I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a huge fan of packing. Well, packing or unpacking.
Is anyone a fan of unpacking? I would pay someone to unpack from vacation before I would ever pay someone to clean my house. Is that weird? Oh well.
So packing. I try to make it fun. I make duffle bags, sew toiletry bags and buy cute containers (more on those soon!) and while I was packing for our weekend in New York, I decided my Ziploc Quart bag wasn’t cutting it. So what did I do?
Made a reusable one, of course. It’s simple and fun — and you can make one (or a few!) too! Let’s jump right into it —
SUPPLIES
- Vinyl — my favorite place to snag vinyl is the remnant bin at your local fabric/craft store! You want a vinyl that holds its own shape and isn’t too thin.
- Zipper — I would use one 9″ or longer
- Brother ScanNCut Machine
- Pattern: FCM file; SVG file; PDF file
Sewing machine and notions
1|| The first thing you want to do is cut out 2 pieces from the pattern. If you print out the PDF, be sure to set your scale at 100%, if you want it to be quart sized.
I also made a little label I sewed to one piece. Write out the label and sandwich it between a piece of vinyl and one pattern piece. Sew in place.
2|| The first step is add the zipper. You will follow the same basic steps of construction that you did for the Even Better Box Bag!
Place the zipper along the top edge of one of your vinyl pieces – right sides together. Stitch in place. Fold back and top stitch in place. Repeat for other side.
*Note, vinyl tends to not glide smoothly on your machine, especially in humid/hot conditions. You can place a scrap piece of fabric below the vinyl to help it glide more smoothly if you are having difficulty with the vinyl sticking!*
3|| Next, we will sew the bottom of the bag. With right sides together, sew along the bottom edge with a 1/4″ seam allowance. I chose to then finger-press the seam to the side and top stitch, so my bag would sit nice and flat.
4|| Next, sew up both sides of the bag. If you used a too-long zipper, just be sure the zipper pull is within those side seams!
5|| Match the bottom openings and sew together — just like we did for the Better Box Bag. Remember, your bag should still be inside out! :)
After you’ve sewn these seams, trim your threads and turn right side out. Vinyl sticks and it might be a little difficult to turn, but slow and steady wins the race.
6|| That’s it! Go fill it up with all of those overpriced travel items we are forced to buy. I’ve decided toothpaste is the worst…there really isn’t any way to avoid buying those silly things of toothpaste if you aren’t checking a bag! Grr. Well, thankfully this little bag makes it a little more fun to pack!
Be sure to tag me if you share what you’ve created on Instagram or elsewhere! I love seeing what y’all are doing! And as always, let me know if you have questions or problems!
xo
PS: I’ve been pinning some of my favorite products and stylish moms over on this Pinterest board!
is it permissible to use a reusable transparent bag instead of a ziplock one?
yup! at least I’ve done it without a problem many times! :)
Thank you for this tutorial! What kind of a stitch did you use? It looks fancier than a straight stitch but maybe that’s just because it’s on see thru vinyl.
Hey!! So sorry for my delay — it’s just a straight stitch! I think it looks different because of the clear vinyl! I love how it looks, being able to see both sides of the stitch!