WFMW: Reusable Sandwich Bags

A few months ago, our family switched to a reusable lunch box system for both dh's lunches and for the kids and I when we are out and about during lunch or dinner time. You can see some pictures of our Laptop Lunches System here, here and here. We switched over to these for several reasons, but the one most important to me was to stop using disposable products in our lunches. With just my dh's lunches, we were using about 100 plastic sandwich baggies a month (4 per day, 5 days per week). The only holdout after switching was the plastic sandwich baggie for dh's mid morning peanut butter sandwich. I needed it to travel in a soft sided container so that it could fit into the carry bag for the laptop lunches system. I searched online and found several examples of fabric sandwich bags ( here, here and here ). I am not a seamstress, but here is what I was able to make ( I do have a sewing machine and a basic knowledge of sewing).

It is a simple bag, with two layers of fabric and a velcro closure. We are pleased with the way these turned out and the fact that they are easily washable if needed, by turning inside out then tossing in the washing machine.

I used all new materials because I freecycled all of our fabric scraps when we moved the fall. Still, these were very economical to make. It took about $5.00 worth of fabric to make 4 bags. Add a little velcro and your thread and I estimate about $2.00-2.50 each to make.

If you look closely in the above picture you can clearly see my lack of sewing skill :) Even still, we are very happy with our little bags - they are good enough, if not perfect.

This post is my contribution to Works For Me Wednesday, hosted by We Are THAT Family.