My First Zippered Pouch

Happy Monday! After a mostly gorgeous weekend in the Pacific Northwest, we're back to gloomy fall weather. Blah. I wasn't too productive in the craft department this weekend. But, fortunately, I had made a few birthday gifts the previous week/weekend so I have another little project to share with you.


When I realized my mother-in-law's birthday was coming up, I decided I was going to make her something for organizational and/or storage purposes. She loves to organize and de-clutter. I thought a pretty zippered pouch would be a good idea, allowing her to store either her make-up, some pens, coupons, whatever.

I had never made a zippered pouch before and had only worked with zippers twice previously, so it was a bit of a gamble. But, after thinking about the construction a bit, I figured it shouldn't be too hard. I am not sure why I decided to wing it instead of looking for a tutorial, but I did. And ironically, about 2 days after I finished my pouch, I randomly came upon this zippered case tutorial on Design*Sponge! I'm happy to report I followed exactly the same steps on my own project! With one difference: my measurements were off and resulted in more of a square than a rectangle pouch.

This was a very straightforward project. I started by cutting my fabric: 2 layers for the outside, 2 layers for the lining. I used some of my gorgeous Drawing Room fabric by Anna Maria Horner (I have one more project in mind using this fabric that I hope to post in the near future! I love it so much!).



I pinned and sewed 1 piece of outside fabric + 1 piece of lining to one side of the zipper side. Then repeated the process for the other side. I flattened and ironed the fabrics on each side of the zipper, then top-stitched about 1/8 inch from the zipper with contrasting thread.






I pinned the 2 pieces of outside fabric right sides together and the 2 pieces of lining fabric right sides together. I can't quite remember which way I folded the zipper here. I sewed all the way around, leaving a 2-inch opening on one side of the lining.




Before flipping the pouch inside out, I pulled the corners out and drew a line across (about 1 inch from the point). I then sewed across that line and clipped the extra fabric a 1/4 inch from the seam.





I flipped the whole thing inside out and pinned/stitched the opening closed.




And ta-da, finished pouch!




Despite the funky square shape, it turned out pretty well. And it's a super-fast project! I will definitely be making more of these in the future, either for myself or for others as gifts.

Jenny that fabric is so YOU!  I'm sure you've been drooling over Anna Maria's new line just like I have, I just love the way her prints work together, even when you're combining different lines of hers.  (And I can't wait to see the other project you're going to make with this, it is going to be FAB!)

I've only made one zippered pouch, it was supposed to be a shaving bag for the husband.  I say "supposed to be" because it turned out terribly!  I had a death match with interfacing and I'm afraid the zipper lost out.  It's so interesting how many steps there are to making something so simple, quite fascinating really.  

The thing I love most about small projects like this is that you can use beautiful (and somewhat pricey) fabrics and because it takes so little you don't have to break the bank.