Upcycled Reusable Snack Bag

    Hello! It's about that time of the year where all the kiddos head back to school. With hundreds of snacks and lunches to be made, you'll probably end up plowing through tons of plastic snack or sandwich bags. With this easy tutorial, you can make reusable washable plastic snack bags to use for years to come. 

First off, what you will need more than anything is at least a fat quarter worth of plastic, or recycled woven plastic (almost tarp-like material). I've been rummaging around thrift shops and collecting reusable shopping bags that have cute prints. Most of the bags I've purchased have been $1 or less. You also use oilcloth fabric or another waterproof material. 

You will also need :

1. Scissors

2. A Ruler 

3. A Zipper! I used a 5" 519 Red YKK Zipper  

4. Thread, preferably the same color as the zipper of your choice. 

Step 1. Cut two pieces of waterproof material, both the same size. 

The zipper I used was 5 inches long. My fabric was 6 inches x 6 inches. Have your fabric at least one inch larger than the length of the zipper. 

Step 2. Open your zipper and sew face down on one piece of material. A trick to sewing past your zipper is stopping in the middle of the zipper leaving your needle in and lifting up the foot. Then zip up the zipper past the needle and put the foot down to finish sewing. This way you get a nice straight sturdy seam.

Step 3. Fold the zipper back over to the front and fold the material and hem along the zipper. This extra seam will make the pouch heavy duty. Perfect for all the washings and little hands grabbing snacks.

Step 4. Sew the zipper to the second piece of material face down. Make sure both front sides of the fabric are touching on the inside. 

Step 5. Fold the zipper back to the front side and hem along the zipper on the second side. 

Use your presser foot aligned with the zipper teeth to get a perfectly linear hem. 

Step 6. Open the zipper half way and sew around each side of the pouch. Make sure the pouch is inside out. This is the final step before you turn the pouch inside out through the zipper. 

There should be plenty of room to sew the zipper closed on each side of the pouch.

There you have it! Perfect for lunch boxes or snacks on the go. It only takes a few minutes and you'll never have to use disposable baggies again!

For all your zipper needs make sure you visit www.zipitzippers.com