Neat ‘n’ Tidy Zippered Pouches

Thank my friend Erin for the cute name. No-raw-edge-pouch was just too dreadful. She also told me to go to bed, so of course this is what I did instead. I get 3 hours of sleep but but you all get a new tutorial. Yay? Please speak up if it makes no sense… :) Also this is kind of a thank you for the amazing response to the new wristlet pattern. You all are fantastic!

You all know how much I hate raw edges in bags when they aren’t necessary, however if you’re just making quick makeup bags or coin pouches, I still say you can’t go wrong with how quickly the Easy Zippy Pouches go together. That said, these are pretty quick and easy to make too. I will simply give you both options and let you choose!

Enough chatting. Tutorial time!

Figuring out what size to cut for this one is simple. Decide on your finished pouch size and add 3/4″ to the height and 3/4″ to the width. Or just add a full inch because it really doesn’t matter and I know some of you hate math. :)

The square pouch is 4″ square finished and I cut the pieces to 4.75″ square (charm pack anyone?) and just used fusible interfacing (Pellon SF 101) on the main fabric so that I could show you the details of how to construct it. The rectangular pouch is 5.75″ wide x 3.75″ tall and I cut the pieces to 6.5″ wide by 4.5″ tall. I kept the fusible and added batting to the rectangular one (super thin Quilter’s Dream “Request”, their thinnest cotton batting) and I really like it. I’m going to show you the square one but then I’ll explain what you’ll do differently for a rectangle.

(OK so how cute are those monkeys? Go find monkey fabric at Fat Quarter Shop.)

This is a quick and dirty tutorial. I’m not going to go into super-specifics about how to fold tabs into fourths and trim interfacing away from seams. Again, three hours of sleep… Refer to the Circle Zip Earbud Pouch if you have any concerns about those sorts of things, since it’s a bit more in depth. What really matters is how to sew around part way, then separate the lining from the main fabric and sew them separately.

Cut two squares from both your main fabric and lining. Then cut 2 smaller squares from interfacing (I cut mine about 1/4 smaller so they still catch in the stitching but don’t add extra bulk to the seams.) Also cut a 2″ long D-Ring or pull tab. It should be 4 times the width of your D-Ring if you’re using one. You’ll also need a zipper that’s longer than the width of your fabric.

Fuse interfacing to the wrong side of the main fabric.

Take ONE EACH main fabric and lining piece and cut them where you want to insert your zipper. I decided to cut mine right down the middle. I cut them with the grain because it helps with stability while inserting the zipper. It’s not a huge deal if you don’t.

Place one of the lining pieces face up and place the zipper (also face up) on top, aligning the edges.

Then flip the main fabric piece over and align the same edge. Install your zipper foot and sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance (SA). Try to keep the pieces in the correct order if you are using a directional fabric or you want the design to line up when you’re done like mine does.

Fold both pieces of fabric back and gently press, carefully so you don’t melt the zipper. Don’t topstitch yet.

Place the 2nd lining piece face up and align the bottom edge of the zipper, also face up. Make sure you match the sides of the top fabric pieces too so everything is lined up when you’re done.

Add the last main fabric piece face down, aligning the bottom edge. Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Fold those pieces back and again, gently press. Now increase your stitch length (3.5 is good) and topstitch 1/8″ away from the edge of the fabric.

The back side should look like this.

Make the tab. I used a 3/4″ D-Ring so my tab was 3″ wide by 2″ tall. If you don’t have a D-Ring, I would go with 3″ long x 3″ wide for a pull tab. If you want to make a smaller pouch with a split ring instead of a D-ring, 2″ or 2.5″ wide would probably be better.

Fold the tab in fourths: Fold it in half, press. Open it back up, fold the raw edges to the center, press. Fold that in half. Press. Edgestitch!

UNZIP THE ZIPPER HALF WAY and use a wide zig zag stitch to tack the open end of the zipper together. This helps hold the shape of the pouch while you can’t see what you’re doing.

Add the D-ring to the folded tab, place the raw edges at the edge of the pouch and baste the tab 1/8″ from the edge.
Trim the zipper off on both ends (don’t use your good scissors for this!) Set this piece aside.

Now you get to assemble the pouch! Place the lining piece face up.

Place the zipper piece on top of that, aligning the edges.

READY FOR THE TRICK? :D

Add the last main fabric piece on top of that, again matching the edges. Sew around the top, using a 3/8″ seam allowance. Start 2-3 stitches before the edge of the zipper tape (be sure to backstitch too!) and sew around to 2-3 stitches past the zipper tape on the other side.

Pull unstitched part of the main fabric pieces together and the lining pieces together.

Keeping the lining folded back as far as possible, use the exact same seam allowance and stitch RIGHT UP TO the first set of stitches but do not sew into the lining. Make sure you backstitch at the beginning and end. Sometimes it helps to start 2-3 stitches past, put your needle down and backstitch those 2-3 stitches, then sew forward again. If you have a gap of a stitch or two, it’s OK.

It should look like this. The lining is still pulled back and the main fabric is sewn.

Now FLIP it over and fold the main fabric back. Do the same thing but leave a gap for turning. Backstitch at the beginning of the stitches and before the gap. It’s more important in this step to not catch any of the main fabric in the stitches, so if you need to leave a stitch length gap it will be OK.

Do not forget to leave an opening for turning!

Trim the heck out of this thing. Trim the corners and trim the seam allowances down to 1/4″. Make sure all your stitches line up before turning.

Reach into the opening and carefully turn it right side out!

Gently poke out the corners and make sure everything looks good. My tab is a little bit off. I made this pouch to hold dog treats and cleanup bags on the dog leash. I think it will be OK.

Now you just need to pull out the opening in the lining and tuck under the edges and edge stitch, just like you would in any purse/bag. I thought it might be difficult in this tiny one, but it was fine.

Tuck that back in and press it really well. That’s it! I think that was pretty easy, don’t you?

So I made it more difficult, of course! I needed a pouch to hold my new iPhone lightning cable. I cut this one 6.5″ wide by 4.5″ tall. The finished size is 5.75″ wide x 3.75″ tall. I sliced one lining and one main fabric piece 1.5″ down from the top. If you’re making a larger pouch, you may want to add 1/4″ to that. Smaller pouch maybe subtract 1/4″? This worked pretty well. I installed the zipper the same way and just added a pull tab instead of a D-Ring since this one doesn’t need a strap and isn’t going on a keychain.

I like the look of the slightly padded pouch, so I added a layer of Quilter’s Dream *super thin* cotton batting to the front and back. Warm & Natural is thicker than this but would probably be OK. The lightweight poly Pellon 988 would probably be OK too. You could fusible fleece it, but don’t blame me if it wrinkles… plus I like trimming batting from seams.

Now on this one, you don’t need to go down as far, again stitch just past the zipper tape. Don’t forget to backstitch.

When you sew the main fabric and lining separately, just sew the batting to the main fabric. Trim the batting from the seams.

Sorry these stitches didn’t really show up but you can enlarge the photo.

Re-emphasizing the most important step. TRIM. There just isn’t enough room with all those extra seams for any bulk.

Also trim it from the top seam that’s all sandwiched together.

So you now have what, four zippered pouch options? This one. The Circle Zip Earbud Pouch. The Easy Zippy Pouches. And The Essential Wristlet. Plus the other bags in the shop. Are you having as much fun with zippers as I am?

Again, thank you everyone! If you haven’t seen the new pattern, go check it out!

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