I love the summer. Not only the warm weather but vacations, beach days, park days, and pool days with no rush to be somewhere else. Often I find myself wanting to pack cool snacks. These snack bags are fantastic because they can fit in your bag, you can make them whatever size you need, and it can keep things cool for travel. I brought them for a full day of airplane travel and everything was still cool when I arrived at my destination.
These are SO easy to make.
This is my little secret. I bought this grocery store cooler bag. I found this at Target but have also seen them at my local grocery store. It cost 2 dollars, is non toxic, food safe, waterproof, washable and free of BPA and lead. You can make at least three snack bags with this depending on the sizes you make. There are other options you can use for a liner such as a vinyl tablecloth like THIS, and even an iron-on vinyl you can find at your local sewing store like THIS.
Start by cutting out two pieces of cotton fabric and two pieces of the cooler bag material in the same size. These pieces are 10 inch squares. (For a smaller snack bag I made 6 1/2 inch squares).
Get your sew in velcro and pin a strip to the side that will be the inside of your snack bag. I wanted the white side to be the inside so I pinned one hook strip of the velcro to one of my squares and the loop strip of velcro to the other square being careful to line them up in the same spot. You can use a ruler to measure if you want to be more precise. I think next time I will make the strip go all the way to the very ends for a better seal but these still worked great. After pinning, sew carefully all the way around the perimeter of the velcro.
Here is what the velcro looks like after you have sewn all around the edges. Just go nice and slow and put the needle down in the fabric and pivot at the corners.
Next, take your cotton fabric and line it up right side facing over the squares you just sewed the velcro onto and sew the top closest to the velcro with a 3/8 inch seam (I just used the end of the presser foot as my guide which is 3/8 inch).
After you have sewn the top of each square, open it up and here is what it should look like. You are now going to place these two pieces right sides together matching the seam in the middle and the velcro strips and sew around the perimeter, leaving a 3 inch opening to turn it inside out when you are done sewing.
As pictured above, place the two pieces right sides facing. Match the middle seams and the velcro pieces and then pin together leaving a 3 inch opening on the bottom or one of the sides of the lining part (In this case the metallic part.)
Here is the piece after it has been sewn and turned inside out through the opening. The opening is at the bottom of the lining so you can't see it in the picture. I used a chopstick to gently poke out the corners and make them more defined. You can see it looks a little wrinkly but it flattens out over time. Sew the hole you made in the lining using matching thread. You don't have to be too precise here since it is tucked inside the bag and you can't see it anyway.
After you are done sewing up the opening, tuck the liner into the bag.
That's it! The velcro seals it up beautifully. I put a cooler from the freezer in mine and it kept my food cool for at least 6 hours.
They are perfect size to tuck into your purse. You can customize the size for what you will be carrying and use different themed fabrics. I chose my lemonade themed one for summer.
Load them up with your favorite snacks like cheese sticks, yogurts, and fruits and head out for a fun summer adventure!!!
Hope you are enjoying a your summer and are heading out for some fun and carefree adventures!
Thanks for stopping by,
Pam