These Quilted Zipper Pouches are fun to make, chic to behold and handy to have around! The most surprising thing about these little sacks is that, despite their seeming so labor intensive, they are actually a pretty quick and easy sew!

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

I used a bunch of skills here, like quilting, sewing in a zipper, and French seams, but on such a small scale, they’re totally do-able. It’s a good thing, too, because these pouches can be used for almost anything: a clutch, a makeup bag, a knitting needle case, even a snack carrier. Our Materials for Quilted Zipper Pouches kit comes with everything you need to make all four! –Molly

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

P.S. Don’t forget Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and graduation season are all upon us. Quilted Zipper Pouches make wonderful gifts!

Materials

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Our Materials for Quilted Zipper Pouches kit includes enough materials to make all four pouches:

  • 1/2  yard of Robert Kaufman’s Essex in Mango
  • 1/2 yard of Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton in Ash
  • 1/2 yard of Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton in Citrus
  • 1/2 yard of Robert Kaufman’s Kona Cotton in Grellow
  • Quilter’s Dream’s Natural Request Dream Batting, 100% cotton, craft size
  • Four of Purl Soho’s 14-inch Non-Separating Zippers in colors Dusty Rose, Yellow, Silky White and Goldenrod
  • Two 274-yard spools of Gutermann’s 100% cotton thread in color 1040

You will also need a Hera Marker, a rotary cutter, a rotary cutting ruler with a 45° marking, curved arm safety pins, a zipper foot, a walking foot, and a standard presser foot for your machine.

Sizes

14 inches wide X 6 (7, 8, 9) inches tall

Pattern

Pick which materials you want to use for the outer fabric, lining and zipper of each pouch. Here is what we used…

14 X 6-inch size: Mango Essex for the outside, Ash Kona Cotton for the lining and the Dusty Rose zipper

14 X 7-inch size: Grellow Kona Cotton for the outside, Citrus Kona Cotton for the lining, and the Yellow zipper

14 X 8-inch size: Ash Kona Cotton for the outside, Mango Essex for the lining, and the Silky White zipper

14 X 9-inch size: Citrus Kona Cotton for the outside, Grellow Kona Cotton for the lining, and the Goldenrod zipper

Cut

Using a rotary cutter…

Cut the outer fabric into a 16 X 14 (16, 18, 20)-inch rectangle.

Cut the lining fabric into a 18 X 16 (18, 20, 22)-inch rectangle.

Cut the batting into a 17 X 15 (17, 19, 21)-inch rectangle.

Quilt

Using the Hera Marker and the ruler, mark the right side of the outer rectangle with 90° diamonds 1 or 2 inches apart from one another (your choice!). Cover the entire area of the rectangle.

To do this line up the 45° marking line of your rotary cutting ruler anywhere along the bottom edge of the rectangle. Using the Hera Marker, mark a diagonal line across the right side of the ruler.

Mark another line, parallel to the first, 1 or 2 inches to the right. Continue to mark parallel lines every inch or two across the right side of the oval. Then, using your first marked line as a guide, repeat for the left side of the oval.

Now place the 90° line on the ruler along one of the previously marked lines, and using the Hera Marker, mark a new line, 90° from the first. Just as you did in the previous step, mark the entire oval with diagonal lines going in this new direction, all 1 or 2 inches from one another.

If you have never done this,, please take a look at our Marking Diamonds for Quilting Tutorial.

Lay the lining rectangle wrong side up onto a smooth surface. Center the batting on top of that. Finally, center the marked outer fabric right side up on top of the other two layers. This is the quilt sandwich.

To baste the three layers together, place a curved arm safety pin through all three layers every few inches, starting from the center and moving outwards. Please check out our Pin Basting Tutorial, if you have never basted a quilting project before.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Attach the walking foot to your machine and quilt the three layers together by sewing along all of the marked lines until your piece is covered in 90° diamonds.

First, sew all of the lines going in one direction, starting in the center and moving out. Then quilt over all of the perpendicular lines in the same manner.

Attach the Zipper

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Trim the lining and batting to match the outer rectangle. Zigzag stitch twice along the two 16-inch edges of the quilted rectangle to secure the threads.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

With the quilted rectangle right side up and the zipper right side down, center and pin one of the zipper’s fabric edges to one of the zigzagged edges. Instead of aligning the edges perfectly, pin the zipper’s fabric edge 1/16 inch higher than the zigzagged edge.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

The wrong side will look like this, with the zipper edge extending a bit beyond the zigzagged edge.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Using your zipper foot and a 1/4-inch seam allowance, stitch the zipper onto the quilted rectangle. Start the seam at the pull and end it at the zipper’s end (not at the end of the fabric strip). Backstitch at the beginning and end of this seam.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Fold up the second zigzagged edge and pin its right side to the right side of the zipper’s opposite fabric edge, again extending the zipper edge approximately 1/16 inch beyond the zigzagged edge. The wrong side of the quilted rectangle will be visible now, but you will be pinning the right sides together.

Sew this side of the zipper in the same manner, backstitching at the beginning and end and not sewing beyond the beginning and end of the zipper itself.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Turn the piece right sides out, zip it up, and press the fabric flat and away from the zipper.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Unzip the pouch so that the pull is all the way to the right. Pin the pressed fabric below the bottom zipper to the zipper fabric underneath.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Using your zipper foot, topstitch along this pinned edge, starting at the non-pull end of the zipper and backstitching at the beginning of the seam.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

When you get to the zipper pull, backstitch again to end the seam.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Pin the second side of the zipper in the same manner and topstitch it as well. This time you will start at the zipper pull and end at the zipper end, backstitching at the beginning and end of the seam.

Sew Together with French Seams

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

With the right side facing out, close the zipper and press the rectangle flat. Pin the open sides together.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Using your machine’s presser foot, sew both of the pinned sides closed with a 1/8-inch seam allowance, backstitching at the beginning and end of the seam. Do not sew into the fabric ends of the zipper, but do make sure you catch both sides of the pouch with this seam.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Unzip the pouch halfway and turn the entire piece inside out. Poke out the corners and press the rectangle flat.

Pin the short sides flat, as shown above.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Sew these two pinned sides together with a 3/8-inch seam allowance, backstitching at the beginning and end of the seams. Again, do not sew into the fabric ends of the zipper.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Fold the fabric ends of the zipper downward and hand stitch them into the French seam allowance.

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho

Turn the pouch right sides out, making sure to poke the corners out. Zip it closed, press it flat and you’re all done!

Quilted Zipper Pouches | Purl Soho