Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Bento Kinkachu Tutorial

s I made this kinkachu bag for my son to match his Pokemon bento box. It's a fairly easy pattern so I thought I would publish instructions for anyone interested in making their own. I took a few pictures to go along with the instructions, but if you have any questions, please ask!

First you will need a piece of folded fabric. The fold should be on the bottom. Cut this into an 11 x 11 inch square.

when unfolded it is an 11 x 22 inch piece of fabric


Ok, on the top and bottom of the fabric you need to make a 1/4 inch wide fold that is 1.75 inches long. Do this on all four corners. This is part of the drawstring section. Sew the 1.75 inch section.

On both ends of the fabric fold the top of the fabric down one half inch. Press with a warm iron. Then fold down again 3/4 inches and press again. It will be folded down to where the stitches end. Don't sew this part yet.
The next step is to fold the fabric like it was when you started, expect inside out. Sew the outside seams together, starting at the bottom and ending 1.75 inches from the top(where you sewed that part down before) then press the seams flat.

This picture shows the seams pressed flat, you will see that it makes a point on the top.
You can see that I serged the edges of the seams, but that isn't necessary, I only did because this fabric likes to fray.

Next measure 2 inches from the point of the fabric and draw a line with a pencil. Then sew across that line. Repeat on the other side.

If you turn the bag inside out at this point, this is what it looks like. Sewing the points makes a nice square bottom for the bag.
Ok now remember how we pressed the top down before? Now is the time to sew that down. You can press it again if you like, which helps if the 2 sides aren't matching perfectly, now you can adjust it and press it so it matches.
Just sew the top edge down as shown, there will be an opening on both sides where you will thread the cord through.

Cut 2 lengths of cord, each 25 inches long. Fold the end over and secure with a safety pin. (You can use a bigger one, this tiny one was all I could find today)

Ok, start by threading the cord thru the pocket you have made. You will reach the other side where there is another opening, just keep going until you reach the point where you began. Then repeat this process beginning on the other side. When you finish you will have 2 cords hanging out of each side of the bag. Well, it's actually one cord, the beginning & end of the same cord.

String both ends thru a bead and knot the end. Cut the cord close to the knot and pull the cords to close the bag.
Voila! Kinkachu bag! Now go pack a lunch to put in it!
Like I said before, if you have any questions, ask and I will do my best to explain how I did something. I have never written instructions for a sewing project before, so I hope you can follow them ok. This is a pattern that I came up with after looking at how one of my kinkachu bags was made. I thought, hey that looks pretty easy! It took me about an hour to make this, but that was including time to take pictures. So maybe 30-45 minutes. Let me know if you make one, and how it turns out. Thanks!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

good idea! i'm going to give this one a try next time I get my sewing machine out.

Anonymous said...

I appreciate you taking the time to type this out ! I'm going to make some tomorrow ! woo hoo

Anonymous said...

cool!! GREAT job, its so cute and this way you can have a unique one!
DUDE this is gonna be one of my summer projects! Thanks so much for the instructions and pics and posting it!

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for the tutorial! I love your blog! :)

Anonymous said...

I've just made one of these in strawberry fabric for a present, and I love it so much, I think I'll have to make one for myself! Thank you!

Mona said...

auntjo, i have finished taking close-up pic of the bento bag but haven't let sue filter it to see which one is actually useful so that u can see exactly how the bag is made.

my bad, my bad. i'm going to let sue filter it tonite and post up the pic ASAP.

Mona said...

btw, ur kinkachu bento bag..so CUTE.
:)

Bethanie said...

Love this idea and thanks so much for showing step by step instructions! It's so hard to find bento bags and boxes for boys. I can't wait to make a Super Mario Bros. one for my son!

www.myfirstbento.blogspot.com

Elizabeth said...

I'm going to try this when I get some cute fabric :)

I have a bento box (one tier) that is 8 inches in length. Will this fit that size box or would I have to modify the pattern? THanks