Make up bags. Pencil pouches. Coin purse. Mom first aid kit. What do all these things have in common? Simply put they are all just different variations of a zippered pouch. 

I first started making zippered pouches because I wanted to learn how to sew a zipper. And creating a zippered pouch is a fairly simple and straight forward way to get practice sewing zippers.

I’m relatively new to sewing so I was very excited when I made my first one and it came out better than I could imagine.

It wasn’t too long before I started making all kinds of pouches! You can use them for just about anything and everything.

You need a pouch to carry your essential oils? Pow! Zippered pouch to the rescue!

Your kid has a bunch of small tools laying around house? I got a zippered pouch to put those suckers in!

Another thing that’s great about making your own zippered pouches is that you can make them a small or as large as you want. It’s a very versatile project. 

On top of that they are fairly inexpensive to make. I think I spent about $3 to make the pouch I used for this tutorial.

 As you can tell I’m pretty excited about making zippered pouches. I’m also excited to share with you this easy photo tutorial that I’ve put together to help you make a simple zippered pouch. 

I’m sure once you’ve made your first one you’ll be making many more! So without further ado, let’s get started!

Materials

This post contains affiliate links which means that I may receive a small fee, at no additional cost to you, when you purchase items using the links provided. As an Amazon associate I  earn from qualifying purchases.

• 2 Fat quarters (coordinating colors)
• 7 in zipper (or zipper of any size)
• Coordinating thread
• Scissors
• Rotary Cutter
• Self Healing Cutting Mat
• Ruler
• Pins/Sewing clips
• Zipper foot
• Seam Ripper
• Sewing machine

Important Sewing terms

• Zipper foot- type of presser foot that is used to attach zippers.
• Right Side (rs)- The pretty side of the fabric
• Wrong Side (wr)- The plain side of the fabric
• Top stitch- stitches placed on the right side of the fabric for decorative purposes
• Seam allowance- area between the fabric edge and the line you stitch

Tutorial

1.Prep Materials

Before you start sewing you will want to do the following things:

• Iron fabric to get out all of the wrinkles. Make sure you iron your fabric on the appropriate setting.
• Attach your zipper foot to your machine.
• Thread your bobbin with your coordinating thread colors and thread your machine. Change your needle if you have already used it few times. If you are using thick fabric you may want to use a bigger needle. Check your manual to ensure you are using the proper size needle for the fabric you will be using. 

2. Cut Your Fabric

• Cut  two 8.5 in x 7.5 in rectangles from your lining fabric and your outer fabric. You should have four rectangles (2 lining and 2 outer fabric pieces). I can’t cut a straight line with scissors to save my life, instead I use the rotary cutter set that my husband brought for me. It’s made my life much easier.

 Tip: If you are using a different size zipper you will want to cut your fabric the same length as your zipper. If you brought a 9 in zipper add 1.5 inches to the length of your fabric.  The 9 inches doesn’t include the material at the end of the zipper. 

3.  Zipper Sandwich

This is one of the most important steps of the process. Take your time and make sure everything is lined up correctly and facing the right direction.

• Place the lining fabric right side (rs) up on the table.
• Lining fabric is placed rs up.
• Place the zipper right side up on top of the lining fabric, line the zipper up with the top edge of the lining fabric.

  

• Place the outer fabric right side down on top of the zipper and line up the edges.
• Pin or clip the edges together. (I prefer to use clips because they are easier to manipulate than sewing pins. I brought a pack of cheap binder clips from Walmart for .88, but they have nicersewing clips that you can use.)

  

  Now you have a zipper sandwich! Well at least one half of it. 🙂

Tip: Before you start sewing take a piece of scrap fabric and sew a few stitches. Check to make sure your tension and stitch length are correct. The thicker the fabric the longer the stitches should be. 

4. Sewing The Pieces Together

• Place your zipper sandwich on your sewing machine  and sew a straight line down the length of the zipper.  Make sure to remove the pin/clips as you sew. Cut your threads.

  

Tips: Before you get to the zipper tab,stop sewing and back stitch. Take your fabric off the machine and unzip the zipper. (Or you can leave the needle in the fabric and unzip the zipper. ) Place your fabric back on the machine and continue sewing from where you left off. 

5. Create Another Zipper Sandwich & 6. Sew The Pieces Together

At this point you should have one side of the pouch attached to the zipper. You are going to repeat steps 3 and 4. 

• Place the lining fabric rs up and line the zipper up with the fabric.

Place outer fabric rs down on top of zipper. Line everything up and pin/clip in place. Sew it together.

Your finished product should look like this:

7. Press Your Fabric

• Press your fabric. Make sure that you are pressing away from the zipper on each side.

Note: If you are using a metal zipper be very careful because the teeth will get hot and burn you. 

• Press fabric away from the zipper.

8. Top stitching

• Take your fabric back to the machine and place a straight top stitch on each side of the zipper.

  

9. Match Up Sides

• Fold the fabric so that the right sides of the fabric are facing each other. Do the same thing with the outer fabric. Pin or clip the sides together.
• Fold the ends of the zipper so that they are facing the lining of the fabric and pin/clip each side together.  Unzip the zipper halfway before clipping both ends together.

*All you should see at this point are the wrong sides of the fabric. 

10. Sew It Together

• Starting at the top  middle of the lining fabric using a .5 in seam allowance sew around the perimeter of the fabric.

  

• You will need to leave a gap at the top of the lining fabric large enough to stick your hand through.  DO NOT  SEW CLOSED.

  

 Tips:

• go slow when you get to the zipper area you may need to use the hand wheel to sew through this area because it will be thicker than the rest of the fabric. You do not want to hit the metal part of the zipper. 
• Leave your needle in the fabric when you are turning the corners. 

11. Trim

• Trim off the excess fabric and an excess bulk from the zipper area. Be careful not to cut the thread. Also trim all loose threads if you haven’t already.

Tip- cut your corners at an angle, this will help when you have to turn the bag right side out. 

12. Time To Flip Out (The Fun Part)

• Put your hand inside the hole you left in the lining fabric and gently pull the outer fabric through the zipper. You may need to unzip the zipper more to flip the bag completely out.

Pulling the outer fabric through.

Viola! You have a cute little zippered bag to use however you wish! But before we can use it we have to do one more thing.

If you did not place your fabric right when making the zipper fabric your bag will look like this:

13. Sew the Lining Closed

• Tuck the raw edges of the lining fabric together and sew it shut either by hand or using your sewing machine.

14. Finishing touches

• Using a pencil or another blunt object push out the corners of your bag.
• Zip the top closed and press your bag to give it that professional touch. 

Congratulations you have made your first zippered pouch! These are great to give as gifts and are pretty easy to put together once you get the hang of it.Not to mention there are so many other different bag styles that you can make once you get the basics down.

If you have any questions or need clarification please don’t hesitate to leave me a message in the comments area.

If you found this tutorial helpful please feel free to share it. I hop you enjoy making many more pouches!

Until next time,

The Crafty Afro