The Hudson Bag - Part 1 (prep, front and sides)

I take my lunch to work every day. I have used various lunch bags over the years. Within the last few months Sallie Tomato had a spotlight on the pattern for the Hudson. I have always wanted to sew my own lunch box so I picked up the pattern when it was on a flash sale.

I ordered the fabrics from Splash Fabrics. I wanted the outside to be laminated cotton. Now after I have finished the bag I am thinking I should have made the inside laminated cotton for ease of clean up. I also purchased a lining fabric. The pattern included little tags you could attach to each piece. This was definitely needed and appreciated. This project had tons of pieces.

I also decided since it would be keeping my lunch cold until needed I should sandwich insul-brite between the layers. This is like an insulated batting used to keep heat or cold inside an object. I also backed the outside pieces with foam batting to help the bag keep its shape and add extra layer of padding.

The first step was to baste all the pieces together with all the foam and insul-brite. I then began on the front and back of the bag. I have sewn webbing on items before so I knew what to do for that step. By the way clips are your friend whenever you sew a bag. The more I sew the more I find myself reaching for my clips instead of my pins. As a bonus I am not stabbing myself while sewing quite as much.

It appears I can measure, just cannot translate those measurements correctly when ordering supplies. I shorted myself a foot of webbing and bought 2 extra yards of zipper by the foot.

Since I was short a little webbing the handles are a little shorter than the pattern suggestion. This will work out fine since I mostly carry a lunch bag on my shoulder. I carry my bag to lunch when I drop off my students. You need 2 free hands when walking kinder children anywhere - just sayin'.

The two sides match - so if they need to be carried one will not be hanging taller than the other. all of this was certainly enough for a few days in the sewing studio.