Adventures in Lined Zipper Bag/Pouch Making!

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1. Cut out 4 pieces of fabric the same size (2 for the lining and 2 for the outside). You don't need to pin them like I did, I was just doing that to figure out which way to put the zipper.

 

  
 

2. Make a zipper sandwich. Lay the a lining piece with right-side up. Lay the zipper along the top edge with the zipper tab on top. Lay an outside fabric piece with wrong-side up, maching the top edge with the lining and zipper edges. Pin all this in place.

 

  
 

3. Sew along that edge with whatever seam allowance works for you and your zipper.

 

  
 

4. Flip up the outside fabric and press. Flip the lining fabric so that the wrong side of lining fabric and wrong side of outside fabric are facing and press.

 
  5. Top stitch along that folded edge about 1/8" in. This will help keep any fabric from shifting and getting caught in the zipper.  
 

6. Repeat steps 2-5 for the other side of the zipper. Next we will sew all around the piece (leaving an opening for turning). Make sure you unzip the zipper (not all the way unzipped, just mostly) before stitching all the way around.

 

  
 

7. Match right-sides of lining together and right-sides of outside fabric together and stitch all the way around - leaving a 4-inch opening at, what will be, the bottom of the lining (see a few pictures down).

What to do at zipper crossings is still not clear to me. You want to try and get this so that when the bag is turned right-side out, that a corner forms nicely there and the zipper isn't twisted. I haven't perfected this.

  
 

Lessons learned in bag #2:

- If you clip across the corners (about 1/4" away from the sewing ling) you can get crisper corners when you turn it right-side-out.

- I still don't know how to sew the ends of the zippers in.

 
 

8. Reach inside your opening and wiggle the zipper all the way open. Reach all the way up to your outside fabric and pull it all the way through the opening at the bottom seam of your lining. Then you do a giant inside-out Voila!

 

  
 

9. Except, now you have an opening. I don't know how to sew this up invisibly. So I just top stitched close to the edge (see next picture).

 

  
     
 

10. Shove the lining down into the pouch. Voila!

See where I twisted the zipper when I stitched the side seam? Oops!