Little Boxy Pouch

My latest favourite thing to make, little boxy pouches.  It took me almost an entire morning, lots of paper and sellotape and countless cups of tea to figure this out.  I’m here to save you the bother.  This little bag is 4.5 inches long, 3 inches high and 2 inches deep, just right for a lipstick and a compact (or better still, lots of sweets).

1.  Choose your fabric.  This is a great project for showing off a teensy piece of fabric.  This is a Japanese fabric bought from nuno.plus - I’m guessing I’ll be able to squeeze three little boxy pouches from one fat quarter.  Bargain!!

2.  Cut two rectangles measureing 8 inches by 6 inches.  The longer length is the top.  Turn under a half inch on each piece and press, this is where you’ll be fitting the zip.

3.  I like to use zips that are more than long enough, I find it easier to sew them in when the zip pull is well and truly out of the way.  Take time to master your zip foot, once I’d figured it out zippering became a doddle.  You can trim off the extra zip later on.

4.  Flip the pieces over so the right sides are together and the zip is at the top.  Sometimes I pin, sometimes I don’t – depends on the grippiness of the fabric.  Sew along the bottom.  It’s tricky to press the seam flat,  but give it a go if you feel like it.

5.  Rearrange the tube so that the bottom seam sits on top of the zip (or so the zip sits on top of the bottom seam if you like).  Here’s when you better make sure the zip pull is in the middle.  I’ve had to unpick a couple of bags because I didn’t stop to check this.

6.  Sew up the two sides, you could run the stitches back and forth across the zip a few times for strength.  Trim off any extra zip, I leave just under an inch poking out.

7.  This isn’t a step, just showing you what you’ve got so far.

8.  Pinch the corners out, it’s a bit like origami.  Keep pinching, tweaking and measuring until you have a box shape that pleases you.  Pin it all in place and try to get each corner the same (as much as you can anyway).

9.  I use my quilters ruler to help get my corners nice and square.  The pencil line is (approx) 3 inches,  this is how tall your box will be(ish).

10.  Sew up all for corners,  this is your first chance to check out the size and shape of the box and make any changes.  If you’re happy then carry on, if not grab that unpicker and start again.

11.  Nearly there now.  Snip off the corners and get ready for the fun part.

12.  Turn it all the right way out and yahoo!  a super cute little boxy pouch.

I hope these instructions are clear.  You can make bigger or smaller pouches by adjusting the original fabric size or pinching more or less at the corners – I’ve yet to figure out a magial formula for sizing, lots of trial and error mainly.

http://threebears.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/little-boxy-pouch-tutorial/

Perfect Box Pouch

http://modernquiltlove.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/perfect-box-pouch-tutorial/
How insanely fabulous is this pouch? I can’t decide if I love it so much because a) it is made from glittery elephant fabric, b) of it’s small but perfectly proportioned size, c) it holds my on the go quilting supplies or d) all of the above.
If you’d like to make your own see how below.
You will need:

• 2 pieces of exterior fabric measuring 8 inches by 6 inches. (The longer side will be the top of your pouch, keep this in mind when cutting directional fabric)
• 2 pieces of interior fabric measuring 8 inches by 6 inches
• 2 pieces of mid-weight woven non-fusible interfacing (This helps add body to your bag, because without it it wouldn’t be very “boxy”"
• 1 12 inch zipper
• Coordinating thread (this will be visible on the outside of the bag)

Things that will come in handy:

• rotary cutter
• cutting mat
• shears
• craft scissors
• clear ruler

Step 1:
Choose and cut your fabric- is it just me or is this oftentime the hardest part?

I like to use a right angle ruler (“borrowed” from my husband) to make sure my fabric pieces are nice and square.

Step 2: Layer your pieces. Interior fabric right side DOWN, interfacing, and finally exterior fabric right side UP.

Step 3: Stitch the layers together 1/4 in from the edge. You can use a 1/4 in foot or the edge of your presser foot. These stitches will not be visible and are only done to hold the layers together for the next step. Fold the edges under 1/2 in and press.

Step 4: Places both sets of fabric with the pressed under edges on top of the zipper and sew together.

Step 5: Fold the two sides right sides of the exterior fabric together. The right side of your interior fabric will then be facing up. Stitch a quarter inch seam along the raw edge. I also suggest using shears to finish your seams so they don’t fray with use (I forgot to do this…)

Step 6: Press the fabric tube you have created flat ensuring you have centered the bottom seam on the zipper.

Step 7: Move your zipper pull to the center and stitch a quarter inch seam on both sides. Make sure you go over the zipper 2 or 3 times to secure it.

Step 8: Cut off the excess ends of the zipper leaving about an inch from your seam.

Step 9: Pinch the corners out to form triangles and draw a line one inch from the point and roughly two inches across. A clear ruler is key! Pin in place and sew across the two inch line on all four sides.


Step 10: Use your shears to cut off the excess fabric. This reduces the bulk and finishes your seam in one step.

Step 11: Turn your pouch and admire your handiwork!
You can fill it with on the go sewing essentials like I did.

Or use it as a change purse, first aid kit, on the go toy “chest,” cosmetic case, candy bag, etc

Lined, Zippered Pouch / Make Up Bag

This morning I was in a rush to make a simple lined make-up bag and had a quick look on the internet to see if I could easily find any dimensions for such a thing. I could find instructions on how to make a pouch, but none with dimensions and none with covered ends to the zips, which is how I like my zips to be finished. It now seems quite illogical to me that I decided that I simply must write a tutorial for such a thing when I was meant to be 'rushing'...but it seems that most things can wait. So here we have a lined, covered zip ends make up bag / coin purse tutorial (for personal use only, see tutorial end for other terms). Photos are plentiful and instructions (hopefully) basic, in the hope that a beginner will be able to make this easily.

This make-up bag will end up measuring: 7.5" x 5".

Here are the ingredients you will need:
1 x zip (it can start off at any size, but should be cut down to measure 8" exactly)
2 x lining - 8" x 5.5"
2 x fancy fabric for outer - 8" x 5.5"
2 x fancy fabric zip end covers- 3" x 1.5"
4 x sew-in interfacing - 8" x 5.5"

The interfacing is optional...but I think that as this will probably be used in a handbag (rather than on a dresser) it should have some substance to it and not be prone to wobbling around like a blancmange...don't say I didn't warn you!
Yay! You decided to use the interfacing - you won't regret it! Take a piece of the interfacing and attach it to one of your 8" x 5.5" rectangular pieces by zigzagging all the way around the edges. The do the same for your other 3 rectangle pieces. This makes them more manageable and less flappy to work with later on. Now set these to one side.

 

Take one of the 3" x 1.5" pieces of material. Fold it in half across the length and then fold back by a 1/4" at each end as above.

Place your zip so that it butts up to the half way fold that you made.

And then pin the ends down just like this. Then do exactly the same for the other end.

Now make two neat rows of stitching (it will show at the end so make it pretty) across the zip to secure your zip cover in place.

 So the ends should now look like this.

Now it's time to make a tasty fabric sandwich. Put your outer fabric face up. Place your zip on top of this face down. Now place your lining on top of this face down. Pin it so that the top of the zip and the top of your fabrics are all perfectly aligned...don't worry, your zip end covers will be higher than the rest of this...just pretend they're not there!

Pull the zip open halfway. Put on your zipper foot and start at one end and begin to sew. With you finger gently feel for the zipper teeth and make sure your zipper foot presses up alongside these. When you reach the zip fastener keep your needle down and raise the presser foot and gently slide the zip backward a little before carrying one sewing.

 Once you've finished, flip the fabrics over so that they're the right way round. It should look like this. Your outer fabric and lining will now be touching wrong side to wrong side.

Now it's time to attach the fabric to the other side of the zip. Make your sandwich exactly the same as before, aligning the top of the zip with the lining and outer fabric and pretending that the first sandwich isn't there (almost as if you've eaten it). If you think you've got it sussed, don't look at the below picture as it can make your head hurt if you think about it too much...if you're struggling, eyes down:

So remember: Main fabric face up. Zipper facing down. Lining face down. Now sew! After you've flipped the fabrics round the right way it should look like this:


It makes sense to do some top-stitching on each side of the zip so that you're never faced with the horror of catching your fabric in the zip teeth and being left unable to reach any of the makeup or contents inside. Gently hold the lining and outer fabrics taut as you do this.
Mmmm...see how lovely this makes it look. Afterwards, when laid out flat, the lining side should look like this:
And the outer side should look like this. Scrumptious.

Now, it's time to stop faffing around with zips and start making your fabric into a make-up bag or pouch (eugh, such an unpleasant word).
Pull your zip open half way and leave it right there. Don't touch it again...no, really, don't touch it! Now hang onto the two pieces of outer fabric and put them so that the pretty sides are facing one another. The do the same with the lining: make the right sides of the lining face one another. Pin the outer fabric sides first, making sure that the edges of the fabric all match up nicely. Now pin the linings together, making sure that the zip ends are pointing downwards into the lining side and not into the outer fabrics side. Can you see on the picture above - my outer fabric is on the left and sits completely flat. My blue lining is on the right and has the zippy bits pushed to that side.
If you have a 1/4 inch foot then use this as your seam allowance guide...if you don't, then mark a 1/4" seam allowance all the way around the edge.
Sew right around the perimeter of the material (above, I'm halfway through), leaving a 2" turning gap in the bottom of the lining.
Nearly there now. Now it's time to de-bulk your zipper-end covers so that when it's all turned the right way out you don't get horrid lumpy bits. Take a fine pair of scissors (this is not the time for large shears) and snip carefully outside any lines of stitching to de-bulk wherever you can. Then make a little snip on each of the four corners of the square - again, being careful not to cut through any of your stitches.
Next turn it all the right way out through that 2" gap in the bottom of the lining that you left.
What a mess! Will this ever look right? Keep going....now aren't you so pleased that you didn't touch that zip and that you left it half-way open? Not doing so can cause the most undignified amount of expletives at this point, so it's really much better this way.
So now you're all turned out the right way out, but your corners look a little puckered, no (see below)? With your hand inside, between the lining and the outer fabric, use your fingers to poke it until it sits more neatly (I think a turning point is too pointy for this task and should only be used on the outer corners).
Keep poking....ahh, there, that looks much better, no?
Pull the lining out a little, fold the turning gap in the lining inwards and sew up neatly. You're nearly finished, but the time for waltzing around the room, holding your beautiful new make-up bag aloft and singing is not yet upon us. Don't you remember how scrunched up all the fabric got when you were turning it the right way out? Delay the gratification and get thee behind the ironing board for you still have work to do!
With the lining out (because if you leave it in it will get ironed into horrible creases), first iron the outer of the case and then the inner.
Then put the lining back into the bag and relax. If my pattern has gone according to plan and I haven't omitted a vital instruction, you should now be in possession of some pouchy loveliness (no, these two words will never really go together will they).
Now it's time for some chocolate...

http://flossieteacakes.blogspot.com/2009/05/lined-zippered-pouch-make-up-bag.html