DIY Make Up Bag Tutorial

Use up your scraps to sew this speedy make-up bag. How to sew a cosmetics bag.

 

To form a cohesive piece of improvisational  patchwork, choose your focus fabric (the back of the pouch) first. Use the focus fabric to pull solid scraps from your scrap bin, choosing only colours that closely co-ordinate with the focus fabric. 

MATERIALS
◆ 2 co-ordinating fat quarters
◆ scraps of solids
◆ fusible fleece or wadding
◆ co-ordinating thead for topstitching
◆ 10” zip

FQ – fat quarter
Seam allowance is ¼” unless otherwise stated

 CUTTING
For focus fabric (back of pouch), cut:
8x11” piece
2½x12” piece
1½x5” strip
From lining fabric, cut:
2 8x11” pieces
Fusible fleece/wadding, cut:
2 8x11” pieces

ASSEMBLY
1. To make the patchwork piece, sew together like-sized pieces of fabric until you have a ‘brick’ that measures 8x11”.

2. Fuse the patchwork to fusible fleece, wrong sides together. Fuse the 8x11” focus fabric to fusible fleece.

3. Press the 2½x12” focus fabric in half to 1¼x12” with wrong sides together. Open  it up and fold the two long edges in to the centre crease and press. Top-stitch along both 12” sides. 

 6. Press the 1½x5” focus fabric in half to ¾x5” with wrong sides together. Open it up and fold the two long edges in to the centre crease and press. Cut the piece in half to create two 2½” folded pieces.

7. Place one zipper end inside the folded tab. Top-stitch the edge closest to the zipper. Trim the tab even with the long edges of the zipper. Repeat for the other end of the zipper. (See Pic A.)

8. Switch the machine foot to a zipper foot. Stack the fabric in the following order: lining right side up, zipper right side up and outer fabric right side down. The zipper should be centred. (See Pic B.) Stitch using a ¼” seam allowance. Press open and top-stitch ⅛  ” from the fold. Repeat with the other side. (See Pic C.)

9. Remove the zipper foot and undo the zipper halfway.

10. Place the outer fabrics right sides together and the lining fabrics right sides together. Pin around all four sides. The zipper unit should be folded so the bulk is toward the lining.

11. Baste fabric at the zipper ends, close to the covered zip ends. Do not stitch over them.

12. Stitch around all four sides using a ¼” seam allowance, leaving a 4” gap for turning in the bottom of the lining. 

13. On the wrong side of the lining, draw a square measuring 1” from the bottom and side. Draw this square on both corners of the lining, and both corners of the outer fabric.

14. Cut along the drawn lines, open the lining pieces, with the bottom and side seams on top of each other, and line up the edges of the cut square. Sew ¼” from the cut edge. Repeat for the other three corners.

15. Turn right side out through the gap and sew the gap closed. Push the lining into the pouch to finish.