Lunch Bag

Two years ago, I found a really cute sushi print fabric while visiting Vancouver, B.C.  It was in the remnant pile, and I could find only one piece less than a yard.  Ever since I brought it home, I've been waiting for inspiration to make a lunch bag out of it.  My first attempt, sans pattern, didn't turn out so well.  I had to scrap it but will try to salvage that piece of fabric.

For my second attempt, I found a pattern for a makeup travel case (Handmade Style, by Anna Graham, 2015) that I altered slightly to make a lunch bag.  When I first read through the instructions, I was overwhelmed, as I usually am when reading pattern instructions.  As I went through it, though, I found the instructions pretty good and much easier to understand than most instructions.

The pattern actually calls for a zippered pocket and gathered, divided pockets for the interior.  Helpful in a traveling makeup bag, but since this is just a lunch bag, I decided to skip those portions.

Here are my revised dimensions (I didn't have enough sushi fabric left to make it full size, so I shortened the length by about 1"):

Exterior
(2) pattern (rounded rectangle)
(2) 2.5 x 30.5" gusset
(1) 5.25 x 5.5" hinge
(1) 2.25 x 13" handle

Canvas
(2) pattern
(2) 2.5 x 30.5" gusset
(1) 5.25 x 5.5" hinge

Lining
(2) pattern
(2) 2.5 x 30.5" gusset
(1) 5.25 x 5.5" hinge
(1) 8 x 13" handle

Batting
(2) pattern minus 0.5" around entire border
(2) 1.5 x 29.5" gusset
(1) 4.25 x 4.5" hinge

Heavy weight double-sided fusible interfacing
(2) pattern minus 0.5" around entire border

30" zip
2.5 yards 1" cotton twill tape

Assembly:

Making the handle and assembling the top and bottom pieces were pretty straightforward.  They just required lots of layers -- fabric, batting, interfacing, and canvas.

The top and bottom pieces were actually two pieces that are supposed to be fused with heavy weight double-sided fusible interfacing.  I bought some double-sided fusible interfacing to use, but it didn't fuse on both sides (maybe because the layers were too thick?), so I ended up just basting them all together.

I didn't have a heavy duty 30" zipper, so I bought this one.  The pattern actually calls for a double-headed zipper, which would've made opening the bag simpler (from the center), but I couldn't find one at Walmart or Fabric Mart.  I realize now that I'll have to zip and unzip all the way around the bag to open and close it fully, but I'm just going to have to deal with it.

One of the trickiest parts was making sure to attach both exterior and lining gusset pieces correctly.  It was a little trickier for me since I used the same fabric for the exterior and interior and wanted the stripes to line up a certain way.

I aligned my gusset stripes well but realized my hinge stripes don't line up with the gusset stripes.  Doh!  Oh well.  I'll just say I meant to do that :)

This is the exciting part -- my very first time applying piping!  I was nervous and thought this first time would be a disaster.  On the contrary, I was pleasantly surprised by how much simpler it was than I thought.  

It took a while to stitch just past the cording, but I eventually got it done, and it looks decent.

I did mess up a few times and stitch over the piping, but all in all, not bad for my first time.

Only later did I realize I attached the top piece upside down!  It's fine, but I intended the sushi print to face me while I'm opening it.  Now it'll face away from me.  Guess I'll have to live with that mistake too :( 

The last step is finishing off these raw edges inside the bag.  I bought 0.5" polyester twill tape, even though the instructions call for 1" cotton twill tape, because it was all I could find.  It didn't work out too well, so then I tried this cool chevron black-and-white ribbon I had around.  That didn't work out either.  My fabric started fraying pretty badly, so I had to just try one last thing then leave it alone.

I decided to try this bias tape I had made using scrap fabric.  There's a LOT of room for improvement here, but I was glad just to be nearly done!

I was nearly done attaching the bias tape when my sewing machine malfunctioned.  I haven't figured out how to fix it yet, so I may be taking a short sewing hiatus.   I guess this lunch bag is complete enough to carry my lunch to work next week.

This is the way the print should have been oriented, but since I attached it upside down, the print faces the wrong way when I open the bag.