A great way to be more Eco-friendly in your everyday life is to find new ways to package your food when you’re out and about, either at work, school or out for a picnic! I’ve made an easy lunch bag and matching sandwich wrap which is reusable, so no more wasting plastic food wrapping. The lining is made from PUL which is a laminated, waterproof fabric and can easily be wiped clean. Be sure to buy PUL that is BPA- and phthalate-free when using it for food products.
Roll top lunch bag
I’ve made these stylish lunch bags in 2 sizes depending on how big you’d like it (or how much food you want inside it!) using the Craft Cotton Company ‘Fern Geo’ mustard and teal fabric and a PUL lining.
What you’ll need:
-2 fat quarters of PUL fabric
-2 fat quarters of wadding of your choice, I used heat reflective wadding for the smaller bag and used a firm stabiliser for the larger
-2 fat quarters of outer fabric
-2 buttons
-5 inches of 5m wide elastic
-iron
- needle and thread to sew on buttons (I used embroidery thread)
Lunch bag instructions (smaller bag)
1. Cut the fabric, lining and wadding to size – 15 inches long, 10 inches wide
2. Fuse your wadding to the back of the outer fabric
3. Cut out 1 inch squares out of the bottom corners of the lining and outer fabric
4. Sew the button to one piece of the outer fabric in the centre, 6.5 inches from the top
5. Sew the elastic to the other outer piece in the centre, 2 inches from the top and add a button for decoration if you wish.
If you'd like a different placement of the buttons and elastic, try rolling the pieces as if it was already made to see where the placement should be.
6. Sew the PUL right sides together along the top of both outer pieces
7. Sew the outer pieces right sides together making sure to line up the seams
8. Sew the PUL in the same way but leave a gap for turning
9. Square the base of the lining and outer pieces
10. Turn right side out and sew the opening closed
11. To close the bag, roll the top down twice and secure the elastic around the button
For the larger bag
- cut the fabric, lining and wadding to 16.5 inches long and 11.5 inches wide
- cut a 2-inch square for the base instead of 1 inch
-I used 4 inches of elastic for this bag and changed the placement (see pictures)
- sew button on 7 inches from the top of one piece
- sew the elastic on 2.5 inches from the top of the other
Apart from these changes, the same method is used to make the larger bag as the smaller one.
Reusable sandwich wrap instructions
What you’ll need:
-1 fat quarter PUL fabric
-1 fat quarter outer fabric
-32 inches of bias binding
-plate or bowl to curve the edges
- iron
1. Cut the outer fabric and PUL – 16 inches long and 7.5 inches wide
2. Using a bowl or plate, curve the top of the pieces and convex the bottom slightly
3. Place the pieces wrong sides together. Along the convex side, attach the bias binding. I did this by machine sewing one side to the bag then hand sewing the other.
4. Fold the bag over with the PUL on the inside about 6 inches from the top. This should leave room for the flap to fold over. Pin in place
5. Starting from one of the bottom corners, attach the rest of the bias binding in the same way around the bag edge and press