Ever since starting back in Year Two my daughter has been having school dinners and for the most part enjoying them. Queuing up, choosing her meals, which mostly end with cake and custard, biscuit and custard, rice krispie cake.... and custard. No I am not kidding. Sounds disgusting right?
Well, recently information has filtered through about the portion sizes the children are getting and together with the way my daughter devours her post-school snack and then asks how long dinner will be, we decided to try packing sandwiches again. I am glad of the choice that we have with regards to the hot dinners. The options are good, don't get me wrong. But my daughter has a healthy appetite and I want her to be able to concentrate during afternoon lessons and not be grumpy when she gets home. She can't do either if she is hungry. So we have come to an agreement that she can have the school meals she likes such as Fish and Chips on a Friday (why wouldn't you love that) and she likes her pasta day on a Tuesday. Other days I have said she can have a packed lunch.
I was also really happy to have an excuse to make up this lunchbag pattern. This is the Love Your Lunch Box PDF from Gingercake Sews. It is the perfect size for a school packed lunch and will keep her sandwiches and juice nice and cool until midday thanks to the thermal insulated batting it is interlined with.
The main exterior fabric is made from a quilting weight cotton and I chose two beautiful prints from Anna Maria Horner that I just love. The main exterior is Field Study Cell Structure and the contrast on the sides is Hugs & Kisses in Candy.
Inside the bag is lined with laminated cotton. This makes it easy to wipe any spills.
I won't lie, it was a nightmare to sew through all the layers of cotton, interfacing, insulated batting and laminated cotton. My machine was put to the test around those corners. Like Virginia says in her instructions though, the finished result is worth a bit of sweat and tears. I love the sturdiness of the bag and the capacity of the main pocket is perfect.
Either side of the bag are slim pockets that would fit a snack bar or some tissues.
We will give it a first run on Monday but for today L was happy to have her lunch in it and model it for me.
Trouble is she will now lay claim to it and cry if she sees it going into Boo's school bag. If it works out then I will make another one for when she starts in September. (Can't believe she starts this year, that has come around so fast!)