This is how the inside of the zippered pockets look like.
As you can see I have used many different fabrics, but the one you are going to make is your case and it will have to be to your liking, so choose freely.
1 rectangle of fabric 23 x 34 cm for the outside of the case: we can use any patchwork technique and make our own composition. I have preferred to do it with only one fabric because having so many different ones I was afraid that it would be too much (you can cut it a little bigger and then adjust it to your case).
1 rectangle of padding 23 x 34 cm (you can cut it a little bigger and then adjust it to fit your case)
2 rectangles of 23 x 20 cm
2 rectangles 23 x 21 cm
6 rectangles of 9 x 23 cm
4 pieces of fabric in the shape of a trapezoid, the upper part should be 20 cm, the lower part 36 cm (20 as the upper part and 8 cm on each side), the height will be 10 cm.
Trapezoid-shaped pieces
2 pieces of interlining with the same size of the previous trapezoid.
3 zippers of 25 cm
1 zipper of 50 cm
2 fabric strips of 5 x 34 cm (at least) to make the bias of the sides of the case.
2 fabric strips of 5.50 x 50 cm (at least) to make the bias binding for the two zippers.
Note: do not throw away the leftovers because some of them can be useful at the end of the work.
For the rest, the typical in this type of work, cutting plane, rotary cutter, rulers, tape measure, pins, if you have the option of the double dragging treadle will be much better, scissors .... You know, the survival kit that every seamstress has at home.
The list of fabrics we will use today are:
2 rectangles of 23 x 20 cm
2 rectangles of 23 x 21 cm
6 rectangles of 9 x 23 cm
3 zippers of 25 cm
Let's start! On a flat surface we place the fabrics we are going to use in this order and I attach the photo:
1 rectangle of 23×20 cm- 2 rectangles of 9 x 23 cm - 1 rectangle of 23 x 21 cm - 2 rectangles of 9 x 23 cm - 1 rectangle of 23 x 21 cm - 2 rectangles of 9 x 23 cm - 1 rectangle of 23×20 cm
We prepare the fabrics that go inside the case.
If you look closely, the short fabrics are the ones that correspond to the inside of the zippers, which are not visible in the photo because they are closed. I decided to make the two layers the same but you can do it as you prefer. I advise you not to lose sight of this order because the central fabrics have a different size and it would not be convenient to mix them.
We start sewing from the end we want, as I am left-handed I go from left to right, so I take the first fabric on the left (23×20 cm), one of 9 x 23 cm and one of the zippers of 25 cm.
We place the first zipper
How do we place them? First place the larger rectangle with the right side facing up and on the side that measures 23 cm we place the zipper on top (photo 1). I put the zipper open because it was more comfortable for me to handle it, but you can do it as you feel better.
If you look at the second photo, where the little circle is, is where we will place the little iron that prevents the zipper from coming out (stopper) when closing it and we will place it 1.25 cm from the edge, securing it with pins. Next, we place it on top, right side to right side with the fabric below. We will do it in such a way that the two fabrics are well squared with the zipper, for this, we fasten it well with pins. It is like a sandwich of the two fabrics and the zipper inside.
If we look at the edge we will have, from bottom to top, large rectangle, zipper and small rectangle. We go to the machine to sew and for this we will use our zipper presser foot! It is very convenient!
Let's sew the zipper with the special foot
Don't be scared because you don't see where the zipper is, the zipper foot itself will tell you where to put it and it will be very easy to guide the fabrics along the right way. Once we have sewn it from side to side, we turn over our fabrics and we will see that they are correctly sewn on the right side and without any seam, which has been left inside. We can help us with an iron or stretching it well with our fingers, we take the fabrics to its place to pass a new stitch on the outside and that the seam is stronger. As you can see in the photo.
We turn the fabrics and stitch an outside stitch to fix the seams.
We already have the first section of our case! Lots of sweating? 😉 Are the collars working well? Let's go for the second section!
In that same position where we have the first section we go for the second 9 x 23 fabric and the 21 x 23 cm rectangle. Now we will place them on the other side of the zipper, how?
We place the second section of fabrics.
This time we have the larger fabric on top and the smaller one underneath, so we will have to do the same. We place the small fabric first on the bottom and right side up, under the zipper (photo 1). We will make sure to square them so that they are at the same height as the fabrics we have placed on the other side of the zipper. Then we place the 21 x 23 cm fabric on top with the right side down (photo 2) and when we have it well secured with pins, we go to the machine. Don't forget that you must also stitch the fish stitch on the outside, as we did on the other side of the zipper.
Once these seams are done, this is what you will get, front and back.
This is what we get when we sew the first zipper.
Let's start with the next zipper! Did you notice what happens now? It's exactly the same as when we sewed the first zipper. We have our big rectangle right side up and we will place the zipper right side down and on the top we put the small fabric that will make our second pocket. Remember to place the top of the zipper 1.25 cm from the edge.
Repeat the same steps as for the previous zipper.
From now on we repeat the steps over and over again until we finish with the fabrics, and don't forget to always sew the outside stitching so that the seams are set. I know I'm being a pain with this but I want to make it clear so you don't forget to do it.
When you are done with all the fabrics, you will have this on the top:
This is how the upper part looks like
And this is how the bottom part will look like:
This is how the bottom part looks like
The next step will be to close the zippers underneath. In the measurements I gave you, I added a centimeter more than the measurement I used for mine, because I realized that they were too small after sewing the zippers.
How are we going to do it? Attach the first zipper by lifting it off the work surface, letting the fabrics fall back on themselves. If you look closely, sewn to that zipper you will have the long rectangles on both sides and the two short rectangles in the center. Stretch the fabrics well and pin them together, making sure that they are square and, above all, that the short fabrics that are on the inside are placed at the same height. Once you are sure that everything is correct, draw a line 7 centimeters from the zipper seam with a fabric pen. In my case I had to calculate when the inside fabrics ended and draw the line a little bit over them.
We make sure to hold the fabrics together and mark with a ballpoint pen.
Then we pass a stitch along the line that will join the four layers. Repeat the same operation with the other two zippers. When you have sewn, open the zippers and check that the bottom of the pocket is well closed and that no fabric has escaped.
When you are finished you will have something like this.
This is what it looks like when we close the zipper pockets.
There you can start to see the four parts of the case and its three zippers with the smaller compartments. Finally, for today, what we will do is close the sides of the zippers making a zig-zag stitch. Be sure to open the zippers and leave them halfway and cut off the excess. Don't worry about it coming out, because in the next tutorial post we will attach a piece that will prevent the zipper from slipping out.
I re-stitched back and forth to make sure it would be tightly closed and finished it off at the bottom so that the threads would be hidden, right where the stitching that forms each of the small compartments ends. It will look like this:
We re-stitch the sides of the zippers to close the compartments.
For the moment, put aside what you have done so far because we are going to work with the trapezoid-shaped pieces. They are these.
Trapezoid-shaped pieces
Remember that we said they would have 20 centimeters on the short side and 36 on the long side. If you do not know how to cut it I tell you how I did it, I cut a strip of 10 cm, which corresponds to the width. At the top I marked with the pen 8 cm, from there 20 cm, and from that point, another 8 cm. Taking into account that the lower part measures 36, I only had to join the two points marked on the upper part to the lower corners. It was that simple!
I also told you that you had to cut two pieces of interlining that you will join to the back of two of the fabrics that we have previously cut. Once done take one of these fabrics with its interfacing attached and one of those without and sew them back to back, leaving the longer side open.
In this case I used the patchwork foot to avoid having very thick seams. If you don't have this foot you can be guided by one of the lines marked on the plate of your sewing machine, but make sure that it is 0.60 cm or 1/4 of an inch from the point where the needle is inserted into the fabric.
We take our trapeze to the machine.
When you have sewn the two trapezoids you have to make a cut on the corners, like this. Do it very carefully so you don't cut the seam you just made.
Cut the corners
Now you have to turn it over, taking out very well those corners you just cut and helping yourself with the iron, leaving the seams perfectly positioned. Why do I say this? Because now we are going to make a seam exactly the same but on the outside, as we did with the zippers, so that the work is more settled.
We sew the trapezoids on the outside
We are going to place these pieces so prepare your nerves and patience because we are going to put it to the test. Surely you didn't leave far away the part of the work that has the zippers, if so, run to look for it because we are going to use it again.
How are we going to do it? Take one of the trapezoids and fold it in half, so that it is marked, if you prefer you can put a pin or mark it with a pen, I leave it to your choice, to me with folding and see the mark that was made on the fabric served me. Now you take the central compartment, the one with the zipper and place the bottom of the folded trapezoid coinciding with the stitch we made to close the small case.
Place the trapeze at the height of the stitch fish.
Do as if the trapeze embraced the case without losing this lower reference and don't worry if you see that you have some left over at the top, it's completely normal! At this point I think I told you that we cut the excess of the zippers, if you have not done it yet, it is convenient that you do it because the piece would not go completely in place, just make sure that the zipper is halfway so that it does not slip out of place.
Embrace with the trapeze the part of the zipper.
As you can see in the picture, the lower part of the trapezoid is still open, nothing happens, we will close it later, and we have pinned it at several points so that the piece does not twist and that it is exactly the same on both sides of the zipper. We go to the machine and sew from top to bottom, again up to the stitch that marks the end of the compartment.
This is what it will look like after sewing
Now we are going to sew the other two compartments to this piece. You will have to be a little bit skillful and not get nervous, I did it, hehehe, that's why I know it can happen. The approximate distance from one piece of the zipper to the other is 6 cm. How did I do it? by laying all the pieces down to avoid wrinkles later.
Here is a sequence of images that may help you. Don't hesitate to put as many pins as you need and always try to make sure that the bottom and the top are straight.
Repeat the same step with the other two compartments.
Once one of the sides is done, we do the other side, following the same steps, this time it will be easier because the compartments will already want to go in place. Make sure that, as in the previous case, everything is straight and that the excess on both sides is the same. This is the result.
It's already starting to take the shape we are looking for
We are going to close the lower part of our trapeze, so that nothing escapes through those little holes.
Prepare all the pins in the world 😉 I'm very exaggerated and I wasn't sure it was going to work. And notice something very important. Remember in patchwork I always talk about the seams, turn them this way or that way. Well, I took this into account when sewing, because I think the finish is much finer if all the seams are turned to the same side. See how I prepared it.
We take the whole piece with pins
Remember I told you to be careful not to get wrinkles? I was referring to this moment, when we go to the machine we may get some wrinkles if we have not put the trapeze well, but as we have taken many precautions, surely that will not happen 😉.
Shall we go to the machine? Be very careful when going over the seams. Here I'm still using the patchwork treadle because I'm interested in leaving few seams.
We go to the machine and take care of the seams.
Once we have finished sewing in the machine this will be the result.
This is what it looks like after sewing the two sides together
I show you another view, this time from the side.
Here you have one more detail of how it looks when sewn.
We will take the fabric and the wadding that we had prepared with the following measure:
1 rectangle of fabric 23 x 34 cm for the outside of the case: we can use any patchwork technique and make our own composition. I have preferred to do it with a single fabric because having so many different ones I was afraid that it would be overloaded (you can cut it a little bigger and then adjust it to your case).
1 rectangle of wadding of 23 x 34 cm (you can cut it a little bigger and then adjust it to your case).
The first point, where I talk about the 23 x 34 cm rectangle, is the one that coincides with the outside of our case. If at this point you want to make stripes with all the fabrics you have used, squares, applications, I don't know! the options are endless and this is the moment! In my case I preferred to leave it plain because I already had enough prints on the inside and since the outside fabric was also printed, I didn't want to overload it more.
Whatever you do or whatever you decide, once you have the rectangle of the size I have given you and your piece of wadding, if you have fabric spray glue, put it directly on the wadding and stretch the fabric very well. Never put it directly on the fabric because it could stain or ruin it. I have used a thicker wadding so that the case has more body and does not lose its shape.
Why do we do this? Well, not only so that it doesn't move, but also to be able to quilt comfortably, for which we first make stripes on the fabric. In my case I made rectangles, although I don't know if you can see it very well in the photo. Keep in mind that the more you quilt, the smaller the fabric becomes and you might not have enough for the whole outside.
We mark the fabric for quilting
The best thing to do is to have a little bit left over and then match the fabric to get what you will really need for your work. That's what I did, for which I placed on top of what we had done so far. See how.
We place our fabric on the outer fabric
Once placed make sure to stretch well so that there are no wrinkles on the inside and help yourself with pins so that the outer fabric does not move. What I did was to place the two ends first and then stretch well the part of the trapezoids and zippers across the width.
We secure all the fabrics with pins.
And now we go to the machine. In my opinion you should use, if you have it, a double feed foot because the case is starting to be quite thick and the machine is finding it harder and harder to sew.
Once the three layers are joined we match the edges.
And as I tell you in the caption of the photo, once our sandwich is joined we have to match the three layers. In my case I had some problems because it was so thick that the outer fabric moved a little and it seemed that I had deformed the case. Luckily I was able to get everything where it should be. This is the result.
At this point we have all the layers together
As you can see, before joining the layers I put a label, you can also use it to make a pincushion or put felt to keep the needles later. I preferred to leave it like this.
Now we will go a little further. We are going to make the side bias binding with the 5 x 34 cm strips that we had set aside at the beginning. If you have the machine to do it great, if not, you can do it the same way you would do any other bias binding.
We prepare our bias binding
For me, the main advantage of the
bias binding machine is that when folding the fabric, it offers me a
perfect guide to avoid making mistakes when sewing with the machine.
Otherwise, starting from the five centimeter strip and sewing
approximately one centimeter from the edge, we would have the problem
solved.
We are going to place our bias binding, for which we will
use again all the pins we have at hand and we will place it on the
sides where the trapezoids are located.
We pin on the bias binding tape
Shall we go to the machine? Here we go! Be sure to go slowly and follow the line marked on the bias tape.
We place the machine bias binding
If we have gone along the
correct line, when we turn it over it will be perfectly positioned and
we will be able to sew on the reverse side without any problems. But for
that, first we will have to put back pins holding the fabric.
We put as many pins as we can to hold it well.
Once the pins are in place, make sure the other side is perfectly set.
We make sure it's all right on the wrong side before sewing.
Now you have two options, sew the bias binding with a hidden stitch, or as we have done from the beginning, making an exposed seam. I have preferred the second option, and I have done it from this part that you can see in the photo, because it will be slightly more inside than the part that is underneath and when sewing the stitches will be seen on both sides.
This is the result after sewing
What we will do to finish our work will be to place the outer zipper. When I explained what we would need I told you to buy a 50 cm zipper, I started with a 60 cm zipper but I cut and cut until I was left with 10 centimeters less. I think it is a better size because the case is not so open, with the consequent danger that what we keep inside will come out.
In addition to the zipper, we will place a ribbon, similar to a bias binding, which will give it the same appearance as the rest of the case. Remember the 5.50 x 50 cm strips I told you to prepare? Well, fold them in half, that is to say, 2.25 cm and iron them so that they do not lose their mark.
We prepare the ribbons for the zipper
Once they are ironed, calculate where the middle is, at 25 cm, and make a mark on them, the same as on the zipper. And look very carefully at the picture I'm going to put now because that's the way you have to place it.
Place the zipper and the ribbon at the bottom.
Open the case and place:
- on top, which corresponds to the inner part, the zipper with the right side facing upwards
- underneath, which would be the outside of the case, we place one of the strips, with the opening also facing outwards (remember that we had folded them).
We go to the machine and sew the whole strip to the zipper, from the beginning to the end. And once done, we turn the strip and it will be something like a bias tape from the inside of which the zipper comes out. When we turn it, we will have to sew again, as in the previous occasions.
We place pins to hold the ribbon and sew with the machine.
You have to sew very slowly this part because we have many layers, counting with the zipper that is thicker and our machine can suffer a little.
Once this is done, you have to repeat the same operation on the opposite side, placing the strip of fabric underneath and the zipper on top. This part will not be complicated because the zipper itself will ask you to place it in the correct position. Once the other side of the zipper is sewn, we have this, the zipper is hidden between the two strips.
We already have the zipper in place, now we need to sew the ends.
Now I want to give you a tip. Take the end of the zipper with a pin to the bottom of the case, coinciding approximately with the fold that makes the central zipper but at the height of the bias tape. Once you have both ends presented, decide if you want it shorter. Open it and close it and if you like it that way we continue, if not, try to make it shorter in equal parts until you find the opening that best suits your style.
Prepare a piece like this one and make these four pleats with the iron.
Prepare a rectangle of fabric to cover the zipper.
I did it by eye, just enough to fold it over the zipper so that the ends were not visible. I left a small piece on the outside to make the sewing easier. After breaking two needles, any precaution was too little.
We place the piece and sew around it
For the stitching I simply made a square so that the whole fabric was well attached to the zipper. There are other techniques to make this kind of zipper endings, but the truth is that at the moment I made it my head was not enough. If you think you can improve it, go ahead, I think I'll eventually end up doing this part again 😉.
When you have it sewn, place this fabric on the bottom seam, where you had previously tried to have it sized according to your taste. And sew again with the machine. I tried to match the seam with the one I had made on the bias binding so that not too many threads would be visible.
We sew the end of the zipper to the bias tape on the side.
Yoo-hoo!
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