Quick Zip Lunch Bags

Last year, I used Erin's at Dog Under My Desk's Quick Zip Lunch Bag pattern to make Samantha's lunch bag.  She loved her lunch bag and it is still going strong one year later! I have even washed and dried it several times, and it really is showing no wear. With Ben and Ellie going to school this year, I needed to make two more, and when Erin asked for folks to participate in her blog hop, I said I would be happy to! 

I followed many of the mods I had made for Samantha's lunch box - I used PUL for the outer and lining fabrics, used nylon for the handles, and lined it with insulbrite again. 

I did make some additional mods this time - I eliminated the pocket, as it wasn't big enough for the new ice packs I had purchased this year. I could have made it bigger, but since I was making the lunchbox bigger (my other mod), I wanted the ice pack on the bottom. 

Making the lunch bag bigger was my major mod. I could barely fit Samantha's sippy cup in her lunch box last year, and I had purchased 'bento' boxes for them to use this year, so they needed to be bigger to accomodate the boxes. 

To make them bigger I simply cut a piece of paper 2" wide and as long as the pattern pieces, and taped it in between the pattern pieces when I assembled the pattern - I made it two inches taller and longer. This is a very easy mod to do, and it still made the pattern ‘work’ if that makes sense! :) 

I really love their bags - they are a great size now, and so very usable. Erin’s patterns are wonderful - her tips for interfacing and zipper installation can’t be beat. Lots of pictures for those of us who are visual learners and easy to assemble patterns. I highly recommend this one! 

To celebrate Erin's blog hop I am giving away a PDF copy of this pattern! Leave a comment telling me your favorite kind of bag to make! Make sure that you include your email address if you are a non-reply blogger. I'll draw a winner Friday night! And hop on over to Erin's post to win some other bag necessities!

Edited to add: The Random number generator chose #13!

Tatiana Di Maio12:09 PM

So cute! Nice pattern! I would love to try it!

Back to School Backpacks

With Ben and Ellie headed to preschool this year, I needed to make them both backpacks! I loved making Samantha's last year, so I knew I wanted to make theirs this year. I searched around a lot for cute fabrics for them that were home dec weight - I found several cute ones, but they had too much white and white+kid+backpack=dirt!



I finally found some cute prints on Etsy and ordered them right away! I have enough left of both to make another of each print, so I may make more sometime! (Always need a backup, right?) I used Rae's Toddler Backpack pattern, upsized to fit a folder.



I did make a few changes for their backpacks that I didn't make for Samantha's. I used fusible fleece to give the backpacks some shape - Samantha's is so floppy that her folder bent in half last year. I also lined theirs to make them look nice on the inside. I plan to go back and line Samantha's and add fusible fleece to the lining to help give it more body.





We made a little 'mud room' in our entry hall and hung these cute hooks I found at IKEA. In order to reduce fighting, I hung letters above the hooks so each kiddo has their own hook. Voila!