My time in the SYTYC competition continues. I made it past week 1 with my Scrappy Project- Pant Hem Zippered Pouches.
Before I get into the tutorial I just wanted to remind you that voting opens today (and goes until Thursday) for Week 2. This week's theme is "Repurposed". I know there are a bunch of cool things this week so go have a look and cast your vote!
Pant Hem Zippered Pouches:
I can't quite believe I made a sewing project for this competition (some of you already know that sewing is not my greatest skill). Add to that the fact that I've never sewn a zipper before and you can see why this was not the smartest choice for a project to go with.
But once I had the idea for these little pouches I just wasn't satisfied with any of my other ideas. So I went for it and sewed a zipper for the first time (minus a zipper foot on my sewing machine, because it turns out my machine doesn't have one).
It took a bit of trial and error but I was thrilled with how they turned out. I hope you'll believe me when I tell you this project really is quick and easy! Because trust me- if I could make these you can definitely make them!
Start with the cuffs from hemmed pants. I took about 3 inches off one pair and 3.5 off the other.
Incidentally, I normally don't have to take so much off. But the store didn't have these pants in the length I normally buy, but they fit really well so I bought them anyway. But now that I know I can make bags with the scraps, I just might start buying all my pants too long.
Anyway, back to the tutorial...
Three inches really isn't enough to make a pouch, but luckily there's usually about an inch or half inch of fabric turned under the cuff. Rip that seam as well as the side seams. You'll windup with two flat pieces of fabric. (The seams may want to fold back up so iron them flat if you need to.)
Cut 2 pieces of lining fabric to the same size.
Note: If you want to make a clutch style bag you can iron interfacing to the pant fabric and make it stiff. This was a scraps challenge and I didn't have any interfacing. Without it, these bags are perfect for things like makeup, or money. You can also make them shorter and they'd be perfect for change.
Lay one piece of pant hem fabric right side up. Place the zipper on top, right side facing down. Put the lining fabric on top of the zipper, right side down. Pin the zipper fabric sandwich together along the top and sew(preferably using a zipper foot).
For the next step it's super important to unzip the zipper halfway. Don't forget! (If you do it's not good, trust me).
Make the same fabric zipper sandwich again, this time using the side of the zipper that hasn't been sewn.
Once you have the fabric attached to both sides of the zipper lay the fabric out so the lining sides are together and both pant fabric sides are together. Pin all the way around the edge.
When you sew, go almost all the way around. Leave a few inches in the middle of the lining side unsewn, you'll need that open space to turn the bag right side out.
Once it's sewn, iron the seams, and cut the corners at a 45 degree angle so they're easier to turn.
Turn the bag right side out- here's where it was important to leave the zipper half way unzipped- and Ta-Da! (I always feel like saying that when I've successfully sewn something). You have a cute little bag made from pant hem scraps.
Last but not least, hand sew the opening in the lining closed and you're finished!
The bag only uses the hem scraps from one leg- so you can actually make two bags from one pair of pants! I think they'd make really cute little gifts. You could probably add some handles and make an adorable "grown-up" looking handbag for a little girl.
If you want to embellish the bags, do that before you close the gap in the lining. I added a few extra buttons I had laying around to one bag. On the other I used the hem scraps from the other leg to make a ruffle.
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