Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post is from Kat. Kat is a self proclaimed “red-neck country wife” to one wonderfully amazing man, mother to many outrageous children, daughter of the ONE Glorious God. Learning to be more self-reliant & self-sufficient in a semi-homemade, homesteading way! Find out one of the ways she saves money and the environment with these DIY snack bags!
How many snack bags (baggies) do you go through each and every day? Every week? Every month?
If you’re anything like me, you probably buy them in bulk at your favorite wholesale warehouse so that you can get a great deal, because you are using them every.single.day! Let’s see…snack bags for lunches, snack bags for left-overs, snack bags for snacks.
Here’s a brilliant idea-make your own snack bags! Washable, re-usable, environmentally friendly and saves you money…ding, ding, ding…winner here! Here is a handy dandy tutorial for you on making these extremely easy and quick snack bags.
Supplies:
Ripstop Nylon Fabric – I ordered mine online.
Fabric – In whatever patterns and colors you want, choose a sturdy, medium weight fabric.
Velcro – Strips in white or black. Do not get the adhesive ones that will gum up your sewing machine (you’re welcome).
Fabric Scissors or rotary cutter
Sewing Machine
Directions:
-Wash and dry your fabric, trim any threads or strings.
-Cut your fabric to the size you want your snack bag to be allowing for seam allowance (at least 1/4″). Next, cut 2 fabric pieces and 2 ripstop nylon.
-Cut your Velcro to the exact width of your fabric.
-Place the hook side of your Velcro on one side of ripstop nylon, loop side on other ripstop nylon fabric. Position about 1/2″ down from the top of each piece of ripstop fabric.
-Stitch Velcro in place one at a time. Make one stitch line at top edge of Velcro and one at bottom edge. Do NOT go over multiple times. I found if you do this it will destroy the Velcro.
-Now place your fabric RIGHT side up UNDER the ripstop nylon fabric piece, VELCRO side down.
-Sew pieces together. Stitch between the Velcro and the top of the nylon, about 1/4″ from the top. When you get to the end of your stitch line, reverse and sew over the same line. This helps to reinforce the seam. Sew other fabric piece likewise.
-Now your Snack Bag pieces should look like this:
-Important Step: Take your Velcro pieces and attach them together to make sure they line up really well. (Don’t worry about the fabric lining up too much, that is fixable.)
-Leaving the Velcro attached, stitch up the entire fabric piece on 3 sides, leaving a 3″ hole so that you can turn inside out.
-Trim up strings, and seam allowances no more than 1/4″ to eliminate bulk.
-Un-do Velcro, turn inside out.
-Your bag will not look like this!
-Push corners of your fabric section out and sew up remaining 3″ hole in ripstop nylon fabric.
-Push the Velcro liner into the bag and voila!
Total cost per bag: Approximately $1.
Total time: First bag – 30 minutes (learning curve) additional bags – 10 minutes each.
Now, how easy and fun was that?! These really cute bags took no time to whip up, really and I feel good because I am not contributing to the plastic graveyard called a land fill AND I am saving my family money.
Would YOU make your own snack bag? What other ways can you think of to use your snack bags?
Thank you for the tutorial, I really need to start making these!
Love these! So just wash these like I would with regular laundry?
May I ask your source for the Ripstop Nylon Fabric? Thank you!
This is awesome. I was going to order some reusable bags but I may just make my own instead.