Bento Bag With a Sturdy Bottom
As much as I love seeing the various bento bag patterns online, I've noticed that none of them seem to have a sturdy bottom. Which is probably traditionally accurate and works well with a regular bento box. Sadly, it doesn't work so well when you are using a glass container that doesn't quite fit as snugly as you'd like it to. So I decided to follow a classic pattern, but with one modification - adding a sturdy styrofoam padding rescued from the landfill. The padding came from a laptop cover stuffing that I cut down to size after measuring the widest part of my glass container that I usually use for lunch.
I then sewed all around the padding, as closely and tightly as I possibly could, to make sure that it would stay in place and not slip and slide around with use.
As you can see, I was able to pull the edges of the fabric to the centre and both sides were even.I then sewed the outer sides together after making doubly sure that the foam was directly in the middle of the fabric.
I then used bias tape to sew all around the outer edges of the bag just to clean up the edges and give it a nice, clean finish.
And here is my finished bag!
The bubble tea bottle, straw, bottle brush and utensil bag are from Shien Japanese Calligrapher (a mother and daughter owned small business that combines Japanese culture and eco friendly products). My chopsticks and spoon set are from H-Mart, my small Sakura bento box was a birthday gift from my mom and she got it from Utsuwa-No-Yakata at Aberdeen Mall.
I hope you try making your own bento bag with your own creative flair. I decided to make a second and more colourful one using the other half of the stiff foam and some leftover strawberry fabric I had sitting in my scraps bag.
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