Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Baby Gift Zipper Pouch - Tutorial

My lovely friend Vanessa got a big surprise when her baby boy decided to arrive quickly and unexpectedly last Wednesday night, four weeks early. Great news, but I was caught short without a gift - I thought I had a bit longer to prepare something! She has a 3 year old daughter, so I knew Vanessa had lots of pink and red accessories, but not much in blue. I wanted to make something, and I had a window of about two hours where I could whip something up before heading to the hospital for a visit. This is what I came up with:


I am not a big fan of the large nappy (diaper) bag, so I love a zipper pouch full of baby change gear that I can fit in my bag, throw in the car or stash in the pram. Here's how I made it:


Decide on what you want your pouch to hold. I wanted one that could hold some nappies (diapers), a packet of baby wipes, some plastic bags and some rash cream, or alternatively, a change of clothing and a bib for a baby or toddler. You will need a zipper (I used a 35cm / 14"), and two coordinating fabrics, one for the exterior and one for the lining.  Cut 4 rectangles, 2 exterior, 2 lining.  Mine were approximately 28cm / 12" wide and 25cm / 11" long, but you can cut them any size depending on the size you want your pouch.


Sandwich the zipper between one exterior piece and one lining piece which are right sides together, along the upper side of the zipper. Pin into place and sew.


Turn fabric out to wrong sides together and press.


 Turn around so the other side of the zipper is now the upper side, and sandwich the zipper betweem the two remaining pieces of fabric right sides together. Pin in place and sew.


Open out and press. It should now look like this:

Lining
Exterior

 *Critical Step - Make sure you open the zipper half way at this point. Don't forget or else later you will have to unpick all your hard work!

Flip your fabric so the exterior is right sides together and lining is right sides together. If you would like to add a ribbon or strip of fabric to create a wristlet, this is the point where you need to add that.

Lay it between the exterior fabric in the position where you would like it, with raw edges at the seams. Pin all edges, but leave a couple of inches gap in the lining. I turn my pins the opposite way to remind myself to leave a gap.


Sew all the way around, I like to reverse a couple of times over the zipper and ribbon wristlet to reinforce, but that's optional.

Before turning the pouch out, I like to box the corners because it creates a larger interior in the bag. This is optional, and will slightly alter the shape of the pouch, so if you prefer a rectangular pouch, perhaps skip this step.

Pinch the corners of your pouch so that the seams run down the centre of the triangles you form when you pinch. For this pouch I boxed all my corners 4cm in from the point. 


Sew across and trim the corner off, like this:


Once you have done this for all corners including the lining, use the gap in the lining seam to turn your pouch out.


Pinch the gap in the lining and pin if you want to.


Stitch close to the edge to close the gap, then push the lining into the pouch.


You are now finished! For a cute baby gift, fill with bits and pieces a new mum might need on the run - some nappies, wipes and cream.


Or as an alternative, you could make your pouch out of a fabric you know your friend will like, and fill it with some lovely products to pamper a new mum!

If you make one I'd love to see it! Please share a picture over at my Flickr Group!

36 comments:

  1. Love the pouch, Ros. It looks a good size for a mum with a baby. Great tutorial.

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  2. cute and practical! :-)
    www.vallys-creations.gr

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  3. Very cute! I love the little whales. This is such a great idea as an alternative to lugging around a huge diaper bag everywhere you go. I would love it if you would stop by and share at the crafty link party going on right now at Lines Across My Face.
    I hope to see you soon,
    Rachel
    http://linesacrossmyface.blogspot.com/2011/10/cure-for-common-monday-11.html

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  4. This is great! I haven't seen a tutorial with the little handle. I absolutely love that whale fabric too. Thanks so much for sharing! I will definitely be using this tutorial!!!

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  5. I love this little pouch - super useful!

    I'll like to invite you to share this at my FIRST EVER linky party :) @ http://www.jaqsstudio.com/2011/10/jaqs-studio-first-ever-linky-party.html

    -Q

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  6. Awesome! Thanks! I will be saving this for sure.

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  7. Thank you for the nice tutorial. I might have to try this. Also the whale fabric is just lovely.

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  8. Oh I love this! I made my first zipper pouch yesterday and was wondering about boxy corners, thanks for the great tutorial! Love the fabric

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  9. I came over from the comment you left on my blog and I'm totally loving yours! New follower!

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  10. Thanks for the tutorial, I've wanted to make some bags like this. I love your material, too!

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  11. This looks like a great tutorial. I'll have to give it a try because I'm sorely in need of one place to have all of those diaper goodies on the go.

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  12. Great idea. I love the size too - not to big and bulky.
    Rachel
    adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com

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  13. Really great post.So pretty and festive. Love it.. Hi there, I found ya via blog hop and had to stop in and say hello, LOVE all your creativity and space here.. Excited to get to share in more blog fun reads and inspiration from ya.. I'm officially following ya.. I'm Marilyn via http://theartsygirlconnection.blogspot.com/ - hope you can stop in sometime.. TY

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  14. Fabulous! My kiddos (thankfully) are out of the diaper stage, but my mind is spinning with all the different things I could use this for. Traveling art kit to entertain the three year old, emergency first aid for baseball practice, snacks, oh my....the list goes on and on! Great tutorial. Will bookmark this one for sure.

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  15. Thank you for sharing this great tutorial! You've really made it seem easy, even though there's a zipper involved!! lol

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  16. Love this! I love the fabric--so cute. Great picture and explanations. I love your blog!

    Your newest follower,
    Abby
    i---create
    (come take a look if you like)

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  17. I absolutely love this. So cute and a perfect gift! Thank you so much sharing and for linking up to our party Show and Share this week! Come on back this Wednesday to link up your current projects.

    A mommy's life...with a touch of YELLOW
    tyandwhitneyulrich.blogspot.com

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  18. So beautiful!! Would LOVE it if you would link this up at my turquoise lovin' party going on right now!! http://www.sweetlittlegals.com/2011/10/turquoise-lovin-8.html

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  19. This is a wonderful gift idea!

    ~Mrs. Delightful
    ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com

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  20. Very clever and what a cute fabric!!
    Esther.

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  21. This is adorable! I am coming over from The Girl Creative blog hop! I'm your newest follower from www.createdbycori.blogspot.com Can't wait to see the rest of your site!

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  22. I'm always making things to give at baby showers. This will be such a great addition to what I normally give.I can't wait to try it...thank you for sharing your pattern
    Aloha,
    Mary

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  23. Cute pouch...I may try to make one.

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  24. So cute, I love the polka dot liner!

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  25. Such a practical gift! I'm sure your friend really appreciated the thought that went into it and the great thing is, it can be used for more other things too.

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  26. Thanks for sharing this wonderful. I will definitely try this one out.

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  27. Thanks for sharing this great tutorial. I made my own version with a cute matroesjka fabric I found in the local fabric shop. Check out my blog for the pictures: http://www.fabricstash.co.uk/?p=123#more-123

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  28. Just made two of these as a very first time sewer! Great tutorial, thank you!

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  29. Hi Ros, Thanks for submitting this tutorial over at And Sew We Craft! It has been featured today :)

    Feel free to submit any other tutorials anytime.

    Thanks again!

    Amy x

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  30. Thank you so much for this tutorial. I just made seven of these and used the water proof fabric designed for cloth diaper covers as a lining. Now you can throw yucky 'accident' clothes in there and just wash it all when you get home. I have five pregnant friends and made two extra for me! I love them!
    Thank you again!
    Warmly
    ~Linds

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  31. I love this! Thanks for the tutorial :)

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  32. thanks so much for these zipper tutorials! the pictures are great and your directions are the best!! You have given me the courage to try a zipper for the first time in 30 years! Cathy

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    Replies
    1. Cathy thank so much for your lovely comment! So glad it was helpful for you :)

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  33. I only just found this tutorial but it is fab!! I am 12 and a keen sewer I have started selling cushions and zipper poushes at school and this is such a great tutorial to make smaller zipper pouches!!

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