Alphabet Adventures..."Z is for Zippered Pouches"

I'm only about a month late finishing up my Alphabet Adventures. Sorry about that! If you want to see the rest of this post series, click on "Alphabet Adventures" in the Labels section of the sidebar.

So...last one. Today is brought to you by the Letter Z and Zippered Pouches. These are handy little gadgets for all kinds of things. Make-up. Ipods. Tissues. For packaging a little gift. And they're simple to make. And to save you the effort of figuring it out on your own, here is a photo tutorial.

Zippered Pouches Tutorial

Step One - Cut two squares of fabric. I don't worry too much about size at this point. I like to trim to my exact desired size AFTER the zipper installation. Pick a zipper. It's fun to do a contrasting color or if you're the matchy-matchy type, go for that!



Step Two - Use a zipper foot if needed. My machine has an option where I can move the needle far enough to one side to eliminate the need for a zipper foot on sufficiently dainty zippers. So my photos won't show a zipper foot. Do what's needed for your own machine. Fold back one edge of of one of the fabric swatches. Unzip the zipper. Align the zipper to the folded edge leaving a little of the zipper tape to show for a touch of color! Align the raw edge of the top of the zipper tape to the raw upper edge of the fabric swatch. Topstitch zipper in place.





Step Three - Repeat with the other side of the zipper tape and the other swatch being sure to align the top of the zipper tape to the swatch's raw upper edge.





Step Four - Shut zipper. Stitch across the bottom of the zipper about a half inch from the bottom edge of the fabric swatch to create a new zipper top. Backstitch a couple of times to secure. Trim excess zipper.





Step Five - Trim front of pouch to desired size. Allow for 1/4 inch seam allowances.





Step Six - Cut a fabric swatch for the back using the front as a pattern.





Step Seven - Unzip the zipper slightly. Place front and back right sides together and stitch all the way around using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Trim corners.





Step Eight - Turn pouch through zipper opening. Shut zipper. Press pouch. If using a nylon zipper be careful not to melt zipper with iron. Embellish as desired.