Happy National Sewing Day! One of my greatest hobbies and my profession is sewing handbags…and who doesn’t love handbags and pouches and totes?! To honor my favorite day of the year, I invite you to make your very own removable strap zipper pouch. After you make one, you’ll make a million more for every bag you own! Have fun!

What you’ll need:

Two - pieces of 9x10” fabric

Two - pieces of 1x2” fabric

One - piece 2x2” fabric square

One - piece 2x15” fabric strip

One - 9” zipper 

One - 1/2” “D” ring

One - Swivel snap hook

Ruler, pencil, scissors, iron, sewing machine and thread!

Step One:

Start off by taking the 2x2” square and fold it in half. Press with iron. Then open it up and fold the edges inward toward the center fold and press again. With all the folds pressed together, stitch down the sides seams. Put this piece to the side for the moment.

Step Two:

Take the 2x15” fabric strip and follow the same instructions as the 2x2” – folding this piece long ways. Stitch down both side seams. Take the “D” ring and slide the fabric through and fold over about ¾” of an inch. Stitch down fabric to secure “D” ring. This should be on the curved side of the ring. On the opposite end of the long fabric strip, slide the end through the opening on the swivel hook, fold over and stitch down. This strip of fabric should have the “D” ring attached at one end and the swivel hook attached at the other.

Step Three:

Grab that finished tab you made in step one and fold it in half, press. Slide the flat edge of the “D” ring through the tab. Measure down 2” and pin the tab with “D” in it to the side of one of the 9x10” squares. Stitch tab to edge of square.

Step Four:

If you have a serger, go ahead and overlock stitch all sides on both 9x10” fabric squares. If you don’t have a serger, you can overlock your side seams by using a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine. This will prevent your side seams from fraying overtime.

Step Five:

Take the two 1x2” tabs and stitch them down on both ends of the zipper. Make sure the zipper head is pulled between the two tabs prior to stitching them down. Change your foot to the zipper foot and stitch your zipper down to your fabric. If you struggle with zippers, here is an awesome video tutorial on how to sew zippers.

Step Six:

Now that both sides have been attached to the zipper, we are going to stitch down the 3 sides. IMPORTANT!! Before stitching the three sides together, make sure the zipper is open/unzipped, otherwise, you will stitch the bag closed and won’t be able to flip it inside out.

Step Seven:

Once all sides are stitched together, flip pouch right side out and press the seams and you are all set! 

Enjoy 

Laura