This is a relatively straight forward wee bag that looks great when it's finished and is perfect for kids to carry round all their bits and bobs!!
It has a zip to completely enclose the contents and a little pocket on the front to store her littlest treasures in.
How to sew a zipper pocket
Here's what you need (for the whole bag)
*outer fabric and lining
*webbing for the strap
*interfacing
*two zips not pictured (6 inch red pocket zip and 7 inch green zip for top opening)
// Cut front piece of outer fabric 10.5 inches (width) by 9 inches.
// Cut a smaller piece of red fabric for your pocket lining (8 x 9 inches) and iron your interfacing to this.
// Place outer fabric and pocket lining pieces right sides together, with the pocket lining 1 inch from the top of the main fabric. Using a pencil to mark the centre of the top edge of each piece, make sure these line up (this avoids any unnecessary Maths!). Pin.
// Measure from the top of the pocket lining 1.5 and 2 inches. Mark at either end and draw a horizontal line for both measurements, the whole width of the pocket fabric.
// Measure in 1 inch from each side and draw a vertical line between the two horizontal lines. This should create a long, thin rectangle.
// Calculate the central line (by measuring the width of the rectangle and marking the exact centre - do this at each end and join the marks with a line).
// Join the centre line to the corners to create a little triangle at each end (as shown in the picture above).
Ok, that's the Maths over!!!
// Sew around the rectangle marked.
// Cut along the centre line and triangle edges....NOT along any of the rectangle edges!
// Push the pocket lining through the gap.
// On the wrong side of the outer lining, iron the pocket lining flat. I then used a little double sided tape along each edge of the gap to hold the zip in place.
// Place the zip on the double sided tape and press down, the right side facing the same direction as the main, outer fabric.
// This is how it looks from the front. You can manoeuvre the zip until you have got it positioned how you would like.
// Sew around the zip edge.
// Turn to the wrong side and fold the locket lining up so the top and bottom edges meet. Pin.
// To sew the pocket lining in place you will need to fold the main fabric out of the way. Sew your way around the edge, folding the main fabric away as you need.
// It should look like this from the back...
// ...and from the front!!
Now it's done and ready to sew into the main bag.
I used the exact same technique to sew the top zipper into place.
Use your outer and lining fabric pieces...10.5 x 2.5 inches.
A reminder:
*Find the centre of the fabric piece for the rectangle to be drawn.
*Draw and mark your rectangle centrally, making sure it has a width of 0.5 inch, with the small triangles at each end.
*Sew around rectangle edge.
*Cut the line and triangle edges.
*Push the lining fabric through and iron flat on reverse.
*Sew in place.
Image above shows positioning before I sewed around the edge of the zip...don't sew around outer edge of fabric - leave open.
We got the two zipper panels sewn up here and now we're ready to go!!
I've laid out all the pieces below. Once we've got everything ready then it's a matter of sewing the outer fabric together and then the lining fabric together and finally sewing them together. Sound easy? It's not actually too bad...a little fiddly in parts but completely doable!
Here's what you should have:
* 2 main front pieces (one with the zipper pocket you made here and one lining) 10.5 x 9 inches
* 2 back pieces (outer fabric and lining) 10.5 x 9 inches
* 1 complete piece with top (green) zip 10.5 x 2.5 inches
* 2 pieces for the front flap (outer fabric and lining) 10.5 x 7 inches
* 2 pieces for the long strip (outer fabric and lining) 31.5 x 2.5 inches
* length of webbing for strap (not pictured) 34 inches
// Before we start assembling the inner and outer parts we have to get the flap ready. Using a round shape as a template (a glass or anything a similar size would do), set it at the corner of your flap pice and draw a curved edge. Repeat this on the other side. Cut along these curves.
// Placing right sides together sew around the bottom edges (leaving the top edge open - this will be sewn into the main bag).
// Snip around the curved edges before you turn.
// Turn and press.
// Top stitch around the edge of the flap to give a finished look.
// Lay your long strip of fabric around the edges of your front piece and pin. (I cut the strip in half and stitched it back in place in the middle...I wanted to change the direction of the strawberries so they were facing the right way up on both sides of the bag. If you've plain fabric, just ignore this). Trim any excess.
// Stitch right the way around the edge, manoeuvring the corners as you go...I stitched right to the end, lifted my machine foot, repositioned and sewed the next direction.
// Do the same for the back piece and you should end up with something that looks like the picture above!
// Now do the same for the lining pieces so you have two casings looking pretty much identical.
Now for the tricky bit...
// Lay the front flap panel inside the outer casing. Make sure it is right sides together with the back piece. Pin in place.
// Also, place the strip of webbing for the handle, inside the outer bag casing and pin to the top edge of each side...you can just see the ends peeking out above. Make sure the webbing is flat and doesn't twist between the two sides.
Note: I trimmed the webbing straps to keep them looking tidy here but I had to go back and redo them as each end started to slip out as my wee one used the bag. In future I would loop these and stitch each end down down on itself so they can't slip out.
// Pin the top zipper panel to the complete casing with the right side facing down. Remember to leave the zip open so you are able to turn it the right when round when you're done!! Sew around this whole edge. I did a zigzag stitch around the edge as well to give it a bit of extra strength.
// Place the outer fabric case inside the lining case and pin in place. This is a little fiddly but just keep going as you sew right the way around this edge. I also did the zigzag stitch around the edge again here.
You're nearly done...
// Turn the bag through the zip opening and push into all the corners to give a nice firm edge. Very lightly press the finished bag.
That's it...you're done!
0 comments:
Post a Comment