Lunch Bag

As I said in my last post - I'm back to work next week after a year of maternity leave. So... I am squeezing in my last sewing projects before life takes over and I don't have as much time. Today I followed this tutorial over at Pink Penguin to make myself a new lunch bag.

I wanted something big enough to fit my pyrex dishes (I'm trying to get plastic away from my food as much as possible. Besides the obvious possibility of chemical leaching I find that the food just tastes better) but that was soft and would fold up when not full of food. I made a zipper pocket in the front big enough for my silverware. I knew I wanted something insulated as well and I thought I would have to go out and buy a cheap soft cooler to cut up but many of the tutorials recommended using regular old batting. I didn't have any so I added a layer of polar fleece between the outside layer and lining. Time will tell if this is enough to do anything. Another thing I liked about this pattern was the gathered cover for the inside. This means that when I have lots of lunch (or lunch and dinner for the long meeting days) my food can spill out without actually spilling out.

The tutorial was easy to follow and the finished product looks really professional. I realized after picking out the fabric that I had already used this fabric to make some reusable snack bags (did you know you can just throw these in the dishwasher?) so now I have a whole set.

I love sewing bags (so satisfying and fast as they are usually just a series of rectangles) and this was a good excuse to exercise my habit. I may not be ready to go back to work but I will be ready for lunch time!