Easy Reusable Cloth Lunch Bag with a Flap Closure

This reusable lunch bag can reduce food waste. Hear me out!

Packing a lunch for school or work offers us yet one more opportunity to eat more of the food we’ve bought before it can go to waste. Brown bagging it鈥攐r in this case, reusable bagging it鈥攁lso generally costs less than takeout. This bag also keeps paper lunch bags out of landfill and it uses up scraps from your fabric stash that might otherwise go in the trash. That’s triple-waste-busting action!

The pattern is essentially a larger version of the reusable cloth snack bags I recently posted and like them, the top of the bag flips shut. You don鈥檛 need to sew on Velcro or buttons or a zipper to secure it. I love the clean, minimalist look but you could also deck the bag out with notions or fringe or sequins or whatever you find in your sewing basket.

You can make this lunch bag in less than half an hour, start to finish, making it the perfect project for a beginner and busy parent in need of a reusable, inexpensive lunch bag now that school has started.

New skills!

When I first started my blog, I toyed with the name 鈥渓ost knowledge.鈥� As we鈥檝e become more dependent on corporations to fulfill our needs and as those same corporations ruthlessly seek to increase worker productivity鈥攁nd profits鈥攕ociety has sacrificed basic life skills on the altar of shareholder value: sewing, cooking, mending, gardening, carpentry and so on. Why make a lunch bag鈥攐r even lunch鈥攊nstead of working more?

If you are a beginner sewist, you鈥檒l learn a couple of basic, helpful techniques as you partake in this small act of rebellion:

French seams. French readers tell me they call these English seams. You鈥檒l sew the seams on the outside of the bag and then encase them in another seam on the inside. This technique creates a neat and tidy look.
Boxed corners. These create a flat bottom, which makes the bag roomier and easier to pack.

Old fabric!

I raided my fabric stash and pulled out an unfinished skirt I started making in 2004. The fabric is mid-weight, probably cotton, but I鈥檓 not sure. I avoid synthetic and synthetic blends because I avoid plastic (synthetic = plastic). Synthetics shed microplastics in the laundry (and the air), they pollute all along their lifecycle and they never break down. But if this fabric is a synthetic blend, I figure I may as well use it. I can’t just toss it. Lightweight denim would be great and can give old jeans a second life.

Step 1: Cut the fabric

I cut the fabric 29 inches long by 10 inches wide. I made two bags for this post, beginning with identically sized pieces. One bag has a flat bottom, with finished measurements of 11 inches by 8 戮 inches. The other bag without the flat bottom measures 12 录 inches by 8 戮 inches.

The size of your bag depends on your fabric scraps. And you may love these so much that you make various sizes for all the things that need packing鈥攃hargers and cords for electronics, small toys, cosmetics, hair ties and scrunchies鈥�

A long piece of cut blue fabric sits on a grey cutting board. Next to it is a wide rule and a rotary cutter. — 29 inches by 10 inches makes a roomy lunch bag

Step 2: Finish the narrow top and bottom raw edges

Standard sewing machine: Fold the top and bottom edges 录 inch and press. Fold over again and press. Sew.

Serger: Serge along the edges to finish them rather than making a folded hem. Or serge rolled hems.

A folded edge of blue fabric to make a 1/4-inch hem — Make a narrow hem

A hem folded on the edge of blue fabric before sewing — Make a narrow hem

A sewing machine sews a narrow hem with pink thread onto blue fabric — Sewing a narrow folded hem

Step 3: Fold the fabric

Lay the fabric on your work surface, wrong side facing up. Fold up the bottom. I folded mine up 12 inches, leaving about 3 戮 inches of fabric at the top. Fold the top down. Pinning is a good idea (although I didn’t pin my bag). To make a French seam, you will first sew a seam on the right side of the fabric (i.e. the side that shows on the finished bag), which sounds totally wrong but stay with me.

Step 4: Sew French seams

This sounds fancy but you simply sew the side edges with a narrow seam allowance (I did 录 inch), wrong sides facing together, right side facing out. If any fabric sticks out past the edge like mine did, trim that away to render an even edge.

Close up of a narrow, 1/4-inch seam on the side of a reusable lunch bag in the making — Sew the first set of seams; if necessary, trim away fabric to make the edges even

Trimming away excess fabric along a raw sewn edge on a blue reusable lunch bag to make the edges even. — Sew the first set of seams; if necessary, trim away fabric to make the edges even

Turn the lunch bag inside out and sew a second slightly wider seam (I did 5/8聽inch) that encases the first seam. When you turn the bag right side out, that encasement hides the raw edge鈥攁nd the two seams add strength to the bag. Elegant and strong!

A blue lunch bag turned inside out before encasing the seam to form a French seam. The bag sits on a wooden tabletop. — Turn the bag inside out and sew a second seam to encase the first

A blue lunch bag turned inside and sewn with a French seam. The bag sits on a wooden tabletop. — Turn the bag inside out and sew a second seam to encase the first

A homemade reusable blue lunch bag sits on a wooden tabletop — Flap open (left); lunch bag interior (right)

A reusable blue lunch bag with a flip closure is open. Two hands hold it open to show off the interior. — Flap open (left); lunch bag interior (right)

A closed reusable blue lunch bag sits on a wooden tabletop — Bag flap closed

You could unplug your sewing machine now and pack your lunch bag. Or you can make a flat bottom.

Step 5: Sew a flat bottom into the lunch bag (optional)

I finished the top and bottom edges of one of my bags (see step 2) on a serger. I added a flat bottom to this bag.

With the bag right-side out, cut squares out of the bottom corners. I cut 1 录-inch squares. The seam allowance of two seams (again, I sewed French seams) expanded those corners substantially. So go easy choosing the size of the squares or you’ll create a tiny bottom.