Zippers are hard right? Wrong! Zippers are not hard to install and there are a few tricks to change your zipper world. I actually have a theory that they have a reputation of being difficult because not all of the older sewing machines came with a zipper foot. That meant a struggle. And because our traditional teachers (Mothers and Grandmothers) were struggling, they passed that fear down the line.

So we need to stop this right now! With modern machines (and zippers!) things are easier. Today I want to focus on the zipper box pocket in a bag. Very specific but I get a lot of enquiries about this.

Zipper box pockets are one of the essential bag making skills and one which you will use repeatedly. For this tute, I am referencing my pattern for the Pasadena Shoulder Bag but to be honest, any pattern is the same for this. Some patterns assume a bit of knowledge and even if they are designated beginner (define beginner!), there is always going to be a bit of assumed knowledge. So the aim of this tute is to fill in that gap for you.

Your individual pattern will tell you what you need to make each zipper pocket with. You can use this technique on any bag pattern in the world but for ease of explaining, I will be referring to mine.

So you will probably have assembled your bag making ‘ingredients’ by now and we begin by prepping the zip. The zipper tapes at the opening end are not secured. However, your life will be a lot easier if you stitch them together to stop them from moving about.

I have used a lighter thread here so that you can see what is going on. You would use one to match the zipper though because it will be visible from inside the pocket with this technique.
When you are putting the zip in, you don’t want it to move about too much. You can baste the zip in place but I find that the easiest thing to use is some very thin (about 1/4″) double sided tape on each side of the zip.

Put the tape as far to the edges of the zipper tape as you can to keep it away from the needle if possible. It doesn’t really matter. It is just that some tapes will gum the needle up and this can cause skipped stitches (if you are having skipped stitches after putting in a zip, this could be the reason). Some alcohol gel will wipe the needle clean.

Next we have to make some marks to show us where to put the zipper pocket.

Firstly, you need to know where the vertical centre line on your chosen panel is. Then mark it clearly with a crease or a water soluble marker line. Then we need to know where to put the zipper box pocket lining itself so that we can get this party started.

The pattern will tell you how far down to measure on the bag. The basic idea is that you measure down from the top edge and then place the zipper box pocket lining on that mark. Choose one short end of the pocket lining to pin. It doesn’t matter which. The other short end will be brought up to finish the pocket off at the end.

Some patterns on fabric are not super straight. So measure your lines from the top edge of the fabric and don’t rely on using the pattern to help you. You can see on this photo how it runs out a bit.

The pocket lining goes far enough down so that it doesn’t get caught up in the  top edge or the flap. The pattern gives all of these measurements so we don’t need to worry about them here.
Pin the pocket right sides  together (doesn’t matter so much with solids) onto the line that the pattern tells you to draw.

Next (and again the pattern gives the details) draw a horizontal box.

This will be your sewing line. It has to be right on the vertical centre so that your pocket will be central. This is another one of these things that matter when bag making. Take the time to fuss at this stage and check everything at least twice!

The cutting line comes next.

This one has some angles at each end of the line and the line itself doesn’t extend quite all the way to the end of the sewing box.
The angles are there to ensure that there is no puckering when the pocket is turned out. Here again, as for the flap tute, it is all about how the fabric behaves when it it turned the right way around. If the angles are not there and not cut when we get to that bit, the fabric will pull because it has nowhere to go.
Sew around the sewing box next.

The next bit can be a bit scary – cut along the cutting line including the two angles at either end.

Cutting the angles releases the tension on the fabric and stops puckering. Be super careful not to snick the stitches.

The next thing is to gather all of the pocket fabric up and ‘post’ it through the hole. Smooth it out on the back and press so that the edges are perfect.

As you can see, be careful about relying on the printed pattern on the fabric – that pocket aperture is straight! I love the pattern but I am finding it a little hard because my brain and eyes cannot agree on what they are seeing. Let’s have a look at the back.

That isn’t too bad and it is my before pressing shot. The iron took care of the slight puckers at the corners beautifully.

The zipper goes in next.

Remove the release paper from the double sided tape and line the zipper up in the aperture.  Using double sided tape is great because you can reposition the zip so that it is in a good spot. However, some tapes can gum up the machine needle causing skipped stitches as I mentioned earlier. Easy to fix though.

As you can see, the first stitches that you put in the zipper tape to stabilise it is visible. The one drawback of this method is that the zipper tape will remain visible on the inside of the pocket. But almost all bags use this method so we need to learn it.
Swap to your zipper foot and topstitch the zipper in from the right side.

Make your stitching as straight and as neat as possible because it will all be on show. This is yet another reason for using matching thread.
Okay so the zipper is in (and the magic trick is to use that zipper foot. The right tool for the job). The next thing is to finish the pocket.

Bring the other short end of the pocket lining up to meet the first and pin. Fold the outer panel out of the way and sew the pocket lining top and sides.

When the pocket is finished, it will look like this

There are often some bits which hang over.

Just lop them off using the bag outer edge as a guide. This happens when a round bag has a square pocket.

Yippee! Finished! It really isn’t difficult once you know how to do it (like just about most things). These pockets are often found on bags and the higher end bags will almost certainly have a zipper somewhere so it is a skill worth knowing. They are often put into the lining too as internal pockets.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope that you are inspired and helped by this tutorial and that zippers are not so scary anymore.

Hugs Debbie
xx