Heading back to school means returning to the daily grind of packing school lunches. For me, this also means packing my lunch (and sometimes also my breakfast or my dinner) for work at the same time. Growing up in California, we rarely had packed lunches from home. We typically ate in the school cafeteria or bought lunch from one of the school food vendors. None of these were tasty (or healthy) options but that’s how it was. Raising my kids in Vancouver means sending them to school with a snack and a lunch Every.Single.Day. Any caregiver who has ever had to do this knows that it is HARD! It’s time consuming, it’s challenging to find nutritious food they like, and, of course, the meal they loved yesterday is the meal they won’t eat today. To further complicate things, the school eating schedules and rules change as the kids grow so if you have kids of different ages you might have one that needs a snack, one that needs a pocket snack, and one that won’t have time for snack, one that has 15 minutes to eat lunch and one that has 45 minutes, one that can take food with nuts in it and one that can’t, etc.
I always try to pack my kids’ lunches with love, knowing that I am setting them up to have energy throughout the day. But it’s not always easy to have a positive attitude around this particular task. To break up the monotony and make lunch more fun, I like to pack the finished product in cloth rather than a lunch bag. The cloths take up less space and are much easier to clean. In Japan, this is a common way to pack a bento box (essentially a lunch box) to carry to work or school. They also double as a placemat when eating. My sister-in-law gifted me a bento cloth years ago and it’s now the only way I pack my lunch for work! I throw all the cloths in the wash at the end of the week and they’re ready for another week of school and work.
These cloths are super easy to make and can be made with larger fabric scraps you have lying around the house. You can also upcycle old clothes, table cloths, and bed linens. Be sure to use fabric that you and your kids love! I tend to make new cloths each year as the kids’ interests change. As an added bonus, these cloths are so easy that they are a great first project for kids who want to learn to sew. There are no complicated steps, the fabric is easy to work with, and the cuts and seams do not need to be at all perfect.
How to Make a Bento Cloth
What you’ll need:
- Fabric, any non-stretch cotton or linen
- Fabric scissors
- Tape measure
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Iron
Steps:
- Measure and cut a 21in (53cm) x 21in (53cm) square
- Fold a 1/4in seam, turn that seam under another 1/4in.
- The total seam allowance is 1/2in, you will turn under the first 1/4in seam to have a clean edge
- I turn the edge under and sew as I go but you can also pin the seam in place before sewing to ensure the fabric stays where you want it
- Sew a straight seam as close to the hem edge as possible
- Fold your corners as pictured, rotate the fabric and continue sewing
- When you reach the starting point, backstitch to secure the seam
- Cut and trim the threads
- Check that the raw edge of the fabric is fully encased in the seam all the way around
- Iron the cloth
To wrap your lunchbox, place the lunchbox in the center of the square, grab two opposite corners of the fabric and tie them together across the top of the lunchbox. Take the remaining two corners of the fabric and tie them across the top of the lunchbox. Your lunch is secure and you can use the knots as a handle to carry the lunchbox!
Enjoy a fun school or work lunch!!
