Tutorial: Scrappy vinyl pouches

If you never worked with vinyl I suggest you check this tut for tips and tricks. That is where I started as well.

Start with picking up zippers and fabric scraps (strips). The strips I used are 8-10cm wide. As you can see I prefer to leave a room for trimming so I make my strips longer than the zipper. Use smaller strip (16x8cm) to create handle.

Option one: Simply iron the fabric in half then fold and iron the edges toward the center. Or fold the edges only 1/2 inch toward the center. Depends on the size of your scrap. Place on top of your zipper. Sew in place by topstitching. I usually do two lines.
Option two: Place the zipper between two stripes of fabric. Right sides facing each other. Sew. Fold over. Press. Toptstich. The usual way of attaching zipper. Press the edges toward center as well.

Insert piece of vinyl (mine is 13cm wide) in between two layers of fabrics. Sew in place. I use zipper foot.

Also topstich your handle You can alter with ribbon. Your piece should look like on the pic above. Zipper attached to a piece of vinyl. Time for the scotch tape magic.

I used my zipper foot to make the entire pouch. So I only put the tape on that one. Plus two pieces on the machine just to play it safe.

Place larger piece (mine is 19cm wide) of vinyl on top of your zipper. See the pin. Sew in place (red mark). Fold over and toptstich.

Time to trim. Line up your zipper with the grid on your cutting mat (red arrow). Check the bottom line and trim if needed.

Trim the sides to fit the zipper. Do not cut the zipper ends. You might need to open up the zipper for trimming the left side. You should end up with perfect rectangle. Smaller piece of vinyl at the bottom. Larger on top.

Sew the handle in place where the zipper starts. To prevent opening I run few hand stitches to keep the pieces together first.

Keep the zipper OPEN!! Don't forget this step! Fold the larger piece of vinyl over the top of zipper. In other words the right side should be inside. No need to use pins as the vinyl will stick together. Sew the three sides together. I usually start at the top where the end of zipper is so the side with handle is the last one I sew on. As I said I use zipper foot for this job as well.

Trim the corners. Little bit at the top and little bit more at the bottom. Turn right side out. Carefully push the corners out and you are done!

Try different sizes, colors. Width. Or make them all the same. Up to you.

First I wanted to hang the pouches on hooks but I didn't like the look so I placed baby snap button on back side of the handle. That way it is wrapped around and it looks much better but I can still hang it anywhere else.

Have fun! If you have any questions let me know.