How to Make Re-Usable Sandwich Bags/Placemats
These days every specialty store and daily deal site is selling eco friendly lunch products. From reusable snack bags to reusable sandwich wraps. These are great but the colors are usually limited and they are EXPENSIVE. I got a small set for my kids from a daily deal site a few weeks ago, and was shocked at how simple the design was.
Knowing me, I hit the fabric store. I saw that there was only straight line sewing involved and that this was a project I could tackle. Here is what you will need.
- 1 Yard of Outdoor or Heavy Fabric of your choice
- 1 1/2 inch Velcro
- Iron & ironing board
- Thread & Sewing Machine
Start out by cutting an 18 inch square piece of your fabric.
Fold the fabric in even thirds and press with a hot iron so that the fabric is creased.
Unfold and fold in thirds the other way and press again.
Now that your fabric is creased you should see squares. We want the finish product to be octagon shaped. You need to fold up the corner to make a triangle like this. Press with the iron. Repeat this on all four corners. Cut the fabric right on the fold leaving an octagon shape.
Now, here comes the part that I hate, but is necessary for a nice finished product. Take each edge and iron a hem into it. Fold it 1/4 inch and iron. Then Fold it another 1/4 inch and press. This is so when you sew it you have a nice finished edge.
Now sew all 8 sides of the octagon. This is just straight line sewing (My favorite). It only takes a minute.
This is what it should look like when you have finished. Now we are going to attach the velcro.
Cut a 3 inch strip of the loop side of the velcro. We are going to sew it in the center of the patterned side, like this.
Now cut a 1 1/2 inch piece of the hook side of the velcro. We are going to sew it to the center of the back side. This picture gives you the best idea of the placement of both.
Once both pieces of velcro is attached you are done.
Here is how this sandwich bag works.
Place your childs sandwich in the center of the fabric. This is also How it looks as a placemat. When they open it they can just eat right off of it so their food does not touch the table.
Now Just fold both sides over like this.
Fold the Bottom up..like so.
And fold the top down to secure the velcro.
There you have a handy dandy sandwich bag/placemat that your kids will love!
These are machine washable however since it is coming in contact with your food you will want to avoid fabric softeners and fragrances. You wouldn’t want to have those chemicals rub off.
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