Friday, September 4, 2015

Cutting Crane How TO: Sewing a simple zippered pouch

Honestly, I spent way too much time on the internet looking for a sewing tutorial, and eventually decided to take apart a sewn pouch and look at the pieces. It was so much easier to envision. Here's a short and sweet tutorial how to sew a pouch or clutch bag, and all you need is a sewing machine, two different types of fabric, zipper, and scissors.



First things first- Cut your fabric to match the size of your zipper. How deep you want the bag is up to you, but the pouch can only be as wide or long as the zipper. For this 6 inch pouch, I cut my fabric 6 inches long by 4 inches deep. You need to cut 4 pieces (two for liners and two for outers). Then, pull your zipper half way down.

With the zipper facing down, sew one of your your liner fabric, right side up, on one side of the zipper fabric. You should fold the top edge down just about 1/2 an inch and sew (look a some of the pictures to reference). Do the same thing to the other side. As you sew, your sewing machine foot might bump into the zipper.  Stop sewing along the way and move the zipper out of the way.

OK! You're half way there already! So simple isn't it?



Flip your work over so the zipper now faces up.  Fold the one edge down about 1/2 an inch again and sew your outer fabric to the zipper fabric. Again, you may bump until your zipper; stop sewing and move the zipper out of the way.

It's a simple pouch to sew, but this might be the trickiest part. Now we have to sew the liner and outer fabric together. Separate your liners from your outers and see how the zipper fabric moves and stretches.  Pinch that area so you can sew the zipper into the fabric without it looking "wonky". See sample below. 


Don't sew your project all the way around; remember we have to flip it inside out. So, it's best to start in the middle of your liner fabric, go all the way around until you're about 2-3 inches from the start point.


It should look like this. The whole thing is inside out, so we have to turn it right side out. You have to push it all through the zipper.



Pull out the liner, and sew it shut.


Push that liner in and that's it! Don't you look fashionable with your ginkobiloba clutch! 

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