12 easy steps to sew a zippered pocket into a fabric bag

Yesterday on QUILTsocial I got the pieces of my bag cut. I coated with Odif OdiCoat Gel Coating – 250ml, made freezer paper templates using SEW EASY Freezer Paper for Quilting and Applique – 12.1m x 38.1cm (13.2yd x 15) and fused the outside fabric pieces for my bag to Bosal In-R-Form Single Sided Fusible Foam Stabilizer – 45.7 x 147.3 cm (18″ x 58″).

I’ve already sewn the outside of the bag together following the pattern, so now I’m working on the bag’s lining. One of the neat features of the Ellipse Bag is the hanging zippered pocket on the inside. Today I’ll be working on that pocket. I have a COSTUMAKERS Activewear One Way Separating Zipper 35cm (14″) – White – 1764 to use for my pocket but a non-separating zipper would work just as well.

Step 1 Layer the pieces.

The first step to make this zippered pocket is to layer the lining right side up, the zipper right side up and the outside fabric wrong side up. I’ll use UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs to keep everything lined up and prevent the layers from shifting.

Step 2 Stitch the layers together.

I’ll make sure that the zipper pull is to the end of the zipper and then I’ll use a zipper foot on my sewing machine to stitch the three layers together. This way the zipper pull won’t get in the way of the foot.

Step 3 Press.

The next step is to fold back the fabrics to expose the zipper and then press the seam. I’ll use my Oliso Pro TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron for this step.

Step 4 Layer the second side.

Now I’ll do the same thing with the fabrics for the opposite side of the pocket. I’ll layer the lining right side up, the zipper right side up, and the outside fabric wrong side up, then pin or clip together.

Step 5 Press and topstitch.

Now that both sides of the pocket have been sewn to the COSTUMAKERS Activewear One Way Separating Zipper 35cm (14″) – White – 1764, I’ll press the second seam and then topstitch along the two seams.

Step 6 Clip the two sides together.

Now I’ll use my UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs to clip the two sides of the pocket together with the linings on the inside. I’ll clip all the way around to make sure that nothing shifts when I baste along the three sides.

Step 7 Baste the three sides of the pocket.

I’ll use my sewing machine to baste the three sides of the pocket together with a scant ¼” seam.

Step 8 Cut off the excess zipper ends.

The next step is to cut off the excess COSTUMAKERS Activewear One Way Separating Zipper 35cm (14″) – White – 1764 on both ends of the pocket. The most important thing here is to move the zipper pull to the middle of the pocket first or you might cut it off (believe me here – I’ve done it. It can be fixed but it’s a hassle).

I’ll use my OLFA SCS-1 – 5″ Stainless Steel Serrated Edge Scissors to do this job as they can cut through just about anything.

Step 9 Finish the bottom of the pocket.

Since this pocket will hang free inside the crossbody bag, only the two sides will be sewn into seams. I need to finish the bottom of the pocket so that there isn’t a raw edge showing. This can be done by just folding the bottom edge over twice and topstitching along the edge.

Step 10 Clip the pocket to the lining.

I’ll use my UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs again to clip the right side of the pocket to the right edge of one piece of the lining fabric. The pattern tells me exactly where to line up the edges of the pocket and lining.

Now, I’ll clip the left side of the pocket to the left side of the lining. You’ll notice in this picture that the lining is quite a bit wider than the pocket. You’ll see why in a couple of minutes.

Step 11 Clip the second side of the lining.

Now I’ll place the second piece of lining fabric on top of my pocket and clip it to everything else, making sure that the tops and bottoms of both pieces of lining line up. I’ll use the clips again to hold everything together.

Step 12 Sew the two sides of the lining.

Now I’ll use my sewing machine to stitch the two pieces of lining together, enclosing the sides of the pocket in the process. Here is a picture of how the pocket hangs inside the lining. As you can see the lining pieces were larger to account for the width of the finished bag.

What a neat way to make a pocket for a bag. I’m very impressed with how everything is coming together! The UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs really came in handy when putting all the parts together.

Tomorrow, I’ll show you the easiest way to add a magnetic closure to a bag. See you then.

This is part 3 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 2: 2 ways to make fabric waterproof with Odif OdiCoat

Go to part 4: The easiest way to add a magnetic closure to a bag