TUTORIAL: Make a Lined Zippered Pouch

[svanalyn]

It's the first time I gave zippers a try and I'm glad about the way it turned out, though it is far from being perfect. I always learn from my mistakes so this was a good thing.


[Flickr]

Thanks for the tutorial! 

[SFLAG]

Please someone explain this to me! Every time I try sewing in my zippers this way I fail. When sewing up the sides of both the lining and the outer fabric.... something goes terrible wrong! It looks crooked. On which side seam am I supposed to catch the zipper? The exterior???

Sewing a straight line from lining all the way to exterior is a big no-no.

I feel so lame. Hints? Can I just sew in a centered zipper with end stops or something? How?

Miserylovesme, I do sew a straight line from the lining to the outer, and I do sew through the ends of the zipper. It may help to sort of roll/pinch the zipper to stay in a "direction" -- toward the outer fabric so that when it's turned right-side-out, the zipper is folding toward the body of the bag, if that makes sense. I use some chunky-toothed zippers sometimes and pinching it at the ends does help. Or, of course, sew only through the zipper tape at the ends as close to the teeth as you can if you're using a really big (or metal -- be careful) zipper.

Does this help at all?

-Dorion

[msalowishus]

i have the same problem with the zipper. i have no advice.  i need some though.

I don't catch the zipper when sewing up the outside - I sew up the lining and the ouside and try to avoid the zipper as much as I can - it kind of tucks in between the two layers nicely. 

if you dont catch the zipper, what do you do about the end of the zipper beyond the teeth where it is not connected?

[Yarn or Fabric]

I sew a stop on it so the zipper doesn't go farther than it should and the end tucks down in between the two layers.  It has worked for me so far and comes out really nice.  I also have started to put a flap over the zipper area that hides the zipper.  I don't know how to explain what I did.  Next time I make one I will try and take some pictures that show exactly what I am talking about.

[strangela]

Wow, I can't believe I have only found this now...I was planning to make a lined, zippered pouch anyway, but I had no idea how to go about it. And then I found this completely by accident! Huzzah!

Except, what is the seam allowace on the sides in the tute? The fabric is alot longer than the zipper.

Also, I'm assuming the finished dimensions are about as long as the zipper is? Like an 8-inch zipper gives you a finished length of around 8 inches? Am I right?

[torrance]

thanks for the tutorial!!

i used it to make this: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=147469.msg1455500#msg1455500

 

[rr]

ARG !!!! What am I doing wrong.I just made a lined pouch with a zipper and I struggle while sewing when I get to the actual ( thingy ?? You hold on to to zip and unzip)  since when you try to pass it your stitch line becomes crooked and therefore I cant get as close to the teeth as the rest of it.I try to move it when I get to it and struggle with my hand between all the fabric .I get frustrated just trying to explain..I love to sew and just bought a bunch of zippers.I looked all over the craftsters site printed out several tutorials for this but don't know what I'm doing wrong.Possibly I'm to close to the teeth????It looks real good because I got close to the teeth but maybe its to close...Any help is appreciated

[Dulcinea]

yup - most likely, you're just too close.

try keeping just a little bit more margin there, so that you can sew comfortably.

[SFLAG]

RR, when you're sewing the zipper, you should be able to sew it from the right side. Just before you get to the zipper slide, stop, raise your machine foot with the needle down in the fabric, and move the slide down to the area you've already sewn. Sometimes it's a little difficult to get it past the raised foot (it is in my case anyway) because the machine foot may not go up all that high... But that's the way to keep from having your stitching jump over when you try to feed past the slide without moving it out of the way.

Hope this helps.

-Dorion

[msalowishus]

you can still be close you jusy have to find the perfect distance with your machine. i make it so its too close to zip the zipper by unless i stop with the needle down in the fabric, pull the presser foot up, and zip it by. then i can continue along.