Worthwhile Wednesday- Reusable Snack Bags

We use a LOT of sandwich bags. Snacks for the girls, extra pacies, baby spoons...

You name it, and we stick it in a plastic baggie.

The more I thought about it the more wasteful it seemed, not to mentioned expensive.

Now I've seen reusable snack bags before, but had never sat down and made one. But after I threw away another baggie covered in applesauce, I decided it was time!

First I trolled the Internet for good tutorials, but without Velcro and a waterproof fabric on hand I wasn't sure what to do. Then I found this tutorial.

Instead of PUL or nylon, she used heavy duty freezer bags. Perfect for lazy and cheap me, who didn't want to go shopping for extra supplies. Though that said, there is no reason you couldn't sub PUL or nylon for this instead, in fact I'd encourage you too. It's easier to wash. This is just my alternative for $0, using what I had on hand.

I found another construction method I liked better, just like the old sandwich bags that didn't have the zip tops that incorporated the fold over closure. I did this for a couple of reasons, 1) I didn't have any velcro and didn't want to get any, 2) I had heard that Velcro could catch food and get a little dirty, and 3) I wanted a quiet closure in case we were at a meeting or church when we needed to open it.

First I used a cotton fabric I already had from a previous $1 a yard sale. Yay for using up scraps!!

I also cut a regular ziplock freezer bag (I used this since I knew it would hold up- I wash mine to reuse and they work great). These were quart size.

I then cut my fabric to match.

I wanted a finished edged, so I rolled my edges and sewed. If you have access to a serger, I would just serge it instead.

Then I folded the "back" part of the bag to make the fold over. This was about two inches.

I then folded my other side (which will become your front) to match edges and pinned, so the right sides of fabric are together.

Next I sewed up both sides.  Then I trimmed off excess and flipped.

All done!

This picture has the back flap over the top, just like the old sandwich bags.

I made a bunch and in the end even made two for my sister and one for my friend Amie that are embroidered. Too cute, right?

In the end they were sandwich size, which is perfect for us. You could adjust the size if you wanted smaller or larger.

We tried them out the next day, and wonderful, just wipe it out when done or wash in sink. I'm guessing this will cut our sandwich baggie buying by at least half, which is a win for us.

Plus less trash and who doesn't love that!

This post is linked up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.