sick of your lowly, uninspired brown bags? lunchtime no fun with your hot lunches getting cold and your cold lunches getting hot while they wait for you? then why not make an insulated lunch bag?
materials needed:
- 3/8 yard of material for exterior*
- 3/8 yard of material for interior*
- 3/8 yard of insul-brite (insulating material)
- 8 1/2” strip of iron-on velcro
- thread to match
- scissors and/or rotary cutter and mat
- tailor’s chalk or water-soluble pen for marking
- ruler
- pins
*if you plan to use a cotton material for the exterior or lining, be sure to pre-wash your fabrics before sewing. oilcloth and vinyl would also be good material choices as neither has to be washed, just wiped down!
how to:
cutting
seam allowances are 1/2″ unless otherwise noted.
cut two 13” x 17” rectangles from each material: exterior, interior and insul-brite.
on one short end of each exterior fabric rectangle, remove a 2” square from both the right and left sides as shown. repeat for all lining fabric and insul-brite rectangles.
sewing
using a long machine stitch, baste the insul-brite pieces to the exterior fabric pieces.
with right sides together, sew the exterior pieces together along each side and across the bottom edge. watch out…do not sew the notches together!
match one side seam with the bottom bag seam, right sides together, and pin in place. sew across the fabric creating a diagonal seam. repeat for second side.
turn bag right side out. on the top edge of the bag, fold raw edges 1/2” to the wrong side.
repeat the process for lining material.
with wrong sides together, place the lining inside the exterior lunch sack. match folded edges and seams, and stitch close to finished edges.
optional: give your lunch tote a “brown bag” look by creasing each “corner” of the bag from the bottom corner to the top finished edge. keeping bag edge folded, stitch very close to pressed edge. repeat for all four sides.
on one side of the lunch sack, measure down 1/4” from the top edge. center an 8 1/2” strip of velcro (the soft, fuzzy side) on this mark and iron, following manufacturer’s directions.**
on the opposite side of the lunch sack, measure down 5” from the top edge. center the coordinating 8 1/2” strip of velcro (the rough side) on this mark and iron, following manufacturer’s directions.**
now you can keep your sack closed by rolling down the top edge—just like a “brown bag”!
**you may find that your pressing time needs to be longer than recommended because the insul-brite absorbs some of the heat from the iron.
i suppose you could just do like i do and stop by a local restaurant for lunch, but this will give you some good sewing practice.
