Make-Up Bag DIY

My first post will be a fairly simple sewing tutorial. I have made a bunch of these little make-up bags because their so simple and SO useful. Yardage for these are as easy as they come because fat quarters are PERFECT for this project. If you are a sewer, rethink buying a new make-up bag, because with this DIY, you can personalize your own for CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.

So because this is my first post EVER, you must bare with me on my poor instruction :)

The supplies you will need are:

2 fat quarters (in any print or fabric, its completely up to you) - I choose to mix and match my fabrics :)

1 zipper (basically you can use any zipper as long as its atleast 10in.

Thread

Scissors

Ruler or Measuring tape

Sewing Machine

Pen (for marking) - Optional

Charm (to add to the zipper when finished) -Also, optional

The first thing you will need to do is measure how big you will want your bag. I chose to do a smaller bag for the tutorial but you can chose to make bigger. My measurements are 12" x the length of the fabric, which was about 10".

I marked at 12" and cut along that line and discarded the extra fabric.

I then folded my fabric in half "hamburger" style, and cut that. Now I have 2 identical (or almost identical) fabric squares/rectangles.

Here comes the fun part! The basic sewer should know the 'right side' of fabric from the 'wrong side' of fabric. (right =  side of fabric you wish to have show, wrong = side of fabric which will not show.) I have both fabrics laid out with the WRONG side up. I am folding a small strip on the longer side of the fabric to sew my zipper to. (I don't use pins typically, so you won't see them in my pictures, but feel free to pin this in place.)

You are ready to sew the first piece of fabric to the zipper! Make sure the RIGHT side of the fabric is with the RIGHT side of the zipper, ( the side of fabric WITHOUT the frayed fold end should be face up. Picture on right shows this.) Sew a straight line going from one end of fabric to the other end of fabric. If the zipper is too large for the fabric, that is OKAY! We will fix this later :)

Repeat this same process for the other piece of fabric. When you are finished, snip off the thread ends and discard.

This is what you should end up with once you have sewn both fabrics to the zipper. Now your ready to start constructing your bag! :)

Lay your bag down with the zipper on the LEFT side, and the loose ends of fabric on the RIGHT side. Make sure your bag is inside out, with the wrong sides of fabric on the outside. Line your bag up so that the zipper will be flat, and then sew a straight line down the loose ended side.

When this step is finished, lay your bag with the WRONG side of fabric facing out and the zipper side on the table. Your bag should look like the picture on the left.

Sew a straight line across the sides of the bag, over the zipper, (I suggest running over the zipper a few times to make sure its secure, as shown in the right picture.)

Do this step to both sides of the bag, and your bag should look like this:

 Keeping your bag inside out and making sure your zipper is fully zipped, you will sew diagonal lines on each corner of the bag, making sure the fabric is in line with the zipper, as shown.

Sew your lines on each corner, you can make the triangles as big or as small as you like, keeping in mind the larger the triangle shape, the taller the bag will be, while the smaller the triangle, the more stout the bag will be.

Cut your thread ends and the extra fabric from your triangles.

Flip your bag inside out and WAH-LAH! You have a new, personalized, make-up bag! In the picture shown I chose to make an insert. I made this the same way I created the outer layer, but instead of using a new zipper, I sewed my fabric to the preexisting zipper. (This inside layer is what your other fat quarter will be used for.)

Add a charm or key chain to your zipper and you have an even more original bag.