Pencil Case / Makeup Bag / Zipper Pouch Tutorial

 DIY Pencil Case, Makeup Bag - How To Sew Easy Zipper Pouch

Step 1: Gather materials

Cut fabric:

    Two 5″ x 11″ pieces of main fabric
    Two 5″ x 11″ pieces of lining fabric
    Two 5″ x 11″ pieces of iron-on interfacing
    One 4″ x 8″ piece of lining fabric

You’ll also need:

    Zipper at least 12″ long

Step 2: Iron interfacing to wrong side of lining fabric.

Step 3: Baste right sides of lining fabric together along 1 long edge. Iron seam allowance open.

Step 4: Iron down 1/2″ (wrong sides together) along long ends of main fabric. (ug, my fabric is so wrinkly!! I tried so hard to get it to iron flat, and failed miserably. But isn’t this the cutest striped fabric? I found it at IKEA.)

Step 5: Lay wrong side of zipper along seam of lining fabric (I used an extra long zipper and just let both ends hang over the side. It’s okay, you can cut it later). Pin folded edge of main fabric on top, along the side of the zipper. Stitch close to zipper using a zipper foot.

Step 6: Repeat with remaining piece of main fabric.

Step 7: Use a seam ripper to pull out seam in lining.

Here’s what you should have.

Step 8: Pin right sides of remaining long edges together. Sew, leaving a ~3″ gap on the lining side.

Here it is stitched, with a little gap left in the lining section. This is what you’ll use to flip your work right-side out. Iron seam allowances open.

Step 9: Remember that smaller piece of lining fabric you cut out? Fold right sides together and stitch. Iron seam allowance open.

Step 10: Flip right-side out, iron with seam in center, and cut in half. These will be your tabs.

Step 11: Okay, here’s a tricky part (or at least tricky for me to explain). Pin your fabrics in the order: bottom seam of lining, zipper, one of your tabs folded in half with seams together, and finally bottom seam of main fabric.  Make sure that your zipper pull is pulled to the middle of your work.

Step 12: Sew up both sides. Trim zipper (again, make sure your pull is in the middle! I don’t want anyone trimming off the section that contains the pull!).

Step 13: Turn your work right side out through that 3″ hole you left in the bottom seam of the lining.

Here’s what you should have so far. You can stop here if you want a flat case, or keep going if you want it to be boxy.

Step 14: Working with your pouch inside-out, pinch corners into triangles with seam running straight down the center. Sew perpendicular to seam. The longer the line that you sew, the taller your case will be.

Step 15: Ta-da! Make one to fit your pencils, makeup, crochet hooks, knitting needles, or whatever you can think of! It’s really simple to just change the dimensions to get different shapes.