Felt Zipper Pouch: sewing tutorial

Last week I showed you how I made a Felt and Fleece Laptop Sleeve. The sleeve was perfect for storing and transporting my laptop around, but it didn't have space to add my charger. I decided to use the extra felt to make a zipper bag to hold all in.


I was left with just a rectangle of felt after sewing the laptop sleeve. I decided to pair that with a salvaged 8.5" zipper I had in my stash and make a simple bag. This pouch is unlined and unfinished inside, which is fine since fleece doesn't fray. I also wanted to box the bottom so that chargers and other accessories fit better inside. However, I wanted a straight line on the sides and not angled out when zipped like boxing typically does (You can see what I mean on Makeup Bag Tutorial. The zipper sticks out when closed). So I angled my felt so that the top opening is narrower than the bottom. Since this meant the opening would be smaller, I incorporated the same zipper installation as the makeup bag so that I could make full use of the opening. MATERIALS NEEDED

felt (size depends of how big you want your bag)

zipper (should be 1 1/2" longer than the opening of your pouch)



You need to do a little math first. The width of my rectangle is 10 1/4", and my zipper is 8.5". I want to figure out how big my opening should be.

zipper - zipper overhang + (seam allowance x 2) = fabric width for opening

8 1/2" - 1 1/2" + 1/2" = 7 1/2"
So I folded my felt in half from top to bottom. I marked 7 1/2" in the center top of my fabric. Then I used a ruler and rotary cutter to cut a straight line from the mark out to the bottom edge. Ta-da! Unfold it and you have a hexagon.


SEW YOUR ZIPPER


Align your zipper along the edge the top of felt, right sides together. The start of the zipper should be 3/8" away from the edge of the felt. The zipper end will hang off the edge. Start and stop sewing 1/4" away from the sides the felt. Repeat with the other side of the the zipper.

Press back felt.


SEW UP THE POUCH

Zip your zipper halfway. Pin the end of your zipper down to the right side of you fabric.

Pin the sides of your pouch right sides together. Sew up the sides with a 1/4" seam allowance. Take care not to sew the end of the zipper.


BOX THE CORNERS


Mark off the triangles on the bottom of your pouch as shown. My zipper opening is ~3" smaller than my bottom, so I made my triangles 1 1/2" on each side.

Sew along the line. Trim off excess fabric.


FINISHING THE POUCH


Turn your zipper pouch right side out and poke out the corners. Topstitch around the zipper opening.

To make the zipper end, fold a piece of felt over the end of your zipper and sew on. I also used a piece of suede cording to make a zipper pull.

Now you have a little felt pouch to store your charger cables in. If you make this pouch, snap a photo and tag me on social media because I'd love to see it!


Sew the matching Felt & Fleece Laptop Sleeve to complete the set!

Happy Sewing!