zipper for my bags. While I'm wishing myself luck with making these bags, making my own baby food when time comes and dealing with cloth diapers my pockets and accounts will b a lot heavier thanks to wonderful people like U. Thanks for the idea again!

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  38. Anonymous1/01/2013

    i went to a nutrition class and learned a lot about not only nutrition but also how to store food and other food related things. one thing they taught is that you are not to reuse ziploc bags even if you wash them. they will cross contaminate other foods when you do. i like the idea of these bags, but would definately wash them in the washer and then put them in the dryer after each use so the kids won't get sick.

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  39. Hi there! I love this idea, such a good one :) I hope you don't mind, I included it in a list of suggestions for reducing household waste on my blog, http://imalousycook.blogspot.com

    If that's a problem, I can remove it, but I think it's a great idea!

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  40. Thanks for the tutorial... I love this idea... Great job!
    sports bags for men

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  41. Anonymous7/01/2013

    Thanks for the great tutorial! I made a few of these and included your link in a blog post.http://knittingirl40.com/2013/07/01/sunday-funday-sewing-projects/

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  42. WOW! your snack bags were made exactly like mine I posted back on Jan 6,2011! Great minds must think alike!

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    1. Oh my goodness!!! We even used pretzels too for staging!! How funny! We do have great minds!! :)

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  43. Bonjour, j'aimerais savoir s'il est possible d'acheter du tissu qualité alimentaire sans BPA, sans phtalates, sans plomb pour faire vos beaux et pratiques sacs à collation! peut-être en vendez-vous! je serais intéressée en acheter... Merci d'avance pour votre réponse...

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  44. Anonymous8/20/2014

    Wow! It's awesome blog post here.... really very interesting for reading.....

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  45. Hi! I've been wanting to make these for a while, and I'm glad that I found your tutorial today. Just one question--what's the fusible interfacing for? Is it necessary? Thanks!

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    1. Hi Kirsten. The interfacing is what gives the bag its structure. See how in the styled photos the bags can stay open without falling flat? It's not necessary, but it provides the bag a little more structure. Hope that helps!

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