Back-to-school: Easy DIY lunch bag

There are so, so, soooo many things that I miss about being in school (yes, all you kids out there who can’t wait for school/college to be over. Be warned! School is cool — and not just because it rhymes). I miss the classes. I miss the schedule. And man oh man, how I miss shopping for school supplies. Not surprisingly, this time of year brings back all those I-wish-I-could-put-on-a-backpack-and-organize-my-locker feelings in full force, and I’m left to reconcile how I can savor the back-to-school season despite my non-student status. I suppose I should call myself a student of life, and then all will be right with the world. Then I’d have an excuse to head to Target pronto for a pack of pens, a ruler and some fresh, new notebooks. Swoon.

OK, let’s be serious. I have no use for a new ruler these days (poor little guy is used far more frequently for measuring rolled-out pie dough than deciphering tricky math problems). And I guess those fresh, new notebooks are not a necessity either. But what about a new lunch bag? Everyone eats lunch, right? So what if I nosh my mid-day meal in the comfort of my own home rather than a school cafeteria? Isn’t the act of lunching itself a good enough reason to pack it in style? I think so. And to that I say, woo hoo!

I got the idea for this lunch bag from a tutorial I found on Pinterest by The Purl Bee. Don’t let all the steps intimidate you. It really is super easy if you take it one step at a time. So pick out a fun fabric, and get to work! Back-to-school season is for everyone.

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DIY Lunch Bag

What you’ll need to get started:
• ½ yard of fabric
• needle and thread (a sewing machine makes it super fast)
• button
• measuring tape
• pen
• scissors

1. Cut two 13-by-9 ½-inch fabric panels.

2. Sew a finished edge on the top 9 ½-inch end of each panel by pinning the end over about ¼ inch and then sewing the fold in place.

3. Pin the panels together with the right sides facing each other, and sew them together, leaving a ½ inch seam around the edges. Backstitch at the beginning and end of the seam.

4. Once the panels are sewn together, fold the bag so the two long seams meet in the middle and diamond shape forms at the bottom of the bag. Iron the diamond shape flat.

5. Find the place on the top and bottom ends of the diamond that measures 3 inches across, and draw a line to mark it. Sew across the drawn lines, then cut the extra fabric off of each point, leaving about ½ inch of fabric from the stitched line.

6. To make the button loop, cut a 1-by-5-inch piece of fabric. Fold it in half lengthwise, and iron the crease. Then unfold the fabric and fold in both raw long ends to meet in the middle at the crease. Fold it again lengthwise, and pin the fabric in place. Stitch the piece closed.

7. Sew the loop to the top of the back panel, about ½ inch down from the center. Attach your button to the front panel, about 3 ½ inches from the top, centered. Now all that’s missing is the lunch!

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How do you savor the back-to-school season? Are there any DIY projects on the agenda to kick start the school year? Let’s hear it!

XO,
Katrina