Sandwich wraps and my smart friend Paige

    Why is it that no matter how early you start getting things ready for back to school that you are always srambling at the last minute to get everything done? Or maybe it's just me...
But now that school here has been back in session for a good month I have finally had time to finish up a few things I wanted to sew for the kids.

   First on my list to share is going to be reusable sandwich wraps and snack bags that really are food safe!
But I can not take all the credit for the in genus idea, my friend Paige, last year was looking for a food safe material to make some with, but I never asked what she found. So it wasn't until this summer that I saw her's and asked what she used on the inside, when she told me I had a definite "DUH" moment. So I am going to show you how to make them my way. Paige doesn't have a tutorial up for how she made her's but I am sure if you want to see a different way to make them and ask really nice she would be happy to share with all of you!

  First you want to gather everything you will need.

*Fabric= I used 100% cotton scraps my friend Lea gave me in payment for sewing a purse out of her husbands uniform for her, but you can use oil cloth, flannel, polyester blends or anything you have laying around the house, but remember it's going to be next to food. 
*Matching thread
* Straight pins (You are going to need these for sure!!)
*Scissors 
*Ruler
*Washable Marker
* And Freezer bags! ( my DUH! moment) 

Cut the top seal off of your freezer bags and the side seam. For your sandwich wrap cut your bag in half cross the bottom fold, for the freezer bags you are going to use for your snack bags just cut off the top and sides and set them aside. 

We are going to make the sandwich wrap first. Take whatever fabric you are going to use and lay it it out right side up (You want the design facing you) then lay one of the sides of the freezer bag you cut in half on top of your fabric and pin it all the way around, I put a few pins in the middle as well to make sure it will all stay in place.  Once it is all pinned in place cut your fabric just a little bit bigger all the way around use in case there is any shifting when you are sewing it.

Next cut out whatever size you want your snack bags to be out of the freezer bags. Remember you are going to loose about a inch off of the length for your flap on the top. Then lay out your fabric, pin and cut your fabric just as you did for the sandwich wrap

Now you are going to sew your sandwich rap. It's important to have the freezer bag side on the TOP! It makes it so much easier to sew and you get less sliding round. 

Also make sure your stitch length is set to a 2.5

Stitch all the way round leaving a opening big enough for you to get a finger in. TIP: Make sure you back stitch on both sides of your opening so it doesn't unravel when you turn it inside out.

Cut the corners likes above so when you turn it right side out your corners will be nice and pointy, just be careful not to cut across you stitches., then turn it right side out. TIP: I use a straight pin to pull out and corners that I cant push out with my finger. 

Once you have turned it right side out you can press the edges with your finger to make a crease and flatten it all out. Now you are going to top stitch all the way around. I always start with the opening I left, make sure to tuck both pieces inside and pin in place if you need to. 

I used a 3.5 stitch length to top stitch but you can use a 5 if you would like.

When you have top stitched all the way around fold two opposite corners into the middle like this and crease with your fingers.

Now fold the other two corners into the middle and crease with your finger. You can either leave it like this or add hook and loop or snaps.

I am going to use snaps only because hook and loop is my Arch Nemesis ( you can buy snaps at www.KAMSnaps.com). Find where you would like to place either your snap or hook and loop and mark it some how, remember you want to leave enough room for your sandwich to fit. Once you have made your marks place your snap or sew your hook and loop.

Now you have a cute little sandwich wrap! To clean I just wipe it with a dish cloth with a little bit of soap and rinse, I wouldn't suggest putting it into the dish washer or washing machine.  

Now we are going to make you snack bags. You should have already cut everything out and pinned it so all you have to do is sew.  Sew the top and bottom (the parts that will be the two ends at the opening), trim your edges and turn right side out and crease the edges with your finger and pin everything down if you need to.

Again top stitch just the top and bottom.

Now fold the top over about a inch to form your flap and hold in place.

Then bring your bottom over and line it up with the top of the fold you just made with your flap underneath it and pin in place. 

When you are done folding everything you want it to look like this. TIP: If you are not used to sewing slippery material use more pins than the 2 I did! Because you have to freezer bag on the top and bottom it will shift more than it did before so put as many pins as you think you will need to hold it all in place.

Sew your two raw sides starting at the bottom, make sure to back stitch when you start and stop. Trim your edges and turn right side out. I also used snaps on my bags to keep the flaps colsed, but you can leave it as is or add hook and loop before you sew the sides together.

 Now you have a cute set of reusable lunch stuff the will hopefully last the school year!

I also made all of these with extra scraps I had.

This is a easy, fast and cheap beginner project. It took me about a hour to make all of the snack bags and about 6 sandwich wraps.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions.

Thais