Hi there! Today I am sharing our first April Mystery Project: A Quilted Zipper Pouch! I hope the idea of a zipper doesn't scare you too bad! I promise this is as easy as it gets when installing a zipper! This is a great starting point when learning how to install zippers!
I decided to make this pouch to store English Paper Piecing supplies! So I made the pouch a little longer to give me the space that I need to keep all my odds and ends in one place! The great thing about this is that you can just pop this right in your purse and you can take your paper piecing anywhere! We will be learning how to do hexagons next week for our next project! So stay tuned!! :)
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| Click HERE to purchase the April Mystery Bundle |
I decided to quilt this pouch to give it extra texture and also so you wouldn't have to use interfacing, and could use batting! Also, I'm not sure if you can spot my mistake, but my birds are facing the wrong direction!! I about had a meltdown when I turned my zip pouch right side out and realized my mistake! I thought I was so careful at making sure the print was going the right direction, but this fabric got the best of me this time! I decided not to re-do the pouch so that you could learn from my mistake! When working with directional fabric you really do need to be extra careful!
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| 8.5" x 8.5" |
Supplies:
Zipper foot
Thread
9" zipper
Batting Cut 12" x 19"
Lining Fabric (Navy Feather) Cut to 12" x 19"
Outer Fabric (Birds) Cut to 12" x 19"
Step 1: Make a quilt sandwich with your fabric. You will cut your two pieces of fabric and batting: 12" x 19". Place lining right side down, then batting in the middle, and the outer fabric right side up to make your quilt sandwich. Pin baste to keep the fabrics from shifting while quilting. Quilt with your preferred design. I quilted with wavy lines.
Step 2: Once you have quilted the entire surface, trim it down to 10.5" x 18"
Step 3: Place your zipper tape right side down on the right side of your short edge. Notice the zipper pull is face down. Align the edge of the zipper tape with the edge of the short side. Using a zipper foot, stitch your zipper tape down using a scant 1/4" seam.
Step 4: Now you will top stitch just below your zipper tape on the front side. You will make sure the zipper tape on the back side is pressed down, so that you catch it when you top stitch. This helps keep the zipper tape down inside the bag so you don't have any issues zipping and unzipping.
Step 5: Now fold over your fabric so that you bottom edge aligns with the other side of your zipper tape. Your zipper tape will be right sides together with your outer fabric. You will then sew it on, using your zipper foot. Use about scant 1/4" seam.
Step 6: Now turn your pouch right side out, and then you will top stitch along the other side of the zipper tape like you did in step 4. You will unzip your zipper when you do this, and when you get to the bottom, be careful it can get a little tricky, so just take your time!
Step 7: Turn your pouch inside out, and then align the your sides with your zipper towards the top. This is where you want to make sure your directional fabric is the right way! Mine is not! So learn from my mistake! Sew your sides shut. Just make sure you backstitch at the top and bottom! Also, I liked to backstitch over the zipper a couple times just to make sure it's nice and secure. MAKE SURE YOU OPEN YOUR ZIPPER HALFWAY!! This is so you can turn your pouch right side out!!!
Also, if you want your zipper in the middle of your pouch, just make sure when you sew your sides shut, the zipper is in the center. This is a personal preference, I decided to make my zipper close to the top for this pouch.
When you sew your seam to close the sides, I sewed just outside the metal on the left side, and then just inside the metal on the right side, so you can see I have a bunch of fabric left over on the right side, I will trim that off in the next step.
Step 8: Trim your edges, and then zig zag stitch along the sides so the edges are finished.
Step 9: Turn right side out and you are done!
I hope this will give you the confidence to try zippers! I love making zipper pouches! They make awesome gifts for anyone!! You can't have enough zipper pouches in my opinion!
Come back next week, I will be showing you how to make hexies! yay!!
Talk to you soon,
7 comments:
It seems to me that your directional fabric would have the birds facing upside down on the front, but right side up on the back. If this is the case, the only true solution would be to make a front piece and a back piece instead of one long piece to go all the way around the pouch. (Hope that makes sense.) Are the birds facing right side up on your back of the pouch?
Rae (nrhaller@aol.com)
I love these pouches, which I learned to do from you. I've made a couple dozen of them and will keep making more. I love how quick they are, how cute they are, and how happy people are to receive them! Thanks again (and again)!
Thank you for this pattern and tutorial ! I love it, it's so cute. I have to try it. Hugs,
Yes, you are right, the birds are facing the right direction on the back. If you wanted them to face the right way on both sides, it would be helpful to do it in pieces. Thanks for suggesting that! :) Directional fabric is not my friend ;)
Warm Regards,
Lindsey
Lovely zipper pouch and beautiful fabrics! My spacial abilities get the best of me on projects like this. I have to consciously sit down and walk myself through how a fabric will start and end to make sure I have it oriented how I want it for the correct outcome. It hurts my head. LOL!
This is so cute! With the measurements you used, what is the approximate finished size? Thank you.
Hi Kathy, the finished size is 8.5" square! :) Hope this helps!
Lindsey :)
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