Simple Wet Bag Tutorial ~ Free-Tutorial.net

This is the brand new wetbag. It has a detachable handle in case anyone wants to make it as a nappy bag - it unbuttons to loop around a pram handle, or over the hooks of shower cubicle doors for bathers etc.

The fabric has two completely waterproof sides - I tested it to check.

The side on the left was rubbery whereas the side on the right felt like raincoat fabric. You can tell the weave is slightly different. I liked the feel of the raincoat side better, and since both are waterproof doesn't matter which side you use.

Keep reading after the jump for the tutorial:

What you'll need

    2 x exterior fabric pieces (you could use laminated cotton if you wanted the outside to be waterproof) - 11.5" (h) x 8" (w) [this is for a smallish narrow bag]
         If you would like a medium bag, for more than one person's wet things, or for a lot of little    person's wet things 11.5"(h) x 10.5"(w)
    1 x bag handle fabric - 6"(h) x 9"(w)
    2 x interior fabric piece - PUL- 11.5" (h) x 8" (w)
    8" zipper
    optional - metal snap button

Extra Notes
Sewing through PUL is similar to sewing through vinyl, it's a bit hard on the feed dogs and you need to wrangle a bit with your machine. Also with fabric like this, the stitches may weaken the fabric each time the needle pierces it, so increase you stitch settings to lengthen the stitches. If you have a walking foot, now would be a good time to whip it out. If not grab some baking paper and sandwich your fabric between it, sew over the fabric as usual, and tear away the paper once done.

What to do

    Grab one of the exterior piece of fabric and one of the PUL pieces and the zipper.
    Place the PUL piece right side up.
    Next put the zipper on top of the POLE piece, so the top edge of the zipper and the top edge of the POLE piece is lined up.
    Next grab the exterior fabric and place it right side down, so the good sides of your fabric are facing each other
        You should use pins to keep the fabric in place, because the PUL was slippery! *Adds LOTS of change to imaginary swear jar*

Pin along the top and stitch along the line where the clips are.

Pull the fabric around so the zip can see the light of day, and your fabrics are facing the right way around.
I learnt this the hard way a while back, but you really need to topstitch the fabric down, just so it doesn't get tangled in the zipper when you try and open your bag. Ever try to untangle fabric from a zipper? It's a nightmare. Save yourself the effort and the fear you'll rip something, topstitch the fabric to secure it.

Now do the same to the other side of the zipper. Sandwich your zipper with the two fabrics, right sides facing each other. Topstitch the fabric down.
        Oops no picture

    Grab the fabric for the handle.
    Iron in half lengthwise and open it up.
    Fold the sides into the centre ironed line. Iron. Fold in half in the middle. The fabric handle should now be 1/4 the height it was initially.
     Leaving 1.5" from one of the ends of the fabric, topstitch both sides.
        If you don't want to add a snap button handle, just sew both sides to the edge of the fabric

Flip your fabric around so the 1.5" end that was left unstitched is opened.
Fold down 1/2" of the fabric, and tuck in the corners to make a little triangle type thing as below:

Folding in the corner will stop the fabric peeking out the side

After folding the triangles in, carefully fold the handle how it was, and topstitch around the edge.

Making the triangle in the previous step prevents ugly overhang

    Now back to the bag.
    Flip the fabrics around the zipper so that the good sides of the exterior fabric are facing each other and the good sides of the PUL are facing each other.
    Pin around the whole thing like it is one continuous rectangle.

Now to slip the handle in.
If you don't want to have a snap button handle:

    you need to fold your strap in half
    push the strap in between the two good sides of your exterior fabric.
    you should have TWO handle ends poking through to be sewed over. Pin it.

If you do want to have a snap button handle, you should only have the raw edge of the handle stick out, as below:

Now to the thing about the zipper. Unzip it halfway, so it won't get caught under your sewing foot and you can open up the bag later.
You also need to have the teeth of the zipper on the side of your lining fabric.

Last few things before you sew all the way around the fabrics in a continuous rectangle.
You should triple stitch the handle into place if possible, makes it extra sturdy.
Also you need to leave a gap in the PUL fabric to turn the whole thing through. I would do it at the side, if you do it in the bottom, it may make the bag less sturdy and more potential for leakage.

How to box the corners. One of my surgeons was saying fingers are the best surgical implements as they are the only one with sensation in them.
    You'll need to aline the seam on the side of the bag, and the bottom of the bag so they are on top of each other. Use your fingers to feel it out. Place a pin so it goes through both seams, the one on the side and the one on the bottom. Flip the bag so you can see if the pin is through the seam at the bottom.
    Grab a ruler and measure a triangle in the corner of the bag. In this case I want a 3" boxed corner. I want the halfway point of the triangle (1.5") to be marked by the seam I just pinned.
    Draw a line along the ruler and sew as show in the picture below and sew through this line
    Do this for all 4 sides (2 on the exterior fabric and 2 on the PUL fabric).