It’s that time again! School supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, etc… This year I gave the girls a choice. They could buy either a backpack or lunchbox and I would make the other. They chose to buy backpacks so I researched exactly the type of bag I wanted to make. My goal was to make it with recycled materials. I decided to do a fused plastic bag “fabric” and embroider it with scrap fabric. Instead of showing you my own ways of doing it, Dana at MADE did a great synopsis of how she did her  recycled grocery bags and referenced some other helpful sites. My only other addition is that to fuse them, I used butcher paper to sandwich the bags. It worked just great. Also, I didn’t want to go out and have to shop to get my plastic bags. That just seemed wasteful to me since I was trying to make something recycled. We already use recycled bags for any shopping so I didn’t have any around. I used freecycle to get bags and ended up with all I needed!

So to begin my tutorial, we’ll start with your already fused bags.

I let the girls choose whatever fabrics they wanted and shapes and embroidered them right on to the plastic. It’s extremely easy to sew on so don’t be afraid.

Next, I prepped my bag. You need a bottom, two sides and a front and back. ( you also need a flap over, but we’ll get to that later.) This isn’t rocket science. Sew them all together. I serged mine with colorful thread. If you don’t have a serger, use a thick zig zag stitch.

Next I made a strap out of fabric and attached it securely to the sides.

For the flap I cut out their names and did a stitch around the edges.

Then sew them on then attach it to the back piece of the bag so it folds over the front.

Add some velcro to the flap and the bag to keep it closed and you’re good to pack a lunch!

I love it with our reusable snack bags and lifefactory water bottles. So cheery!

Here is the back of them.

And most importantly, don’t forget to include lots of love notes.

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And so does Bel

Then I made this eggplant colored tunic top with this beautiful butterfly fabric as the trim..
It has a pleated front at the center of the neck.

And a pleat at the back with a button back closure.

Here’s the full back view.

Here she is, staring off at the TV.(my bribe to let me take her picture)

I really like this style top. I have coordinating ones for all three of the girls on my to do list!

Now, if only it would stop being 80 here we could get some use out of this stuff!!

We need to create a chest band for the dress. Measure your child at the desired width. I like to make it a couple inches larger then normal, and account for the small amount you will loose when you sew it together. I cut out two pieces, about 4 inches wide.

Sew the two end pieces together so it makes one circular piece.
Fold it over, with the right side out and iron in half. This is your chest band.
Now we need to cut out the straps. Measure your child from where the chest band will be, from front, over the shoulder, to the back. Cut out 4 strips, about 2 inches wide.

Sew the long pieces together and turn them right side out. Iron them flat.
Now for the dress piece. Figure out how long you want the dress. Measure from the bottom of the shirt up and cut it where you need it.

Trim the bottom hem so it is straight.(Some shirts, like mine did here, had that rounded trim but I wanted it straight.)
Now for pockets. These are optional. Another thing you could do is if the shirts have preexisting pockets, you could cut those out and use those.

I cut out two pockets and two strips for hemtape.

The first thing i do is get a lining for the pockets. You could use the same material, I just love contrasting pocket lining. Pin it, inside out, to the pockets.
Sew them around the sides, leaving the top open. Turn them right side out. Then press them with an iron. I slightly gather the top in the center.
Get your hemtape.

Fold it over once in half.

Open it up and pin it to the top of the pockets, as shown.

Pin your chest band to the dress, right side together. Sew it on.

I hope you guys like this one! Add pics to the, finally established, Flickr group. I’d love to see your versions.