Lunch Bags With Love

Photos and instructions courtesy of Design*Sponge

It’s normal to grumble about going back to school, but it’s also normal to get excited about school supplies! Remember those shiny new Power Ranger or Lisa Frank notebooks that every kid coveted? They were awesome enough to make you king or queen of the playground! (At least for a couple days.) Now you can bring the note-writing to the cafeteria with these adorable canvas lunch bags – they’re great for both adults and kids! Although we wouldn’t recommend sending your child to school with an extremely sentimental love note stitched on their bag…

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1. take your fabric and lay it on a flat surface. measure and cut out a large rectangle that is 34.5 x 33 (the 34.5 should be cut parallel to/along with the stripes, and the 33 should be cut perpendicular/through the stripes). this will be for a bag that is 8.5″ x 11″ (of course!) and 7″ deep. actually, the bag is really 12″ tall so that when you fold over the top and clip it shut you still have a 8.5″ x 11″ writing surface on the front.
2. cut out four 12.5″ squares from each corner of the rectangle. this leave you with a cross shape that is the shape of your bag with .5″ seam allowance on all sides.
3. using cream thread, hem the top of each flap by folding down .5″ into the inside lining of the bag.
4. draw a light vertical pencil line 2″ from the right edge on both the front and back of your bag, on the side of the fabric faces out (the outside of your bag). sew a line of red thread down this pencil line from the very top of the fabric to the bottom of the flap that makes that side of the bag. this is the guideline of your “notebook” paper.
5. now turn you fabric so the inside of the bag is facing out and sew each flap to the flap next to it, sewing in .5″ in from the edge (you can use cream or red thread for this, i used red). when you are finished snip the excess thread and flip inside out.You now have your bag complete!! you can write whatever you want however you want with your black fabric pen. if you want to write it first with a light pencil and then go over it to ensure good penmanship, feel free!