Today I’m sharing a tutorial on how to sew your own lined zipper pouch. I decorated the front of mine with my own die cut felt appliqué.
If you’re new to sewing and want to start with an easy project – then these zipper pouches are for you! Not only are they easy, they’re useful in so many ways. And they make great gifts too.
1. You’ll need to cut four pieces of fabric measuring 12″ x 7″. You can switch up the dimensions if you want a different size pouch. Two fabric pieces need to be in the outer fabric and the other two need to be the lining fabric. You’ll also need a 14″ zipper. I like to use a rotary cutter and ruler to cut accurate, straight lines but you could also use scissors.
A note on the zipper. If this is your first time buying a zipper, you’ll want to look for an all purpose zipper. I love to use brightly colored zippers in my sewing projects.
2. To start sewing the pouch, lay one piece of lining fabric face up, on your work surface. Place the zipper along the top edge of the fabric, so that the zipper tape is aligned with the cut edge of the fabric. Then place one piece of outer fabric face down on top of the lining fabric, creating a sandwich with the zipper in the center.
3. Pin the lining, zipper tape and outer fabric together, making sure the edges are aligned.
4. Sew along the pinned edges, making sure you don’t sew over the zipper teeth. You’ll be able to feel where the teeth are with your fingers, through the fabric. I like to use a zipper foot on my sewing machine. Here’s what it looks like, below. It makes sewing zippers EASY.
5. Next, you’re going to repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 with the other pieces of fabric and the other side of the zipper.
Now that you have two pieces of fabric sewn to each side of the zipper tape, it will look like this, below…
6. Next, open up the zipper about half way. This is really important, so don’t forget to do it otherwise you won’t be able to open your pouch after the next step.
7. Reposition the fabric pieces so that both lining pieces are on the same side of the zipper and both outer pieces are on the other side. Now pin around the perimeter of the pouch, leaving a gap along the edge of the lining fabric. Make sure the zipper tape is pinned toward the lining fabric.
8. You are going to sew around the perimeter of the entire pouch, making sure you leave that gap in the lining unsewn.
9. Now turn the entire pouch through the hole you left in the lining and through the open zipper. You’ll be able to reach inside and open the zipper fully to make turning easier.
10. To finish, pin the hole in the lining together and sew it down. This will be inside the pouch and you won’t see it. Push the lining into the outer pouch.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I decorated the outside of my pouch with this lovely coordinating felt die cut.
