Enlarged Two Zip Hipster w/ iPad Pocket

First of all I want to say a big THANK YOU! to Jessica Jones over at How About Orange. Jessica and her mum, Grandma G, reviewed the Two Zip Hipster pattern last week and I’ve had an amazing response from it. So thank you a million times over to Jessica and Grandma G and to all of you, new readers and customers! Please head on over and read the review and check out the bag in Jessica’s amazing Outside Oslo home dec fabric. It looked so great I immediately ordered some! I want to make one in blue!

Many of you have been asking about the iPad in the Two Zip Hipster.

First, to clarify, YES the iPad absolutely fits inside the Two Zip Hipster. If you’re running out to the coffee shop and want to toss your iPad in, it will fit just fine. I have a couple friends who carry iPads in their Hipsters all the time. It’s not specifically designed for the iPad, just a nice bonus that it fits!

iPad 2 w/ feather case + smart cover inside Two Zip Hipster

If you’re going to be carrying the iPad around all the time, then it should probably have a separate pocket, right? If you want to add a pocket for the iPad along one side of the bag in the original size, you’d have to slide it really close to the zip and place the pocket almost all the way to the bottom seam. It might be better to enlarge the bag just a little bit.

There are several ways to do this. I’m just going to try some ideas and share what I find. :) One option would be to make pieces A, B, C, E, F, & H about 1″ taller. You could also enlarge the bag overall. Enlarging the whole bag is what I tried this weekend and liked how it turned out. This is more of a process blog than a tutorial. It didn’t come out perfectly and I’ll discuss some of the changes I’ll make next time.

I printed the pattern pieces (minus pocket) at 110%. It should still print in within the margins on your printer. If it won’t print right, just do the math – multiply the measurement on the pattern piece by 1.1.

Then, I cut the pocket for the iPad 10″ wide by 8.5″ tall. That ended up being loose – so next time I’m trying 9.5″ wide. I cut 1 from main fabric, 1 from lining fabric and 1 from fusible interfacing. I like to add a strip of fusible interfacing on the top of the lining fabric as well.

I sewed the pocket pieces right sides together with a 3/8″ seam allowance, leaving a 5″ gap at the bottom and clipped the corners.

 

I turned the pocket right sides out, turned under the opening and pressed well. I topstitched the top of the pocket (I increase my stitch length to between 3 and 4) about 1/4-3/8″ from the edge.

I centered the pocket and placed it 1.25″ from the bottom. It’s a bit too low. 1.5″ would be better.

I stitched the pocket in place around the sides and bottom. I like to make two lines of stitching, about 1/8″ and 3/16″ from the edge. (I actually went back in later and added another row of stitching closer in after checking the fit.)

Optional – reinforce the top corners of the pocket. I added a square of sew-in interfacing to the back side and zig zagged (from the front side – back side shown.)

Try the iPad for size. See all the extra slack? You won’t have all that if you cut yours at 9.5″ not 10″, but you’ll still have a little bit. I’m still figuring out what to do about it.

Do you think the pocket is tall enough? It could probably be an inch or so taller. You don’t want it so tall that you can’t slide the iPad in, but there is enough clearance from the zip to add another inch. I think I will cut my next pocket 9.5″ tall by 9.5″ wide. Then I’ll stitch 1/8″ from the edges and check it with the iPad, then stitch another line closer in to make it really snug.

Now when you enlarge or reduce a pattern you might find some funny things happen. Because it also enlarges the seam allowance, you might get something like this on the front middle pocket, where the Piece F is a little short. It’s OK. I just trimmed it in Step 6b.

You might also find that the assembled front piece is a tiny bit wider than the back (Piece A). Just center it and trim the sides even with Piece A if necessary. You can use this little bit extra to square it up if you need to.

Before I sewed the inside and outside together I snapped this pic. See how the pocket sits right at the edge of the boxed corner and still has plenty of room at the top before the zip?

Finished! I’m in love with this! This one if going to my friend Katie. I hope she likes it!

And as an unexpected bonus, the iPad fits perfectly in the front pocket! So that may be an even better option! You could just make the bag bigger but skip the iPad pocket on the inside. At least you would have more room for the rest of your stuff! And if you need the iPad to be zipped up, it would totally fit inside while still in a sleeve.

 P.S. I got some basic photo lights today because my other setup was not bright enough to take pictures at night with no daylight at all. The last 3 pics are with the new lights. They are brighter but I still need to work on the white balance and colors a bit to warm up the photos. It’s a work in progress!

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