Oh how I love the 7 minute DIY zipper bag! So many awesome things:
#1 This lined zipper pouch tutorial is a perfect project for beginning sewists of any age who might be scared of zippers.
#2 When you know how to sew a zipper pourch, you’ve got a back pocket project ready to sew for literally any occasion. These little zipper bags are a staple of my own personal charity sewing efforts. And they can hold any little small thing you need them to!
#3 You can this easy zipper pouch from almost no fabric. Better yet, this project can help you bust through your collection of weird scraps!
#4 This is a lined zipper bag tutorial. Linings make everything look nicer, and I think you’ll love learning how to sew a zipper bag with lining. Your DIY zipper pouch will look as good on the inside as it does on the outside.
#5 My favorite, they are so so quick to make! Your first one or more might take longer than 7 minutes, but with very little practice, you’ll get there! So, let’s grab a couple of supplies, and let me show you how to make up your own 7 minute DIY Zipper Bag!
7 Minute DIY Zipper Bag supplies
Cut your DIY zipper bag pieces
| What to cut | size | How many |
| outer fabric | 10″x7″ | 2 |
| lining fabric | 10″x7″ | 2 |
If the fabric for your outer fabric feels a little thin, cut 2 more rectangles the same size of fusible interfacing.
I did that for both this cotton lawn and cotton voile. Both of these kinds of cottons are a little lighter weight than regular quilting cottons. The interfacing will help them hold up a little better as a bag.
Install your zipper foot
Switch out your sewing machine’s foot to your zipper foot. For my Janome, it snaps into place, but follow your machine’s instructions however it is that you need to change out your feet.
Make a zipper sandwich
Lay your zipper face up on your table. Next, lay one of the outer bag pieces on the zipper right sides together so that the top long edge of the fabric matches the long edge of the zipper.
Flip your fabric/zipper over and match the right side of 1 lining piece to the wrong side of the zipper. The edges of the outer fabric and the lining should be matching, with the zipper sandwiched between the fabric pieces.
Sew the zipper to the fabric
Stitch along the top edge of the fabric with a 3/8″ seam allowance. You won’t be able see where you’re stitching on the zipper, but you’ll be able to feel the edge of the foot moving along the right edge of the zipper teeth.
Your goal is to keep all of the edges even as you sew. Use your hands to pinch everything together. This is a really short seam, so you shouldn’t need pins. And yes, you really can sew without pins!
When you get to the zipper stop, lift the presser foot and your needle, and move the fabric just out of the way. Pull on the slider to move it out of the way of the zipper foot. Then, put your needle back down where you stopped and finish stitching to the end of the fabric.
Bring the wrong sides of the fabric together. See how the zipper is stitched nice and clean between the two pieces?!
Sew the second side of the zipper
Repeat the zipper sandwich step and sew the second side of the zipper the same way. Now we get to sew the bag!
Want to see a video version of this tutorial?
Elizabeth Farr is the writer behind the Elizabeth Made This blog where she shares helpful sewing tips, step by step sewing tutorials and videos to help you explore your creativity through sewing. She has written sewing Eguides and patterns, been a featured teacher at Rebecca Page’s Sewing Summit and Jennifer Maker’s Holiday Maker Fest and her work has appeared in Seamwork and Altered Couture magazines. She also created a line of refashioned garments for SEWN Denver. When her sewing machine isn’t humming, she’s playing and teaching violin, and hanging around a good strategic board game with her husband and 4 kids.
I can’t find a 19” zipper… How do I make one.
Oops, the typing makes that not clear on my part. It calls for one 9″ zipper not a 19″ zipper. I’m updating that now so that it’s more clear! You can make these bags with really any size zipper, though I think 7″ and 9″ ones work the best. Hope that helps!
After watching this video some time ago, I made my first zipper bag. I had not been sewing long, and had only made face masks prior to this. Learning to chain stitch was a necessity during this time, lol! The zipper bag was my first ‘fun’ project, and helped me get over my fear of zippers. I made many more after that, and it is still one of my fave things to sew!
Excellent! Glad this helped you get some zipper practice in your hands!
Do you continue to use the zipper foot to sew the bag or change back to a regular foot for that part?
You can use either, but the regular foot is better for sewing the bag.
One suggestion: when you sew the zipper on and get to the part where the zipper pull needs to be moved out of the way, lift the zipper foot up so the zipper can be easily opened, but LEAVE THE NEEDLE DOWN in the fabric. With the zipper foot up, you have room to maneuver the zipper pull out of the way. With the needle down, the sewing line is held in place. Otherwise you risk pulling the fabric out of place. You could end up with the thread pulling loose and getting stuck in the feed dogs. You could end up with the needle reinserting in the right place on the top fabric but going lopsided on the bottom fabric: you could end up sewing a pucker in the fabric.
Good thought! I’ve not had that problem, but I’m also careful to make sure everything is lined up and that my stitch is not out of place before continuing to stitch. Sometimes it’s difficult to maneuver the pull around the foot with the needle down, but then that could also depend on your machine.