Packing school lunches or even your own lunch for work is the loving way to go, right? You can make sure the meal is full of delicious, nutritious food. Even better if the food is kept at the proper temperature once it gets to its destination. Use this easy tutorial to create your own insulated lunch bag, then pop in one or two ice packs to keep things cool. We used a stylish cotton laminate for the exterior, wipe-clean PUL for the lining, and insulated batting between.

This project requires stitching these three rather slippery layers together in 3D. We don’t say this to scare you; it’s not scary. But, if you have an Even Feed/Walking foot, use it; it will make things about 110% easier. These feet have their own built-in upper feed dogs that work in unison with the machine’s lower feed dogs. This means your layers are sandwiched between the two and moved along from both the top and bottom to prevent them from shifting. If available on your machine, you can also engage a built-in fabric feeding system, such as the Janome AcuFeed™ Flex system we use on many of our studio machines.

Another presser foot suggestion is an Ultra Glide or similar Teflon® foot that will allow your machine to sew across the laminated cotton without sticking.

For more tips, take a look at our full tutorials on Sewing with Laminated Cotton + Oilcloth… and other sticky stuff.

Sewing Tools You Need

• Sewing machine and standard presser foot
• Even Feed/Walking foot; optional but very helpful – you can also engage your machine’s built-in fabric feeding system
• Ultra Glide foot or similar Telfon® style foot
• Zipper foot
• Size #14 denim needle; best for both the PUL and the laminated cotton

Fabric and Other Supplies

• ½ yard of 44″+ wide laminated cotton or similar for the outside of the bag: we originally used we used Erin McMorris’ Weekends in Red Dots & Loops for FreeSpirit Fabrics
  NOTE: If your fabric has a strong vertical motif, get ¾ to allow you to cut the 28″ panel vertically.
• ½ yard of 44″+ wide PUL waterproof lining
• ½ yard of 44″+ wide thermal batting: we used Insul-Bright
• 1½ yards of 1″ wide polyester webbing: we used black
• One package (three yards) of coordinating extra-wide, double-fold bias binding: we used orange
• One 1″ side-release buckle to match webbing
• All purpose thread to match fabric, binding and webbing
• Fusible seam tape: we used Steam A Seam
• See-through ruler
• Tape measure
• Wash away fabric marker
• Scissors or rotary cutter and cutting mat
• Pinking shears (optional)
• Iron and ironing board
• Straight pins
• Seam ripper
• Seam gauge
• Hand sewing needle
• Fabric clips or similar; to be used on the laminated cotton and PUL instead of pins
• Lighter

Getting Started

1. Download and print the Corner Cutting Template.
   IMPORTANT: The template is ONE 8.5″ x 11″ sheet. You must print this PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE OR SHRINK to fit the page. Print horizontally (landscape).
2. Cut out the template along the solid line.
3. From each of the three fabrics (the laminated cotton, the PUL and the thermal fleece) cut the following:
   One 7″ x 28″ body piece
   TWO 7″ x 9″ side pieces
4. Cut the webbing into ONE 30″ strip and ONE 12″ strip.
5. Use the lighter to seal the both ends of both webbing strips.

At Your Sewing Machine

1. Layer the three 7″ x 28″ body pieces on your work surface in the following order: the PUL wrong side up, the thermal fleece, and the laminated cotton right side up.
2. Tape the corner template to one end and trim away the corners.
   
3. Un-layer the PUL and set it aside.
4. With your fabric pen/pencil draw three lines on the laminated cotton (which is still layered with the thermal fleece): one at 9″ from the straight end, another at 6″ from the first line, and the third at 9″ from the second line.
   
5. Thread your machine with thread to best match the laminated cotton in the top and bobbin.
6. Using an Ultra Glide foot, an Even Feed/Walking foot, your built-in fabric feeding system, or a wax paper strip under your regular presser foot, stitch through both layers along each of the three lines.
   NOTE: If you use wax paper, you can simply tear it away from the stitching when you’re done. Remember to check out our full tutorial on sewing with sticky stuff.
   
7. Un-clasp the side-release buckle and thread an end of the 30″ webbing strip through each piece. Both threaded ‘tails’ should fold back on themselves about 2½” and lay flat. You will stitch these tails in place; the buckle will not be adjustable.
   
8. Place a small piece of fusible seam tape behind each webbing ‘tail’ to hold it in place. Then put another piece of fusible seam tape along the entire length of the back of the webbing.
   
9. Position the strap on top of the bag body, centering it down the middle with the female end overlapping just below the curved edge of the flap and the male end sitting approximately 3″ from the straight end. Gently press down to activate the tape to hold the webbing in place.
   
10. Re-thread your machine with thread to match the webbing in the top and bobbin.
11. Attach the Zipper foot.
12. Stitch horizontally across the webbing at each end as close as possible to the buckle.
    NOTE: You don’t have to get right up against the buckle; you want a little play in it to allow for bag volume.
13. Position the Zipper foot and needle to their extreme right positions and edgestitch along the right side of the webbing.
    
14. Re-position the Zipper foot and needle to their extreme left positions and edgestitch along the left side of the webbing.
    
    NOTE: Again, you won’t be able to get all the way up against your horizontal lines of stitching with your vertical lines of stitching because of the buckle. As above, that’s okay; just get as close as you can. Here’s what it looks like from the back when done – it’s a little easier to see than the black on black.
    
15. Find the 12″ piece of webbing and stitch it in place just behind the line of topstitching at the curved end (the drawing above can remind you of that position). Match the raw edges on each side so the webbing bows up to form a handle.
16. Clip the ends in place and then machine baste in place.
    
17. Find the PUL body piece and layer it, wrong sides together, with the completed bag front.
18. Layer the two sets of side pieces in the same manner: PUL wrong side facing up, thermal fleece, laminated cotton right side facing up.
19. Clip together all sets of all layers.
20. Open up your package of bias binding. You’ll notice the binding is folded so one edge is slightly longer than the other. For this project, you will encase the raw edges with the shorter fold on the front and the longer fold wrapped around to the back.
    NOTE: Simply encasing the raw edges with the double-fold bias tape is the faster way to attach binding. It is the method we used. If you’d like to learn more about bias binding, check out our full tutorial: Bias Binding: The Basics and Beyond.
21. Re-thread your machine with thread to best match the binding in the top and bobbin.
    Using your favorite technique (we used a simple encasing option with a zig zag stitch), pin/clip the curved edge of the bag body with the bias tape, starting and stopping just past the handle ends. Turn under and press both ends of the binding (about ¼” is plenty) to create a clean finish. Stitch in place.
    
22. Bind the bottom straight end of the bag body as well as ONE 7″ end of both side pieces – this will be the top end if you’re working with a directional fabric.
    NOTE: You don’t need a clean finish on these ends; they’re secured in the seam allowance.
23. We attached our binding with a wide Zig Zag stitch and an Even Feed foot.
    
    NOTE: If you are new to binding, it can look a little scary. Not to worry. Nice, neat binding is really all about practice, and going slowly and evenly, gradually feeding the fabric into the binding. Don’t expect to just wrap, pin and stitch. Going too quickly or assuming everything stays put and never moves is where disappointment lurks: you pull it out of the machine and there’s a big chunk of fabric that’s slipped out and isn’t captured within the binding. Save yourself some seam ripper time and some tears. Go slowly and feed a little bit at a time. If you stop, make sure you keep your needle in the down position. Again, take a look at the linked tutorials listed above.
    
24. Place one side piece right sides together with the body piece. Align the top of the side piece’s bound edge with the top of the webbing handle and the line of topstitching.
25. If necessary, re-thread with thread to best match the laminate. Using a ½” seam allowance, stitch from the top down, stopping ½” from the corner. We continued to use an Even Feed foot to help keep all these layers from shifting.
    
26. Turn the bag 90˚ and line up the bottom edge of the side piece, wrapping the body panel. Clip the pieces together.
27. Still using a ½” seam allowance, and starting ½” in from the open corner, stitch from the open corner to the sewn corner. Stop and lock your stitch when you reach the end of your previous line of stitching.
    
28. Turn the bag 90˚ again and line up the third edge of the side piece, making sure the top bound edge is aligned with the top of the webbing handle and the line of the topstitching. Just like you did on the first side. Clip the pieces together.
29. Still using a ½” seam allowance, start from the top bound edges and stitch down into the sewn corner. Stop and lock your stitch when you reach the end of your previous line of stitching.
    
30. Repeat to attach the remaining side panel to the body of the bag. 
    
31. To make the inside seams tidier, we trimmed them with my pinking shears and then turned the bag right side out. You could use your favorite seam finish. Don’t have a favorite? Check out our four-part Machine Sewn Seam Finishes Series.
    NOTE: Do NOT pink the bound edge of the flap, just trim right up to it.
    
32. Thread a hand sewing needle with thread to match the binding.
33. Slip stitch the flap binding (on each side) to the side binding. Just the small section, binding to binding; do not stitch into the PUL.
    
34. Fold in the sides and buckle closed. Of course, you’ll want to put your lunch inside first or you’ll be real sad come noon time.
    

Project Design: Alicia Thommas
Sample Creation and Instructional Outline: Liz Johnson