How to make a zippered pocket with an orphan quilt block

Yesterday on QUILTsocial, I showed you the easy way to make a tote bag water resistant with Odif Odicoat Gel Coating – 250ml. I also made one pocket for the inside of my tote bag using an orphan block and a small strip of UNIQUE Webbing 25mm x 10m (1″ x 11yd) – White. I used UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs,  a CLOVER 7807 – Hold it Precision Stiletto and my OLISO PRO^TM TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron – Tula Pink^TM on a UNIQUE QUILTING Wool Pressing Mat – 18″ x 24″ – Grey to help get it sewn, turned and pressed and ready for sewing into my bag.

Today, I’ll use my last orphan quilt block to make a zippered pocket for the inside of the bag.

I have a COSTUMAKERS General Purpose Closed End Zipper 18cm (7″) – White – 1700 that I can use for this pocket, but my block isn’t quite big enough, so I’ll use my OMNIGRID Ruler – 6″ x 24″ (15.2 x 61cm), my UNIQUE Double Sided Cutting Mat – 18″ x 24″ (45 x 60cm) and my  OLFA RTY-2/GP5 – Printed Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm to cut two 1″ strips of my pink fabric. I’ll sew them to opposite sides of the block. I’ll also cut a 3″ wide strip of fabric that is the same length as the block is wide to use above the zipper.

I’ll cut a facing for this pocket the same size as this block is now, and I’ll follow the same process as yesterday to sew the pieces together and turn it right-side-out using a CLOVER 7807 – Hold it Precision Stiletto. I’ll also fold the pink rectangle of fabric in half with right sides together, and I’ll stitch along the three sides, leaving a hole for turning.

I want the edges of the zipper to be enclosed, so I’ll cut two pieces of the pink fabric that are each 3″ square, and I’ll fold them in half, wrong sides together and press. I’ll use CLOVER 2501 – Silk Pins (Boxed) – 36mm (1⅜″) to pin them to the opposite ends of the zipper, with the raw edges lined up with the ends of the zipper.

Next, I’ll sew the squares to the zipper across the ends. I’ll then flip them so that the folded edges extend past the ends of the zipper, and finally, I’ll press. Then I’ll use my rotary cutter to trim the excess fabric from the edges of the zipper.

Now all the pieces of my zippered pocket are ready to be sewn together.

Now, I’ll pin the pocket and the pink rectangle to the front side of the zipper, making sure that everything is straight and even with the teeth of the zipper.

Now, I’ll use my sewing machine to top stitch the top of the pocket and the bottom of the pink rectangle to the zipper. I’ll make sure to stop partway along the seam to move the zipper pull so that it doesn’t get in the way of my sewing machine foot.

Now that the zipper has been sewn into the pocket, you can see that by assembling the pocket this way, there will be no raw edges on the inside of the pocket.

Now I’ll sew the pockets to the lining of the tote bag. I’ve cut two pieces of lining fabric that are 14 ½” square – the same size as the quilted side panels of my tote. I’ll use my OMNIGRID Ruler – 15″ x 15″ (38 x 38cm) to center each pocket on one piece of lining.

I’ll pin the pockets in place using CLOVER 2501 – Silk Pins (Boxed) – 36mm (1³⁄₈″). The regular pocket is only sewn on three sides, so I won’t place any pins along the top to remind myself of this while I’m stitching.

As you can see, both pockets have now been sewn to the lining squares. The zippered pocket was topstitched along all four sides, while the regular pocket was only topstitched along three sides.

Wow – I can’t believe we’re down to the last step of making this bag. Today, the UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs, CLOVER 2501 – Silk Pins (Boxed) – 36mm (1⅜″), OMNIGRID Ruler – 15″ x 15″ (38 x 38cm), OMNIGRID Ruler – 6″ x 24″ (15.2 x 61cm), UNIQUE Double Sided Cutting Mat – 18″ x 24″ (45 x 60cm), and OLFA RTY-2/GP5 – Printed Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm made the construction of my orphan block zippered pocket super easy. Now that the pockets have been sewn to the lining fabric, only a few steps remain to complete the bag.

Tomorrow, I’ll show you how to use clever clips to add a lining to a tote bag, and my bag will be finished. See you then for the big tote bag reveal!

This is part 4 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 3: Make your quilted tote water resistant with Odif Odicoat