Saturday 13 February 2016

Beach Pouch DIY

beachy zipper pouch

Remember how, back in November, I posted about destashing?
That I claimed to have a list of project ideas to work on?

Well, my friends, I finally used some of that fabric, and made this cute stripy pouch with an embroidered nautical design. 

Summer might be months away, but dreaming of those warm and dry days is a nice way to forget about the grey skies and damp air, don't you think?!

There are a zillion and one zipper pouch tutorials out there, but here's another. ;)

zip pouch tute

You'll need:
Stripy fabric
Neutral fabric*
Fabric for lining (I used thin polycotton)
5"-6" Zip (mine was old and a weird size)
Embroidery thread
Sewing thread
Optional: thin ribbon

Tools:
Sewing needles
Sewing machine
Zipper foot
Ruler
Scissors/rotary cutter
Dressmaking pins
Optional: pinking shears

*I used some loose-woven neutral fabric, but it was a total pain in the butt to sew. I could have done with some interfacing on it! Lesson: take care in your fabric choices!

Okay, on with the tutorial!

how to make a zipper pouch

1. Cut two lots of each:
Lining: 19 x 20 cm
Stripe: 19 x 15 cm
Neutral: (A) 19 x 6 cm, (B) 7 x 3 cm

contrastic fabric zipper pouch

2. Align piece A of neutral fabric against edge of stripe fabric, right sides facing, and stitch together.


zip pouch DIY

3. Fold/press neutral fabric down and topstitch.
From this point, I'll refer to this combined stripe-and-neutral fabric piece as 'outer' or 'outer fabric'

summer project for beach

4. Fold piece B of neutral fabric in half width-wise and topstitch along the fold to make a tab.


zipper pouch how to

5. Align the tabs in the top corners of one piece of the outer fabric and tack down at the edges.


scrapbusting project

6. Time to make a sandwich! Lay the zip face down on the outer fabric and tabs, and lay a piece of lining over the top. Ensure all pieces are aligned, pin down and stitch with a zipper foot.


does anybody ever look at the alt text anyway

7. Sandwich part 2! Fold down the fabrics you just stitched, to reveal the zip.
Layer the other piece of outer fabric (right side up), then the pieces you sewed together in step 6 (outer side facing down--align the zip with the top edge), and finally the second piece of lining fabric (right side down). Stitch the top edge with a zipper foot.


i'll probably forget i put that there and be confused

8. Open your work out so that the zip is in the centre, with a outer piece and lining piece each side. Press down and topstitch either side of the zip.


my embroidery leaves a lot to be desired

9. Stitch on the embroidered design at this point, paying heed to seam allowances.
As the combination of red and white stripes alongside the neutral coloured fabric reminded me of a deck chair on a sandy beach, I opted for an anchor design for the embroidery, but you could change it up according to what inspires you!

DIY beach themed zipper pouch tutorial

10. Undo the zip about half-way, so you can turn the project once the seams are sewn.


beach-themed pouch

11. Open out the work so the two sides of outer fabric, and the two sides of lining fabric, are together, right sides facing. Pin around the edges, leaving a gap in the bottom edge of the lining for turning.


titanium sewing machine needles are my friend

12. Sew around the edges, remembering to leave that gap! I added a line of zigzag stitching on the neutral fabrics.
Important note: When you get to the tabs, make sure the edges are folded down over the stripe fabric, not over the lining as seen in the picture. I did this part wrong because I wasn't paying attention, so the top corners of my pouch turned out a bit messy. Booo.

zipper pouch DIY

13. Optional: For squared-off corners at the bottom of the pouch. At each corner, align the bottom and side seams and stitch across, a couple of centimetres from the corner. Trim off the point--I used pinking shears to reduce fraying.


DIY zipper pouch

14. Turn the pouch the right way around, through the gap left in the lining.

you're nearly there

15. Hand-stitch the lining closed and push inside the pouch.


see you're done now nice zipper pouch friend

16. Optional: For a finishing touch, add a piece of narrow ribbon to the zip pull, and you're done!


I was definitely on a roll the day that I made this! Other scrap-busting projects included:

tissue pouch thingy

This tissue pouch, made from a scrap of pink gingham and more of the white polycotton that I used for the beach pouch.


lavender sachets are good and easy to make

A whole bunch of lavender sachets, because I still have lavender left over from two years ago, and it still smells divine!


and so we reach the end thank you for reading

Another pouch, using fabric left over from a skirt I remade. I made this one before the beach pouch, and now I use it as a purse!   

As you might expect, I've still got a ton of fabric that remains unused! One day, I will get to sewing it, though I might have another bout of destashing: I'm not sure that I really need all of this fabric...

1 comment:

  1. So cute and glad to see you are using some of your stash. Its funny I used some of my stash today too, make a few nesting boxes that really turned out cute. No I need to find a beach!

    ReplyDelete

Reading all your sweet comments makes me happy! :) I appreciate each and every one and try to reply to all that I can!

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