Sewing Cosmetic Bag Tutorial ~ DIY Tutorial Ideas!

How to make and sew an easy cosmetics bag for your make up and toiletries.

For our cosmetic bag we need:

Fabric, I always take three different ones. One lining and two for the outside. It is recommended if a larger pattern is to combine with a monochrome fabric or a quiet pattern. Better use the darker fabric for the floor. But in the end it is a matter of taste. If you buy extra fabric for this then you need 30 cm of the lining fabric and 15 cm of the other two with full fabric width. Any non-stretchable fabric can be chosen. Usually, however, is pure cotton.

Vlieseline. In order for the bag to stand upright, the outer fabric needs a sturdy reinforcement. For me S320 or H250 has proven to be good for the outside. I also strengthen the lining with something that also cushions a bit. H 630, better still H640 (both iron-on) or Thermolam (must be sewn inside the seam allowance)
     A 35 cm zipper
     Ribbons, buttons, embroidery or piping to decorate. I have renounced this
     Scissors or better still roll cutter
     A ruler or triangle
     matching yarn to both outer fabrics. For all internal seams I use plain white yarn

Pins or Clover Clips, who has Stylefix (I recommend to every beginner to sew a big help with the zipper)

A marker (water soluble or even vanishing) or tailor's chalk. If that does not exist a pencil.
     if necessary, a sewing needle
     (Steam) iron and ironing board
     a sewing machine (goes without saying, right?)
     4 DinA4 leaves, better still cardboard

The basis for the bag shown above is a DINA4 sheet. Take this across, cut out corners below and glue up 2 cm. Thus, the bag later has the dimensions 17 x 27cm, 15 cm high.

The corners are 6.5 x 6.5 cm. Draw in and cut out with the ruler / triangle / inch ruler. This is the pattern for the lining. If your bag is to have only one fabric on the outside, this is also the pattern for the outer fabric. You need 2 fabric pieces (inside), which you cut with the help of this pattern, in addition 2 parts from the fleece line H630 / 640 or Thermolam. For a monochrome bag also 2 parts of the outer fabric and 2 parts of the solid fleece line H250 or S320.

If your bag (like mine here) should consist of 2 different outer fabrics you need 2 more cuts.

Basis is also here in each case a DinA 4 sheets. The upper part is full width DinA4, ie 29.5 cm, and 11.5 cm long, the lower part full width DinA4 and 13.5 cm. Here again the corners are cut out, again 6,5cm x 6,5 cm. # EDIT: If the bag should turn out one size larger are my measurements: Inside pocket 35cm wide, 28 cm high Outside pocket: in a monochrome bag, the dimensions of the inside pocket for the two outer parts use. For a two-part bag 35 × 14 cm for the upper part, 35 × 16 cm for the lower part. Zipper: here, too, just a 35cm zipper works. But with 40cm it sews easier. The corners can be enlarged by one centimeter. Then the bag gets a little wider at the bottom. But I always leave it with the corner measures 6,5cm x6,5 cm. This will make her a little slimmer and taller. With this you cut all parts. The seam allowance is already included. We sew everything feet wide. To cut one piece out of one of the three fabrics with the size 5 x 7.5 cm, we need this later for the end of the zipper. These are your parts now:

If, like the elephants in my version, you use a print with a large pattern, it is important that you cut the pieces as close to each other as possible. Why? See for yourself:

Above an example simply cut off somewhere, cut down in the pattern's rapport

On the side, the fabric pieces will collide later and it looks stupid if they are not the same height. In addition: Iron the fabrics before you cut them. The result is much more precise. Often wrinkles can not be completely ironed out. Only ironing strength helps. This will get you out of tough folds. Because once the fleece is ironed on it you'll never get it smooth again.

And now it is sewn first, Vlieseline comes later. You put the two outer fabrics right to right (the right side of the fabric is always the beautiful side, on the left you call the back) and puts them firmly. Make sure that you stitch the fabrics in the right direction so that the pattern does not stand upside down later. Then stitch together feet wide. This means the sewing needle is in the middle and the outer edge of the presser foot leads you along the edge of the fabric.

Then iron the seam allowance down or always towards the darker fabric. Iron on both sides so that there is no accidental crease on the front.

Now the non-woven lines are ironed on all pieces of fabric. I cut the voluminous fleece lines always a little smaller so that the seams are slim and not beaded. You do not have to, that's why I did not explicitly explain that here. If you want to sew the bag more often, you can make your own fleece linen pattern, which is around one centimeter smaller.

Then I put all the cut pieces on each other again and cut off supernatant. At first this seems overpriceable, but at the end leads to a more beautiful result.

Above all, I check whether the exterior parts fit together exactly. If they do not fit now, they will not correct it later if necessary. Anyone who wants can now attach ribbons, embroidery, hair, whatever.

Now the zipper is sewn in. First orientate: The zipper is opened and forms a V. It is pinned on top of the outer fabric. The inner fabric is stapled with the right side down over the zipper, all in one step. This can be fixed with clover clips, pins (harder to get it precisely, I think) or fix with Stylefix. I'll show you the Stylefix variant in detail. I find that easiest for beginners. Stylefix is a double-sided, transparent adhesive tape that dissolves itself during washing. So you can stick together pieces and just sew over them. Especially when zipper-sewing a great help.

So you stick a strip of Stylefix on the top of the fabric. And now attention: The Stylefix strip, and thus your seam, ends 2.5 cm in front of the edge of the fabric! You do not sew the zipper to the end !!

Then the brown strip is removed. You glued the zipper on top and right side fabric on right side zipper. On the top of the zipper again stick a strip of Stylefix. Then you put with the right side down the lining material (left side zipper, right side lining material). In the beginning I used to mess myself up more often when the fabric layers were stacked together. So I always test next, if I've assembled everything right by closing the zipper and lifting the whole thing. Does he drop inner fabric inwards and outwards? That can easily be corrected now. Then it is sewn, with a zipper foot. He is with every machine I think and looks like this:

I recommend you do the first stitch with a zipper foot always with the handwheel. Just get used to it! I have already shredded so many needles by changing my foot, trying to sew and putting them on the center plate. Ugly. Again the outside of foot and cloth is the orientation line.

Mark here too your seam end, namely 2.5 cm before the end of the fabric! Lock the seam well on the purple line, so sew it back and forth a few times as usual at the beginning and at the end of a seam so that the seam can not later open by itself. Then sew the second side of the zipper on the same principle.

That's the result, now everything is neatly ironed away from the zipper.

This is how it looks now. I sew in my label now. Had I been able to sew on the zipper, but makes no difference. If you are doing this just like me (if you do it at all) make sure that you fold the outer fabric to the back and do not accidentally sew through all the fabric layers.

Then I fix the seam allowance on the outside again with a tight-edged seam. You do not have to, but it is recommended if the bag should be washed more often. For this I change to a matching yarn and choose a stitch length of 3.0-3.5 mm. Again, make sure that you only have the outside under the machine. Incidentally, this step is not necessary if you have already attached ribbons. You have already sewn with it.

The seam is straight, the bag also cut straight. The pattern of the fabric is irregular, so it looks a bit awkward now. And now we sew the bag together. For this purpose, the two outer parts and the two inner parts are stacked on each other, right to right. Very important: The protruding zipper is now folded inwards and pinned. It is important that he is not sewn with! Open the zipper to 2/3 so you can later turn the bag through the opening.

When mating I start with the edges of the outer fabric. They should be neat on each other. Fix with a needle. Then all around stuck on each other. I always mark the turning opening on the bottom of the pocket separately. I am often so worried when sewing (or so tired) that I otherwise forget my turn-around and close the bag stubborn all around. The turning opening should be around 10 cm wide. Do not keep it too small otherwise turning will be quite a chore! Lock the seams to the left and right.

Now it is sewn. The long sides, over the zipper away.

Here I mark the metal stopper from the now inside zipper. If you sew over it, the needle is scrap. Otherwise on both sides make sure that the parts come neatly under the machine. In no case, the end of the zipper (which we have good inside, so it should not happen) over sew.

In the transition with your fingers keep all parts in place so that nothing folds over there.

Very important: the corners are not sewn! They remain open for the time being. We sew only the two long sides, the bottom of the outer fabric and on the left and right of the turning opening at the inner bottom.

Next up are the corners to make it a pocket bottom. The trick is that the seam allowance from the bottom to the inside and from the side seam is folded outwards as follows:

Get stuck. Do the same with all four corners, then sew again with your feet wide and lock the ends well.

When sewing, the bottom is at the bottom and the side at the top.

Now the bag is closed except for the turning opening. Turn through this opening.

If you've put the corners together cleanly and the seam allowances have each folded to one side, it looks like this:

Now the turning opening is closed. To do this, iron the seam allowance inwards

Now you can sew either with a short edged machine (quickly done)

or neatly sew by hand, with the so-called ladder stitch.

Now take your bag in your hand and iron it properly. especially the food in the bag and the fabric away from the zipper again. Then necessarily increase the stitch length. I take 3.5 mm. Adjust the yarn color to the outer fabric.

If the transition under the zipper does not sew sewn clean again

Now it is sewn around the opening. Make that slow, that will be a visible seam! If your machine is tormented at the transitions with several layers of fabric, use the handwheel, raise your foot over the tricky spot! Pushing, pushing and pulling seldom leads to nice results. I always start the seam on the pins. Since the locking is the least noticeable.