I know that I start a lot of my posts by assuring you that this is the easiest >>insert ‘thing’ here<< ever! And here I go again – but in my defense, I would like to add that I have evidence! This zipper pouch is similar to the pencil cases that you might have had in school and it is also super easy to customize (I will show you how to do that too).

It has a top zipper and it is fully lined. But where most people struggle with zipper pouches is the bit where things have to be turned out and sewn. This can cause puckers at the ends of the zip and all sorts of nasties. Well not this time because we are not going to do it. We don’t need to turn the pouch inside out and pin stuff. No siree. When the zipper goes in, we bind that bottom edge. You are very welcome indeed.

This pouch is perfect for all of those little around-the-house needs. Pencils (of course) and also knitting needles, toys, first aid bits and pieces and a portable sewing kit for your suitcase. Have one in the car too with the sort of things that your family always seems to need. It is perfect for keeping small baby or pet needs in the one place too.

The length of the bag is determined by the overall zipper length including the end tapes (that is the bit of the zipper than is on each end without the teeth). This makes it super easy to customize and means that you can use what you have.

Right so what do we need to make this?!

• Fat Quarter outer fabric. I am using canvas
• FQ lining fabric
• FQ foam interfacing. My favourite is Style-vil by Vlieseline.
• 12″ metal zipper
• 24″ bias binding to coordinate or a bit of extra fabric to make your own bias tape. A FQ extra makes plenty
• oh and something to decorate the zipper pull. I am using a small piece of leather but you could use vegan leather, a charm or a piece of ribbon

TIP: if your poch is a lot larger than mine, you may need more than a fat quarter.

You will have some fabric leftover from your FQs but it is still the handiest size to buy.

Cutting: to suit a 12″ zipper

From the outer canvas:

• two rectangles 13 1/2″ long x 6 1/2″ wide

From the lining:

• two rectangles 13 1/2″ long x 6 1/2″ wide

If you are making your own bias tape you need to cut a strip 24″ long and 1 1/2″ wide. You can join them if you have to.

There are no cutting notes for the foam interfacing. Simply place the panel (almost always the outer) onto a slightly larger piece of style-vil foam and use a machine basting stitch to attach narrowly around the outer edge. Keep a gentle tautness on the fabric as you sew to stretch it. This helps to avoid puckers and creases.

So let’s get started. I like to make my bias tape first because it can be set aside and then it is ready when you need it later. Take the strips and join them together if you need to. if you have joined them, press the seams open and then while you are still at the iron, fold the strip in half length-ways and iron a centre crease. Now fold the two raw edges towards the centre crease and press again. You can use a bias tape maker if you like.

The next job is the run up to putting in the zipper. We have to prepare the outers first. So begin by taking the outers and attaching them to some style-vil foam interfacing. Sew as narrow a basting seam as you can

And then trim the foam back following the contours of the outer.

Now in the interests of making your life easier, I don’t like to mitre corners with bias tape. It is possible and not even all that hard but one of my signature moves in sewing is the round corner which both looks nice and is lovely to sew. Simply find something round (like a cup or a quilting ruler) and draw around it before cutting along the line that you drew to leave two rounded edges.

Repeat for the lining.

The zipper doesn’t need anything done to it so grab a piece of outer and a piece of lining and pin or clip them together with the zipper sandwiched in between.

Sew right along the zipper from end to end

Then flip the pieces the right way over and topstitch from end to end. I topstitched twice but you can stick with once or whatever takes your fancy.

Repeat this with the other two pieces. Right so now you have something looking like this…

In the usual world you do everything else now inside out and then turn it the right way out afterwards and that is where a beginner can loose a lot of heart because things can pucker and look quite awful. What we are going to do is to fold the case over so that the two lining pieces are together and the outers are on the outside. The zipper will be on the top. Then clip that outer edge like this

And now machine baste all the layers together (so make very sure that they are all caught in the seam)

Just for fun, open the zipper and look at that perfect lining!

All that is left now is to bind that seam using the bias tape that you made earlier. You can put this on by hand or by machine- I do a bit of both, one side by machine and then finish the other side of by hand. Try the binding on first and if the zipper is too long on the ends, trim it back. You may need to redo the curve too depending on how much you need to trim. This sort of ‘fitting on’ is really normal in bag making and to get a high end effect, it is necessary. You need the binding to be quite close (about 1/4″) to the beginning and ending of the zip to look really great.

When you have put the binding on, decorate the zipper pull with something nice. I like to use a strip of leather or vegan leather. Add some glue to keep the trim in place and clip it

So I talked a bit about customizing this bag size-wise. How do we do that? Well the over all length of the bag is equal to the length of the zipper that you have plus the tapes on the end. If the tapes are of different sizes, trim them so that they are both the same length as the shorter of the two. Then measure your zipper. This is your length measurement.

To establish your width measurement, think about what you want to use the pouch for. It can be literally any depth within reason. Decide on the depth, say, 6″ or 8″ or even 4″ for a titchy one and you will cut your fabric; length of the zip x decided width. Then just follow the instructions here.

So now that we have established that I haven’t lied about the difficulty off you go and make heaps of these. They are great for back-to-school makes and craft fairs….oh and Christmas. Don’t forget that Christmas is just around the corner. And men need them too!

See you next time

Hugs

Debbie xx