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I’m making these charming bags for everybody on my gift list this holiday! Bento bags for all!Produce Bag Sewing Meetups I started arranging sewing meetups earlier this year to make fabric produce bags to hand out at the Sunnyvale Farmers ‘Market. I’ll be there on October 27th from 9am to 1pm, sitting in the Sunnyvale Environmental Solutions booth.We have actually sewn close to 400 produce bags for people to utilize in place of plastic. People donated the material– old clean sheets or scraps that had been being in their attics and on their fabric stacks– notions, thread scissors, ribbon, their time … Below are the bags I’ll hand out.(< a href =https://zerowastechef.com/2014/05/01/homemade-cloth-produce-and-bulk-bags-plus-a-giveaway/ target=_ blank rel=noopener > Click here for the pattern.)Just a few of the basic cloth produce bags we’ve stitched to give away Searching for a Working Maker At our last meetup on Sunday, my friend
Mayumi,
@zerowastetraveller, gave me two bento bags she had made. They are so stunning! I needed to attempt making some and publishing the instructions.Mayumi’s bento bags But my sewing machinehasn’t been working. My serger works however I can’t do everything with it. So on Sunday, I asked Chandra if he would lend me one of his sewingmakers. He stated he would and that he
would also watch out for one for me.On Tuesday, Chandra discovered the metal Singer stitching device below on the side of the road.If you read my blog or follow me on Instagram, you may have seen just a few of the unbelievably nice things we find on the side of the road here in Northern California. I publish so much good stuff that at this point, you may believe I’m making this all up, that nobody
discovers an almost new ice cream maker, or 2 Ethan Allen chairs, or a piece of marble for photo backdrops, or a classic cast iron muffin tin or a tough metal sewing machine, all simply sitting on the side of the road, discarded.If you live in the Bay Location, you just nod and state to yourself,”Yup, that’s the Bay Area.” Bento Bag Recommendations 1. Cutting the material These bags, like people, are stunning in all sizes. For the bento bag in this post, I eliminated a square 22 inches by 22 inches.Cut a square Next, I cut the square in half along the diagonal, developing 2 isosceles triangles.
If you intend on making
a stack of these, eliminated one square or one triangle and use that as your design template to cut the pieces for many bags.Cut the square into two triangles 2. End up the edges of the
2 equal sides If you a few of
your edges are selvages (the firmly woven edges of a piece of fabric ), you do not need to end up those. They won’t fray.I used my serger to end up the edges with a rolled hem. You could do a zig-zag sew on a regular sewing machine.Rolled hem Finished edges 3. Lay out the bento bag Now lay out the bag
and pin it for sewing. Overlap the triangles as in the pic
below, with the right side dealing with up. I’ve overlapped the ideal triangle onto the left one.Lay out triangles for sewing Next, fold the left triangle onto the ideal
one and the right onto the left. You’ll wind up with what appears like a square with a triangle cut out of the top
. Pin the front together andthe back. Keep in mind, the right side of the fabric is on the inside.Fold to make the sides and bottom the exact same length 4. Start sewing!So the roadside machine started to break down. I have to experiment with the bobbin stress. My basic sewing machine that hasn’t been working well chosen to work today. Phew! I’m on a self-imposed, artificial deadline to get
this post up!You’ll now stitch along the equal sides of the inner triangle on the front and back of the bag. If you have a totally free arm device, set that up. You’ll avoid sewing together parts that aren’t expected to be sewn together.Sew here through the two front layers, then flip over and stitch through the two back layers Sewing the triangle Next, sew along the bottom
through all the layers. I
used my serger, which sews and completes the edge in one fell swoop. If you utilize a standard machine, sew the bottom and after that finish the edges with a zigzag stitch.Sew the bottom edge, through all 4 layers To make a little a flat bottom, sew an inch or 2 at the end of each corner of the bag, perpendicular to the bottom edge.Make a flat bottom You’re done! Turn the bento bag inside out and press if desired.Finished bento bag The Bag in Action Checking out the bag Bento bag filled and connected Bento bag in action
