Monday, November 2, 2009

zippered bags

It all started when I read this post on Lisa's blog. I followed the links she posted was enchanted with the idea of making small, zippered bags. They are so handy and so cute, and I just knew they wouldn't be too hard to make
I used my leftover hand bag material to make this little boxy bag. I adapted the information I found in this tutorial. I wanted to efficiently use up all of my left over fabric, so I made this bag bigger than the one in the tutorial by making the initial rectangles 9"x 12". The finished dimensions are 5"x 3" x 8". I also added a ribbon tab to hang onto while zipping the bag closed and adapted it so that all of my seams are between the layers instead of sticking out into the interior of the bag. It took some extra planning and work, but to me it was worth it. I like a very tidy finished product.
I think I might use this one for storing a few small toys for Little Man. I can tuck it into my hand bag, and it will coordinate perfectly.

I was excited about making zippered bags, so I made these more triangular zippered bags with the scraps from my other bag. I was less pleased with these because my seams are sticking out into the inside of the bag. By the time I realized my mistake, though, I had already done quite a bit of sewing and really didn't want to rip it out. (It's all a matter of priorities; ripping it out would have taken too long for me to justify even for a tidy finished product.)
I was really on a roll making little zippered bags and couldn't resist making a couple of green ones. I love green, and I had some tantalizing scraps that were begging to be used. I made one of them small (in the original dimensions of the tutorial), and I made one of them larger like the first bag.
I am looking forward to using these for toiletries and cosmetics when I pack for trips. They will be the perfect size, and I will feel sophisticated using cute zippered bags instead of plastic ziplocks. : )
I enjoyed sewing these handy little bags. They are so versatile, and they are wonderful for using up scraps. I think I might try to make and sell some when my Etsy store is up, and I will definitely be keeping them in mind for gifts.

5 comments:

Rachel said...

How do you manage to have zippers on hand? I have a few, but they all have projects attached to them (or rather, the projects are waiting to have the zippers attached!).

And everytime I go to Joann's I want to get fabric or yarn, not spend my small amount of money on a zipper! How on earth do you manage? *puzzles*
~Rachel v.

Christina said...

: ) You make me smile. I had a whole stack of zippers given to me. They've been sitting in my supplies area for a few years now, so I was very happy to find a use for them.

stitching under oaks said...

Cute bags...I like the larger size. did you still use a 12" zipper for that one? I'll need to pick your brain to find out how you hid the raw edges inside. Great job Christina!

Christina said...

Well, I had assorted zipper sizes...but I think I did use a 12 inch zipper on one of the large ones with no problem. I'll try to figure out an intelligible explanation for getting the seams inside.

Heidi said...

oooh, i'm going to put this on my mental sewing project list. I love the square shape!