Colour your own lunch sack

5 Feb

All of our children have packed lunches for school/preschool.  A couple of years ago I made Bethan a lunch bag which is still going strong but not looking quite so fresh.

Love Your Lunch Box

Leah’s shop bough lunch bag has been looking quite grotty so I agreed to make her a new one.

I ordered some of Lu Summers Alphabetty laminate in coal from her etsy shop, planning to use it as it would be wipe clean and longer lasting than a shop bought one.  I also bought a big pack of sharpies with the intention that Leah could colour in the fabric before I stitched it.

Then the hunt began for a pattern, Leah has more in her lunch bag than Bethan and the chief sandwich maker (aka Tobit) told me that the bag Bethan has would not be big enough for Leahs lunch.  After a hunt around I came across a free downloadable pattern from Ellen Luckett Bakers book 1,2,3 Sew available here.  It’s for a lunch sack, it’s roomy and less structured than Bethan’s.

I read through the pattern details and discovered that the laminate fabric was not going to work with the design – whoops.  I was convinced that this bag would be better for Leah so ditched the laminate idea and pulled out the non laminate version of the same fabric!  I cut the main panel pieces out and handed Leah the fabric pens and she coloured in some of the letters, she was just going to colour in the letters of her name but discovered that all the ‘e’s’ were off the fabric, hidden in the seam allowance or not proper ‘bubble writing’ (I blame the designer!).

In my stash I have a pack of insulbright which I used in Bethan’s lunch bag, the same stuff you can use for oven gloves etc.  I used this instead of wadding and pulled a Kona orange out for the bag interior/top bit.

A few days later the bag was finished, a few weeks later the sun eventually shone and photo’s were taken:

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Oh my she can be such a cutie.

I adapted the pattern, Ellen’s instructions are for a handle either side, I don’t know if her children carry their own bags to school but mine like to put them under the pushchair.  That can’t last forever so I put an adjustable strap on this one, so she can wear it across the body, over the shoulder or if I’m feeling extra generous I can carry it in my hand with the strap short.

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You can’t really see from the picture but there is a drawstring at the top of the orange inner bit which keeps everything contained.  So far it’s holding up pretty well, she’s proud of it which also means any leftover fruit skins are put in a pot and then in her bag (school policy is that they bring home all empties so that we know what they have/haven’t eaten) rather than just chucked in to start decomposing onto the fabric.  It can go through the wash which I’m not sure I would have done if using the laminate.

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So now I just need to decide what to do with a metre of lovely laminate?

Linking up with:

Fresh Poppy Design

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9 Replies to “Colour your own lunch sack

  1. I love the idea of colouring in the letters. It makes a really cute personalised bag.
    As for the laminate, I’m sure you’ll find a cute project for it!

  2. Looks like a very satisfied customer! I really need a lunch bag for me, but I have some quite specific requirements which will need my own pattern (naturally o.O ) so, you know, I’ll get to it when I have some spare time. Hahahahahahaha

  3. Oh you are so good – we are now in the world of JLS, One Direction and Moshi Monsters, so a mummy special won’t do, so more fabric for me!

    Nice laminate aprons perhaps?

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