Impatient Seamstress: Cosmetic Bag

This piece takes about 30 minutes (or less).



Cut a 2 pieces of fabric that are a little wider than you want your finished bag to be. I use the zipper I bought as a measure, because I hate math and would rather just never use a tape measure. I just cut it an inch and a half or so longer than the zipper. I like to just trim the edges down afterwards- better longer than shorter, right? The picture above is before I cut my big piece in half to make 2 pieces.

For height of the bag, just cut it a little longer than you want your bag to be. So, you have two pieces of fabric that are a little wider than your zipper, and a little longer than the depth of your desired bag.

Open your zipper package and remove the zipper from the packaging. I don’t know why they staple it down, I mean- it’s really wedged in the package, so it’s not going to bolt once the package is open, right? Anyway…



If you are don’t know/care what interfacing is and instead are using double-sided quilted fabric like me, choose which side will be the outside of the bag. Now, place the “top” of the fabric against the zipper. The darker print is the right/outside side of my cosmetic bag for this project. The right side of the zipper will be up against the right side of your bag. See how my zipper is facing the outside of my bag?



Pin and sew this. Repeat with the other side. Now you have both “top” parts sewn to the zipper- and it looks kind of like your bag is inside out.



Open the zipper a few inches (this part is important).



Now sew down one side of the bag- my mother-in-law told me to do a little reverse stitch to lock it in at the beginning and at the end of the line of stitches, and so that’s what I do!



Repeat along the bottom. Then back up the next side. Where the stitches cross at each corner, cut a little diagonal- this will help your corners look like actual corners, rather than nubs.



Trim any excess fabric off.



Then, reach into the bag, and open up the zipper as much as you can manage. It’s a little difficult since its upside down, but its doable with a little concentration. Well, maybe it’s just difficult for me because my fine motor skills are lacking. You probably will have no problem.

Once you do this, you should be able to zip your zipper up easily and you will have a lovely cosmetic bag.